Our UK Strategy 2026–2030
Our strategy builds on our past and uses our strengths and uniqueness with clear goals for the future. It boldly sets out how we will significantly reduce the number of people dying from preventable cancers.
PREVENTING CANCER. SAVING LIVES
Our mission is to look at how diet, body weight and physical activity affect the risk of developing and surviving cancer, and share the evidence with the public, health professionals and policymakers.
Our strategy builds on our heritage of doing this with relentless continuous improvement to positively impact more and more people’s lives. We have broken down what seemed like impossible barriers and remain the only UK charity solely dedicated to researching how diet, body weight and physical activity affect your risk of developing and surviving cancer.
But there is so much more for us to do making our mission and 2026–2030 strategy more important than ever.
OUR AGENDA FOR CHANGE
We have a series of core beliefs developed using our evidence base that drive everything that we do.
These are summarised below and link to each of the outcomes we want to achieve.
OUR VISION
is to live in a world where no one dies of a preventable cancer.
CORE ISSUE
We believe too many people are dying every year from preventable cancers. And the problem’s only getting worse.
Our strategy outcomes address our core beliefs, making strides towards our vision of a world where no one dies of a preventable cancer.
THE LATEST RESEARCH
We fund and champion the latest authoritative research on cancer prevention and survival through diet, body weight, physical activity and other emerging areas.
By 2030 we will have advanced the science behind diet, body weight and physical activity for better outcomes in cancer prevention and improvements in survival rates.
Key activities
- Deliver and champion cutting edge and high impact research, reports and projects, which benefit the UK population’s overall health.
- Understand what people in the UK are most concerned about in relation to cancer (where diet, exercise, weight and other worries are concerned) and provide the answers they are looking for.
- Our research aims are global in their outlook. We work as part of an international network of charities to help fund new and innovative research grants that will help to increase our understanding and tailor our messages.
AN INFORMED PUBLIC
As the leading UK voice on cancer prevention we help more people prevent and survive cancer through our evidence-based research on diet, body weight and physical activity.
By 2030 we will establish ourselves as the most distinctive and influential voice on cancer prevention in the charity sector, driving a greater awareness and engagement that translates directly into a greater impact on people’s lives.
Key activities
- We will be recognised as the leading UK charity on cancer prevention through diet, body weight and physical activity, using national campaigns to enhance our position and profile.
- Our messaging reaches the public via our media and campaign promotion work, and our targeted projects and programmes, thereby increasing awareness, understanding and behaviour change.
- We are the first point of contact for diet and lifestyle media stories where cancer prevention and living with cancer are concerned, and we seek to use influencers, ambassadors, supporters and internal spokespersons wherever we can.
- We deliver an impactful, engaging and diverse digital content offering, and ensure we are recognised as a key resource on cancer prevention for the public, the science community, health professionals and people living with and beyond cancer.
INFLUENCING FOR BIG-PICTURE CHANGE
Through our networking and influence with governments, health professionals and other non-governmental bodies we will promote systemic change that will foster healthier environments, support healthier choices and reduce preventable cancers.
By 2030 our evidence-base will have influenced decision makers and led to systemic changes to help reduce preventable cancers.
Key activities
- Our work contributes to government departments, health professionals and other actors being increasingly focused on creating healthier environments and prioritising action on cancer prevention.
- We seek to be a partner of choice for all aligned commercial, civil society, policy and research organisations to maximise our impact.
- We continue to work with both network and global interests.
WIDELY USED HEALTH INFORMATION AND SUPPORT
We provide widely used information, training and support for the general public, including people living with and beyond cancer, and the health professionals who support them.
By 2030, with expanded reach and greater impact, we will be the go-to place for information and support on the links between cancer, nutrition and lifestyle.
Key activities
- We inform, support and engage with a large and growing health professional following in the UK to foster best practice and spread the word about how we can help their patients and service users.
- We provide the general public with cancer prevention information and support.
- We provide people living with and beyond cancer with nutrition and physical activity information and support services.
ENGAGED SUPPORTERS AND PARTNERS
We will seek to maximise our long-term net income by engaging new and existing supporters in our work and vision.
By 2030 we will have significantly grown our long-term income to make a greater impact on people’s lives through our work.
Key activities
- We will grow our long-term income, and in turn share our Cancer Prevention Recommendations and increase brand recognition.
- We will seek to grow our in-year and multi-year pipeline of partnerships and high value support.
- Increase our use of Digital Fundraising and new technologies to reach new and existing audiences through their platform of choice.
- We always provide information and carry out our work in a way that respects why our supporters donated to us.
HOW WE WILL SUCCEED – A DEVELOPING ORGANISATION
We will model best practice in governance and leadership, supported by staff development and the adoption of the latest technologies available.
Our people are at the heart of our work. We will strive to be an employer of choice through:
- Our Values – we have a core set of organisational values for how we work. Our values not only define who we strive to be, but also how we want to work. They apply to how we work both internally and externally, underpinning our organisational culture and brand.
- Staff engagement and job satisfaction are critical for us to succeed and are supported by development and rewards alongside the alignment of the organisational values.
- An empowering and inclusive approach to staff engagement will continuously evolve and be encouraged through different approaches.
- Diversity, equality and inclusion are embedded and committed to in all of our practices. We aim to establish an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity, is free from discrimination, and is based on the values of dignity and respect.
- Our use of technology and data is critical to our future success. We continually strive to be innovative with our use of technology and data, supporting the needs of our staff, programmes, the organisation and external stakeholders.
Our UK Strategy 2026–2030
Our strategy brings together World Cancer Research Fund’s ambitions for our work in the UK, it builds on our past and uses our strengths and uniqueness with clear goals for the future.
Preventing cancer. Saving lives
While society continues to search for a cure, our prevention and survival work helps people to live longer, healthier lives – free from the devastating effects of cancer.