Charities - medical relief and research

We are Action Medical Research, for children, for life - the leading UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children.

Since 1952 we have contributed to some of the most significant medical breakthroughs in recent history beginning with the polio vaccine which has eradicated new cases of the disease in the UK.

Today, we continue to find and fund the very best medical research to help stop the suffering of babies and children caused by disease and disability. We want to make a difference in:
• tackling premature birth and treating sick and vulnerable babies

Leading the fight against dementia.

Easing the pain of arthritis - naturally

It is estimated that over nine million people in the UK have a form of arthritis, and although the majority are over 55, younger people and even children can also suffer.

Every day, more than one in six people of all ages struggle with arthritis and it is the biggest cause of pain and disability in the UK.

Over 5.4 million children and adults across the UK are affected by asthma; that’s one person in every five households who can’t take breathing for granted. Asthma is an underestimated condition which, though triggered by seemingly harmless things, can still be life-threatening. Every seven hours one person dies from their asthma.

Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cause of cancer deaths. Of the 38,600 people diagnosed every year, more than half of these are with advanced cancer when it is often too late. However, if caught in time, 90% of cases can be treated successfully.
Beating Bowel Cancer saves lives by increasing awareness of bowel cancer and the need for early diagnosis. They charity promotes equal access to treatment and provides effective support for everyone affected.

The Brain and Spine Foundation was set up in 1992 to develop research, education and information programmes aimed at improving the prevention, treatment and care of people affected by disorders of the brain and spine and to stimulate the greater allocation of resources across all neurological disorders.

• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia or any other cancer
• Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast or any other cancer
• Brain tumours kill more men under 45 than prostate or any other cancer

… Yet brain tumour research is woefully under-funded.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to stopping women dying from breast cancer.

We will achieve this by finding new treatments, discovering the causes, promoting early detection and ensuring the best possible care for women diagnosed with the disease.

Our breakthroughs are made by:

· Funding 25% of the breast cancer research in the UK.
· Campaigning to ensure survival rates are among the best in the world.
· Educating all women to recognise the signs and symptoms of the disease.

We hope that one day there will be a simple cure for breast cancer. But for as long as breast cancer continues to have a devastating impact on 46,000 families across the UK each year, we want to be here caring, supporting and providing information for them.

When Susan Channon, a young mother, died of breast cancer over 10 years ago, her friends, family and colleagues formed the breast cancer charity that bears her name.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel’s first and foremost University, an acclaimed educational and research institution of the highest calibre that has made an indelible impression both locally and internationally. Despite its relative youth, opening its doors in 1925, the Hebrew University was a vital part of the British Mandate period going on to play a critical role in the development of the State of Israel and Jewish life, benefiting all citizens whilst reaching out to cure, feed and heal the world.

The British Kidney Patient Association is a well established charity working to improve the quality of life for adults and children with chronic kidney disease.

We provide support, information and financial assistance to patients and families at any stage of their disease – whether it’s needed just after receiving a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease or following kidney failure, when dialysis or transplantation is necessary.

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Our groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has seen survival rates double in the last 40 years. But more than one in three of us will still get cancer at some point in our lives. Our research, entirely funded by the public, is critical to ensuring more people beat it.

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres and an international leader in research. From our beginnings in the early 1890s, we have been world pioneers in the study and treatment of cancer with many firsts to our name. Our new early stage clinical trials unit is the largest of its kind in the world, testing the very latest in cancer treatments.

Preventing heart disease and stroke

CORDA was founded in 1976 to support clinical research into the prevention of heart disease and stroke using non-surgical methods.

Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, known collectively as inflammatory bowel disease, are chronic debilitating illnesses involving severe inflammation of the digestive tract. The incidence of Crohn’s Disease in children has increased dramatically over the past few years but to date there is no known cause or cure.

The Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation funds leading research projects across the UK into the causes, complications and potential cures of diabetes. Our long-term goal is simply to discover an effective cure as it is estimated that by 2030 more than 552 million people will be affected by diabetes worldwide. Without our intervention, diabetes is set to become one of the 21st Century’s greatest medical problems. Recent progress has given cause for optimism but now our support of pioneering research is more vital than ever before if we are to make the breakthrough.

The Trust was set up in 1994 by people with diabetes for people with diabetes. We offer support and understanding to those with diabetes and their families. We provide information leaflets to enable people with diabetes to have an informed choice of treatment and to help with the day to day difficulties of living with diabetes. We also provide a telephone listening service and collate information from the experiences of people with diabetes to help and support others.

Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain usually caused by infection invading the brain or by the autoimmune system attacking the brain in error. Encephalitis is indiscriminate showing no respect for age, sex, culture or nationality. Encephalitis has a high mortality rate. Many survivors are left with an acquired brain injury, the degree and severity of which will vary, and struggle for the rest of their lives with the consequences of this devastating condition. Every year around 4000 new cases are diagnosed within UK. Despite new advances in medicine there is a lack of research and information about this condition. Support for dealing with the effects of a brain injury is sometimes very poor. A lack of awareness among the general public and professionals makes it even more difficult for people to fully recover.

