Charity merger off
Howard Lake | 24 June 2009 | News
Two of Northern Ireland’s largest fundraising charities, the Ulster Cancer Foundation (UCF) and Action Cancer, have decided not to merge despite signalling their intention to do so earlier in the year.
The merger would have created one of Northern Ireland’s largest charities with an income of nearly £7 million.
UCF’s Chairman, Professor Roy Spence said, “It is with regret and disappointment that I make this announcement on behalf of the Board of the Ulster Cancer Foundation. The vision of a new and enhanced cancer charity for Northern Ireland has not been realised at this time.
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“Our Board, staff and supporters have all been fully behind the proposed merger that we believe would have improved existing services, created new benefits and saved money.
“It is the Ulster Cancer Foundation’s view that the most important issue is not what works best for the charity; it is what works best for the community in need.”
It is understood that while Action Cancer’s board supported the merger its membership voted against. Action Cancer has been beset by management problems in recent times with the previous chief executive having been sacked by the board and then winning an unfair dismissal case in court. After winning the case he resigned. Since last year no new chief executive has been appointed.
www.ulstercancer.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.