Research England is providing £10 million to support three specialist institutions that have been hit by a drop in charity funding during the coronavirus pandemic. The three medical research institutes will receive funds to help them continue work on cancer and tropical diseases.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, many charities have seen considerable drops in donations due to the restrictions placed on their fundraising activities. As a result many medical research charities have had to tighten their purse strings – last summer Cancer Research UK warned of a £150 million cut to its annual research funding, while other medical research charities predicted an average 41% hit to their budgets.
Research England – one of the nine councils that make up UKRI – has now announced that it will allocate £10 million to three institutes that have been affected by this situation. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Institute of Cancer Research in London will each receive a share of the funds.
‘These institutions undertake vital research into diseases of global importance, including cancer, Covid-19 and tropical diseases that must continue to be supported to save lives around the world,’ said Research England’s executive chair David Sweeney. ‘Given the importance of these institutions in tackling research agendas, we have reallocated this funding to ensure these operations are not unduly jeopardised by a reduction in charity funding.’
The funds were reallocated from Research England’s £80 million specialist institutions fund, which is earmarked specifically for research facilities that receive more than 10% of their income from charity funding.
No comments yet