A charity that offers culturally appropriate cancer care to Manchester’s ethnic minority community is celebrating today after receiving a boost from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
Can Survive UK, which is based at the Locke Centre in Moss Side was awarded almost £400,000 of National Lottery funding for its Together We Can project. The group provides a bespoke cancer care service for black Caribbean, black African and other ethnic minorities within the area and now thanks to the funding it will be able to expand across Manchester.
Funding will go towards training of new staff and equipment as the group expands its much-needed services to the remaining nine boroughs.
CEO and Founder, Marcella Turner, set up the charity in 2015 after her own personal experience of caring for her father, having found that many mainstream services did not cater to his cultural needs. With her years of involvement in the voluntary sector she felt well equipped to revolutionise how cancer care services catered to people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Some of the common challenges faced by service users when they access mainstream cancer care support include difficulty with language barriers, a lack of culturally appropriate food and not feeling listened to. The charity also caters its services to the wider community, not just those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Marcella Turner, CEO and Founder of Can Survive UK, said: “The difference in our organisation is that once service users come through the door, they see people that are reflective of themselves, they feel more comfortable, they feel welcomed, and they feel really supported. If they’re from the Caribbean for example they can speak patois without anybody raising an eyebrow or asking them ‘what does that mean?’.”
She added: “Thanks to National Lottery funding we’re able to expand across Greater Manchester and make us more sustainable. It’s a very exciting time for Can Survive UK and it’s all thanks to National Lottery players.”
Can Survive UK, is one of 205 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester to have been awarded more than £7 million of National Lottery funding over the last three months*.
Greater Manchester isn’t alone in benefiting from National Lottery funding. Today it was announced that over £100 million has been distributed to over 3,000 community organisations across England in the past three months*.
Gillian Halliwell, Head of Funding for the North West at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this vital funding will have a huge impact on people’s lives across Greater Manchester. Our funding plays a big role in helping communities to unleash their potential and it is great to see groups like Can Survive UK making a positive difference and continuing to support their communities to thrive.”
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes across the UK. In the last 12 months we have given out nearly £600 million to 12,500 organisations reaching every local authority and constituency in the UK.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
