How Breast Cancer Now fights cyber crime: one alert at a time

This article is sponsored by Skurio, innovative cyber security and digital risk management experts.

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Breast Cancer Now is a large charity formed by the 2019 merger of Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care to form one unifying charity for the disease within the UK.

 

The charity’s aim is to change the future of breast cancer and make sure that by 2050, everyone diagnosed with the disease lives and is supported to live well.

 

Their work is twofold: providing support for today through better services and care and hope for the future through their funding of world-leading research into new treatments. Breast Cancer Now funds around one-third of the UK’s research into the disease.

 

The legacy of Breast Cancer Care is more on the support side, and the organisation is well-known for its helpline and programme of support workshops and other longer-term care.

 

 

Breast Cancer Now’s digital services help those affected by COVID-19

 

This dual approach led to specific challenges during COVID-19.

 

Much of the work that Breast Cancer Now does falls under the banner of fundraising, as they raise money for ground-breaking medical research into the condition. This fundraising often takes place on digital channels, with the website providing a major fundraising portal.

 

"In our fundraising directorate, we have a philanthropy and a major giving section. There’s been a move towards live events pitched at major donors, a lot of whom wish to remain anonymous, as well as [sessions] where our directors and CEO and scientists are talking about the impact of COVID and how it’s impacted our income."

 

- Brigid Macdonald - Head of IT, Breast Cancer Now

 

As a result of the merger, the charity has launched a wider raft of services such as support groups for those living with breast cancer. These services were increasingly digitised in the wake of COVID-19.

 

People living with cancer are at an increased risk of suffering more severe symptoms should they contract COVID-19, so Breast Cancer Now were faced with a conundrum common to many health-related charities. On the one hand, their services are now more in-demand than ever, on the other, they could no longer be delivered in the usual way, as this would risk infection.

 

As part of an ongoing investment in digital, the organisation rolled out a programme of digital service delivery that allows Breast Cancer Now to deliver services during lockdown, connecting with service users on their preferred digital channels.

 

A large part of this work took place over Zoom, and live video call support was complemented by a range of pre-recorded resources accessible through Breast Cancer Now’s online portal.