Stand Up to Cancer

14 May 2013

Last year Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK joined forces to launch ‘Stand Up To Cancer’ in the UK to help accelerate ground-breaking cancer research. The final fundraising total stood at over £8m, making it the most successful charity fundraiser on UK commercial TV in its first year.

Today Jay Hunt, Chief Creative Officer, Channel 4, confirmed a five-year partnership deal that will see Stand Up To Cancer on screens again in 2014. She said: “Last year’s launch of Stand Up To Cancer in the UK exceeded all expectations and showed that we could harness the power of 4 behind a major event that raised millions. Our new five-year partnership with Cancer Research UK is a terrific opportunity to build on that success and raise even more for a great cause.”

Claire Rowney, Director of Stand Up To Cancer at Cancer Research UK, said, “We’re thrilled that we have come together with Channel 4 in this long term partnership.  Although we won’t be on air this year, we’ll still be asking the public to get involved and fundraise for us to help us really capitalise on what we achieved with Stand Up To Cancer last year.”

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a global initiative based in the USA, is an Entertainment Industry Foundation program. SU2C began in 2008 and has produced three televised fundraisers that aired across all major US networks.  SU2C has harnessed the support of the entertainment industry to generate more than $260 million in pledges to support teams of cancer researchers collaborating to bring more effective treatments to patients quickly. 

Funds from last year’s campaign have recently been allocated to researchers and will fund 12 exciting clinical trials across the UK.

From tackling rare but deadly cancers like eye cancer and bladder cancer, to new treatment for the most common childhood brain tumour and bringing hope to high-risk breast cancer patients, all of the Stand Up To Cancer-funded research aims to bring breakthroughs in labs to patients sooner.

The trials include research into a drug that targets the immune system to treat kidney cancer, treatment for cancer of the lining of the womb and assessing the effectiveness of aspirin to help prevent bowel cancer in families who face the fear of a near-certain bowel cancer diagnosis.

And in a move more often associated with deep sea divers, a world-leading clinician is using hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) chambers to try and prevent the so-called ‘death’ of the jawbone after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

This year, people can still help fight cancer by making a donation to Stand Up To Cancer, buying Stand Up To Cancer merchandise or doing a spot of fundraising – any support can really make a difference.  Visit standuptocancer.org.uk for more inspiration about how to help us bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

Stand Up to Cancer 2012 at a glance -

• Over 400,000 donations were made on 19 October, the night of the fundraiser

• The Stand Up To Cancer UK Facebook page now has over 400,000 ‘likes’
• #standuptocancer trended all night on 19 October on Twitter, with over 265,000 tweets during the broadcast, C4’s most tweeted-about programme that week
• Viewing figures over the four and a half hours of Stand Up To Cancer peaked at 2.3million, with an average of 1.7million viewers over the whole night
• Celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Heidi Klum, Samuel L Jackson, JLS and Little Mix, Chris O’Dowd and Dawn Porter tweeted about the campaign to their millions of followers on the night

ENDS

 

Note to editors

About Stand Up To Cancer (UK)

• Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising event from Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK
• Final 2012 total raised was £8,011,722.62
• In 2012, the live fundraising event was hosted by Davina McCall, Alan Carr and Dr Christian Jessen and featured celebrity interviews and moving real life stories
• Stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow , Samuel L Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole, Keith Lemon, Heidi Klum, Jeremy Piven, Heston Blumenthal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Alesha Dixon, Ashley Walters, Russell Tovey, Bear Grylls, Jack Whitehall, Tom Felton, Warwick Davis, Jimmy Carr, Derren Brown, Martin Freeman, Dawn Porter, Micky Flanagan, Stephen Graham, Max Beesley and Jonathan Ross are just some of the talent who supported Stand Up To Cancer
• Visit Standuptocancer.org.uk or channel4.co.uk/SU2C for further information

 

About Channel 4

• Channel 4 launched on 2nd November 1982 and is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded, public service broadcaster. It receives no public funding and all profit generated by commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of Channel 4’s public service remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive.
• In addition to the main Channel 4 service, the portfolio includes E4, More4, Film4, 4Seven and 4Music, as well as an ever-growing range of online activities that includes channel4.com, Channel 4's bespoke video-on-demand service 4oD and standalone digital projects. Through its film arm Film4, Channel 4 is also a key supporter of British film making talent.
• Channel 4 is a major investor in the UK's creative economy, working with around 300 creative companies from across the UK every year and investing significantly in training and talent development throughout the industry.

 

 About Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research
• The charity’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
• Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

 

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

 

About Stand Up To Cancer (US show)

• In 2008 SU2C launched in the USA on 3 major networks & was the first ever non-emergency fundraising event to be simultaneously broadcast across several major networks
• SU2C is a programme of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, and utilises the assets of this industry to engage the public in unique ways
• To date over $260m has been pledged to SU2C to fund collaborative cancer research
• The American show is a 60-minute fundraising special bringing together music, movies, TV, live music performances, comedy and live science
• Stars such as Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, George Clooney, Leona Lewis, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Will Smith, Beyoncé, Jennifer Aniston, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rob Lowe, Scarlett Johansson, Kelly Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Neil Diamond, Delta Goodrem, Kris Kristofferson, Dave Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Cindy Crawford, Renée Zellweger, Vanessa Hudgens and Kareem Abdul Jabbar are just some of the talent who supported Stand Up To Cancer