Three years on – progress made on our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy

We exist to beat cancer, and beating cancer means beating it for everyone.  

At Cancer Research UK (CRUK) we’re committed to becoming a more inclusive and diverse charity. By encompassing people from different backgrounds and perspectives at all levels and having a culture of inclusion, we believe we can make the greatest progress for people with cancer and their loved ones. 

We’ve been pleased with the substantial progress made over the last three years, although there are areas where we need to further improve. We’re reviewing our EDI Strategy and will soon set out our ambitions for the years ahead. Here’s In update on our work over the last 6 months.

Reduce cancer inequalities through our work and in partnership with others 

Smoking is the single biggest risk factor for lung cancer and driver of cancer inequalities. We were pleased by the Prime Minister’s recent pledges to commit more funding to stop smoking services and raise the age of sale for tobacco products, and by Labour’s support for these measures. This marked an important milestone in our Smokefree UK campaigning and we will continue to keep the pressure up on these issues. 

Our Cancer Awareness Roadshow established in 2006, recorded engaging 800,000 since its inception. Every year, our nurses talk to people about reducing their cancer risk, knowing what’s normal for their body and going to the GP with any concerns, with a particular focus on the most deprived communities where the need is greatest. In 2023, we reached 49,461 people through this and our other nurse-led activity in the community - such as working with the Trussell Trust and Safeena Muslim Cancer Support Network. 

We launched our manifesto for 'longer, better lives' ahead of the next general election. We used this opportunity to call on the incoming UK Government to address variation in treatment across regions and reduce inequalities in early diagnosis in England through targeted action plans.

Develop a more diverse and inclusive research community through the research we fund 

We now partner on ten positive action schemes to remove barriers and boost participation for underrepresented groups at all stages of the research career pathway. 

Our partnership with In2science to develop the In2research programme continues to provide opportunities for young people and undergraduates from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds to receive mentorship and build a career in cancer research. Since launching In2research in November 2021, we’ve supported 30 students. 

We’ve taken over 170 early-to mid-career researchers behind the scenes to observe how funding decisions are made, introducing an element of positive action to allocating places to ensure our funding is accessible and equitable to all. We’ve expanded this scheme to better support researchers who identify as disabled, are neurodivergent, or have a long-term physical or mental health condition, and continue to seek feedback from participants to help improve our processes. 

The first four students in our Black Leaders in Cancer PhD Scholarship programme have now started their fully funded places on one of our doctoral training schemes, and a second round of applications has just closed with 70 students applying. 

Details of the other initiatives we’ve set up can be found in our Driving Change progress report.

Build an inclusive and diverse culture for all our people to succeed and feel like they belong 

Our results from September’s Your Say survey show people’s sense of inclusion at Cancer Research is at 80% (up 5% from 2022) and above industry benchmarks.

Our Valuing Difference campaign, which promotes inclusion through content and events, continues to be well received by staff. In the last six months we’ve talked about topics including disability inclusion and workplace adjustments, Black History Month, Trans Awareness Week and Grief Awareness Week. 

To help ensure a fair and inclusive process for candidates from a range of backgrounds, we’ve been rolling out our refreshed internal inclusive recruitment training, to upskill new managers in recruitment best practice. 

We launched our new Inclusion and Wellbeing induction sessions. These provide all new starters with an overview of our EDI strategy, why it’s important and the role that they play, and raise awareness of the wellbeing support available to them.  

We’re pleased that the proportion of ethnic minority staff organisation-wide has increased to 15.3%, just short of our target of 16% by the end of 2023 - set when census data showed that the proportion of people in England and Wales from ethnic minorities was 14%. It’s now at 18.3%, so we know we still have work to do to improve.

Achieve diversity across our governance, advisory and leadership structures making sure decisions are made in an inclusive way 

We’re pleased that we continue to meet our target of at least 50% of our Executive Board or Directors being women. 

Whilst we are making progress on ethnic minority representation in leadership positions (Executive Board, Directors and Heads), currently at 8.2% (up from 7.3%), it’s taking longer than we’d hoped. This is being affected, in part, by lower turnover at these grades and means that we’re below our target of 12% by 2023.  

We remain committed to creating a more diverse pipeline of future leaders. In November, we launched our second round of Ignite, a competitive development programme aimed at high potential, ambitious ethnic minority staff. This comes following the success of the first round in which 42% of those still working at Cancer Research UK achieved a promotion or lateral move after.

Engage with people in ways that are inclusive, relevant and accessible 

We’ve been raising unheard voices through our Inclusion in Involvement Group. This group of 19 people affected by cancer have identified inaccessible communication, a reliance on self-advocacy and a lack of understanding around the long-term impact of a cancer diagnosis as priority areas that they want our support in addressing over the next year and beyond.  

We put tailored posters and leaflets in 180 of charity shops, chosen for having the highest level of smoking and deprivation, to raise awareness of ways to stop smoking and encourage people to quit. More than a quarter of shop staff reported that they were prompted to act, with the most popular action being to encourage people they know to stop smoking. We’re exploring using this model of engagement further in our work. 

September saw us launch our newly refreshed brand. Shining a brighter light on our research and the significant impact it’s having on people’s lives right now, we wanted to ensure that the stories we told represented everyone affected by cancer. We’re incredibly grateful to Daniel, Mei-Ling and everyone else who shared the moments they’ve been able to enjoy thanks to research.

Looking ahead 

We’ll evaluate the EDI strategy 2021-2023 and outline our new ambitions as we refresh our long-term EDI strategy later in 2024.  

Our work will be ongoing whilst we do this, with upcoming activity including:  

• Developing a new cancer inequalities strategy to continue influencing and engaging on proven interventions, while driving innovation to reduce them 
• Partnering on the second Black in Cancer conference, this time in the US 
• Launching new guidance for hiring managers to better support disabled and neurodivergent candidates 
• Collecting demographic data of our council for the first time to understand the position and support future recruitment  
• Continuing to make our website more accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability or age