Cancer Research UK and Tesco mark 25 years and £75 million
Howard Lake | 16 July 2026 | News
Cancer Research UK and Tesco are marking 25 years of partnership this year, having raised £75 million together to fund cancer research since the collaboration began in 2001. It is one of the longest-running and largest corporate charity partnerships in the UK.
Over a quarter of a century, Tesco staff and customers have supported the charity through fundraising, awareness campaigns and community initiatives, from bake sales, prize draws and bucket collections to marathons, treks and golf days. Tesco has also been headline sponsor of Race for Life for more than 20 years.
Beyond fundraising
The partnership has broadened over time into public health work. Tesco has run cancer awareness activity in its stores and pharmacies to encourage earlier presentation of possible symptoms, and more than 20,000 Tesco colleagues have taken part in Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Awareness in the Workplace programme since 2018.
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A quarter-century milestone
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive, Cancer Research UK, thanked the staff and customers of Tesco:
“Over the past 25 years, they’ve helped raise an incredible £75 million, and we’re hugely grateful for their ongoing commitment. This partnership represents an exceptional contribution to improving the health of the nation: they’re helping to fund life-saving research while also helping people lead healthier lives”.
Ashwin Prasad, UK chief executive at Tesco, said the partnership had done “far more than just raise funds”, pointing to joint campaigns encouraging people to get symptoms checked and calls for mandatory reporting of healthy food sales across the food industry.
For corporate fundraisers, the 25-year partnership stands as a reference point for building durable, mission-aligned relationships with a major retailer.
- Tesco Bags of Help returns as Tesco Community Grants programme (14 April 2021)
- Tesco Centenary Fund offers £200k in Northern Ireland (19 March 2019)
- Tesco Dance Beats raises £2 million for charity partners (27 August 2019)
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.