Macmillan’s income up 7 per cent to record £247.4m

Macmillan’s income has risen again to a record total of £247.4m, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year, its latest annual accounts have shown.

The increase in income at the cancer support charity included an increase of over 20 per cent in legacy income, with £76.8m coming from legacies in 2016. The accounts reveal that 99 per cent of the charity’s income came from fundraising activities in 2016, with the remainder coming from investments.

The charity estimates that it provided over 1.4m people with its personal support services, face to face and over the phone in 2016. This includes, but isn’t limited to, people who have called its Support Line for advice, or had support from a Macmillan Nurse or received information from the staff who take its Mobile Information Support Service buses around the country.

This 1.4m figure included a record 115,800 people affected by cancer reached through its mobile support service, 55 per cent more than it reached this way in 2015.

Macmillan’s total expenditure for the year was £245.6m, of which £173.2m was spend on charitable activities and £72.4m was spent on raising funds.

Macmillan’s chief executive Lynda Thomas and chair Julia Palca said in the annual report: “Your generosity gave us the means to invest over £170m into our work to improve the lives of people with cancer, a record amount for Macmillan.”

They continued: “By the end of 2016, we were proud to have increased our number of Macmillan nurse posts to 5,200; and in total we had over 6,900 healthcare professional posts, over 660 more than in 2015.”

On the charity’s fundraising income, the chair and chief executive said: “In 2016, you raised an astounding £245 million, 7 per cent more than the year before. This included our 26th World’s Biggest Coffee Morning bringing in an unbelievable £29.8m. Key to this success was Coffee Morning’s headline partner, Marks & Spencer, whose customers and employees embraced the event in many different ways and helped to raise a fantastic £2.1m.”

Chief executive paid over £170,000

Thomas was the highest paid employee for the second year, earning between £170,000 and £180,000 in 2016. The accounts show that 84 people earned over £60,000 in 2016, up from 75 in 2015.

The average number of full time equivalent staff during the year was 1,642, up from 1,570 in 2015.

Macmillan had redundancy costs of £415,000, down from £566,000 in 2015. Pension costs were at £4.9m.

‘Financial and capacity pressures’

Macmillan used the opportunity of its accounts to warn of the struggles experienced by health and social care providers.

Palca and Thomas said: “While thankfully more people are living longer following a cancer diagnosis, the problem we face is that health and social care providers are already struggling to meet the needs of people with cancer because of financial and capacity pressures.

“It’s due to this worrying situation that the continuing dedication of our supporters, professionals and partners is so important to people with cancer in the UK. Only with your support can we continue to help shape and adapt health and social care systems to be fit for purpose in the future, and to make sure more people receive the care and support they need at diagnosis, through treatment, during recovery and beyond.”