Our Impact

PEOPLE LIVING WITH AND BEYOND CANCER

Prevention and or early intervention can make a significant difference to diagnosis and survival rates, which in turn helps people to live with and beyond cancer.  Our education and awareness programmes are people centric and are designed to encourage healthy lifestyle choices from grassroots level, thus addressing issues at the earliest possible stage. The sessions are delivered in community settings, schools, colleges and businesses and focus on establishing sensible lifestyle choices and tackling peer pressure or dysfunctional actions, which could have a negative impact upon health and well-being.  By tackling these issues at an early stage, we can enable people to recognise the importance of a healthy lifestyle which in turn will have a positive impact upon them reaching their potential. Communities become more active, healthy, less isolated and socially responsible.  Bonds and friendships are formed, ideas are shared which influence our future delivery and the uptake of screening appointments, improved, all of which has a positive impact upon communities, our current generation and our future generations. FACT provides tailored education and awareness sessions which are bespoke to the audience. 

Joanne Smith, Founder and Chief Executive of FACT explains: "FACT addresses isolation by bringing people together through social events like weekly coffee mornings, daily exercise classes, and community events. We provide a space and place where they can meet and build strong bonds.  Individuals build a wider network of support, share experiences, knowledge and improve their mental health and quality of life.  It is an opportunity for them to talk about what matters “to them” as opposed to what is the matter “with them”. Our coffee mornings and therapy sessions are very well attended and attract people who have been affected by cancer and individuals who have not had first-hand experience of cancer, but who enjoy the atmosphere and a sense of belonging".

FACT OFFER SUPPORT TO ANYONE AFFECTED BY CANCER, INCLUDING FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF THE CANCER PATIENT.

We offer support to anyone affected by cancer in anyway. Not only the person with a cancer diagnosis can access these services but their friends, family and neighbours. Our FACT family have told us that they would like social groups, exercise classes and health and wellbeing resources to help them on their path to recovery. Sometimes our needs stretch deeper than a social group and we need to start by talking to someone who will listen. We offer counselling service to anyone in this situation giving them the tools to cope with everyday life and to feel ready for the social elements we offer. Our social groups are friendly and non-clinical often in our coffee room. A hub of support and friendships, where there is always a friendly face, a cuppa and biscuit on offer. The exercise classes are varied to encompass all levels of fitness and abilities. This is also a huge stepping stone for anyone looking to get back into shape after surgery or to maintain a general level of mobility.

The Facts

Our service users are involved in every aspect of delivery, ranging from volunteering at the hubs, taking part in events, documenting and collating evaluation data and identifying support links to complement FACT service provision. In 2021/2022 our volunteers donated 17,164 hours of their time to help FACT deliver our services, that equates to 330 hours per week or 8.9 full time equivalent members of staff.

Cancer Facts and Figures

In 2015, there were 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK rising to 3 million by 2020 when it is forecast that one in every two people will receive a cancer diagnosis and in the North East you are 13% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than in London.

Largely due to a growing and ageing population, the number of cancer cases is projected to rise by more than 40% to around 514,000 new cases per year in 2035, with a greater increase in men than women.

Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK and by far the most common cancer in women. So nearly 1/3 of all new cancers in women are breast cancers.

One-year and five-year relative survival for lung cancer, bowel/colon cancer, female breast cancer and prostate cancer are more useful figures.

Service demand has increased due to higher survival rates at Year 1 & Year 5

Figures from - Mortality Data for 2010 (Cancer Research UK 2013).

Engagement

Over the past 14 years FACT have engaged with beneficiaries, local communities, voluntary groups, businesses, schools, local authorities, stakeholders, and health care professionals to ascertain their views on what services they would like us to provide and where our services should be delivered. All of this ensures there’s no duplication in efforts and gaps in provision are met.

The number of people accessing FACT’s services continues to grow each year and our delivery of support sessions increased 42% from 8,000 in 2017 to 12,670 in 2018.

Our charity shops footfall gives us the opportunity to discuss and raise awareness of the support we can offer. Most of our charity shops have a community hub attached so that local people can access our services more local to them.

We can predict that we will see an increase in volunteer engagement from 361 individuals in 2021/22 to 400 in 2023/24.

We have an active social media medium with just short of 350,000 interactions since 1st January 2019.

Annual Report

All of FACT's charity details are available via the Charity Commission website - click here

Please click here to view year end report 2018

2018 has been another whirlwind year for FACT, celebrating our 10th birthday, additional services being introduced, winning Charity of the Year in the Newcastle Awards, the North East Equality Award for organisations up to 50 staff, and was also a finalist in the award for outstanding practice and ‘Highly Commended’ in the North East Charity of the Year Awards held. Our CEO, Joanne, won the Inspire Me Award at the North East Business Woman of the year awards, and was highly commended as charity leader of the year in the North East Charity of the Year Awards.

FACT is unique and is currently the only local cancer organisation offering a menu of support in a non-clinical setting away from hospital grounds which service users can pick and choose from as and when they need it.

During the year, in response to service users advising us that they would like to be able to access FACT’s services nearer to where they live, FACT has opened drop in hubs around the region in Northumberland, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Durham, as well as continuing its popular Newcastle/Gateshead hub based at FACT headquarters in Swalwell.

FACT held more than 12,000 support sessions in 2018 (up from 8,000 in 2017) in the North East area and continues to develop facilities and services in line with the founder’s vision.

We know that every day, in the UK, around a thousand people are diagnosed with cancer and that they need support as they and their families and friends begin their cancer journey. The challenges our beneficiaries face continue, and FACT is there to support the people of the North East. We simply couldn’t offer the range of services, help and support that we do without our wonderful army of donors, volunteers, supporters, patrons, staff and trustees.