Epilepsy Research UK was formed by the merger of the Epilepsy Research Foundation and the Fund for Epilepsy. It is the only national charity exclusively dedicated to research into epilepsy.
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The Foundation for Liver Research funds innovative research programmes to address the challenges of liver disease.

Great Ormond Street Hospital is the country's leading centre for treating sick children. It has the widest range of specialists under one roof and, along with the UCL Institute of Child Health, we are the largest centre for paediatric research outside North America and play a key role in training children's health specialists for the future.

Brain injury can devastate lives. It can affect every aspect of you: walking, talking,thinking and feeling. It can mean losing the life you once led and the person you once were.
Headway – the brain injury association works to improve life after brain injury byproviding care and support as well as practical rehabilitation and social re-integration programmes.

Invest in the future of a new generation

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research.

The Northern Counties Kidney Research Fund was established in 1972 to support work for kidney transplant and dialysis patients in the North of England. Research by scientists, physicians and surgeons is funded. There are currently six full time posts in Newcastle which the fund has paid for.

The Kidney Wales Foundation leads the way in the fight against kidney disease.

Kidney Wales invests in renal research, patient care and well–being, and actively works with and on behalf of kidney patients and their families across Wales.

I know my legacy will help to change the world.

Living my life to the full is important to me and it’s important to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. They want every person with blood cancer to survive and to go on to live a full life, free to do the things they enjoy and love.

A gift in your will to Macmillan is a gift for everyone

Leaving a gift in your will to Macmillan is an extra way of looking after the people you care about, just in case they ever need us. And your gift to us could be a gift for everyone – for people in the future you’ll never know, who’ll be able to have a Macmillan team in their corner because of you.

Meningitis is a terrifying disease, which can kill in four hours. Every week, six families have to face the sudden tragedy of losing a loved one to this devastating disease. Babies, children, students and older people are most at risk.

Moorfields Eye Charity raises funds, above and beyond those normally provided by the NHS, to enable Moorfields Eye Hospital to continue to provide the highest quality care for its patients and their families and to help ensure it remains a world-class centre of excellence for ophthalmic research and education.

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) provides support and services that transform the lives of deaf children and their families. More than 90% of deaf children are from families with no first-hand experience of deafness and many have not even met a deaf person. NDCS helps deaf children engage fully with the world around them and to reach their full potential.

The Foundation was established in August 1995 to support the work of the National Heart & Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London.

The Institute has a pivotal role in Europe’s largest service for cardiac and respiratory research. This service was created by a formal alliance between Imperial College, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust.

Osteoporosis causes bones to become so porous that they can break very easily. It can lead to height loss and severe curvature of the spine. Almost one in two women and one in five men will break a bone, mainly due to osteoporosis. The National Osteoporosis Society is the only national charity dedicated to eradicating this painful and debilitating bone disease.

Pancreatic cancer is the UK’s most fatal cancer. The survival rate is only 3%, and this rate has barely changed in 40 years.

Parkinson’s is a progressive, neurological disorder and occurs when the chemical messenger responsible for movement stops being produced in the brain. Medication and other treatments mean that many people with Parkinson’s can continue to lead an active life but others can have their quality of life affected dramatically. Parkinson’s UK is the UK’s only organisation working exclusively for people affected by Parkinson’s and has over 30,000 members and more than 330 local branches and support groups throughout the UK.

We are a highly focused charity raising funds for research into Prostate Cancer at the Prostate Cancer Research Centre, part of the world-renowned Department of surgery at UCL.

Mental illness and brain disorder affects everyone – one in four of us directly. They cause profound distress not only to their sufferers but also to their families and friends

The Psychiatry Research Trust was formed in 1982 with the sole objective of raising funds for research into these devastating conditions at the Institute of Psychiatry (part of King’s College London) and its associated Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals.

We are the UK’s only lung cancer charity.

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation research funding gives hope for a world without lung cancer. One in three of our research projects are funded thanks to gifts in Wills and our work can only continue if supporters remember the charity when they make this important life decision.

Heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer and lung disease incapacitates one person in seven. Royal Brompton & Harefield hospitals are world-renowned leaders in the research and treatment of heart and lung disease, providing specialist services for patients of all ages from across the country.

Skin is now the most common site in the body for cancers to arise. It is estimated that there are 100,000 cases of skin cancer diagnosed in the UK each year.

A stroke is a brain attack. It can change your life in an instant. It can change your life in an instant. It happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off and brain cells are damaged or die. Stroke is the killer disease we’ve ignored for too long in the UK and is one of the greatest health challenges of our time. Sadly it doesn’t get the attention or the funding it deserves – especially compared to cancer and heart disease.

The British Liver Trust is the UK’s leading liver charity dedicated to helping everyone with a liver condition. The Trust works to pioneer liver health aiming to reduce the impact of liver disease by funding medical research and provides vital support for those living with liver conditions. It also raises public awareness to prevent liver disease through our Love your Liver campaign.

Wessex Medical Research funds medical research based principally at the Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust but also carried out in the greater Wessex region comprising Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, South Wiltshire and the Channel Islands.

Saving a Life could be your Legacy