As this year draws to a close, on behalf of myself and Clinicians, we would like to wish you all a safe and restful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Throughout 2023, we have laughed, and we have cried but most of all, we have offered hope to thousands of blood cancer patients across the UK.

Whether you have jumped on your bike, laced up your running shoes, taken on a silly challenge, shared your inspiring story, repaired and sold bikes to raise funds, committed to taking part in our London 2 Paris or Copa Del CL, ran all the way to Paris or continued your regular donation, 2023 wouldn’t have been the same without you and we are so grateful for your ongoing support throughout another difficult year.

Our community fundraising continues to increase, and I am always in awe of the lengths the CL Family will go to, to raise funds for this amazing charity of ours.

2023 saw the charity take a giant leap forward in female sport as we hosted the first Women’s Copa del Cure Leukaemia – the first ever tournament of its kind with the likes of Fara Williams MBE and Sue Smith all taking to the field and will return again next year.

2024 will see an all-female team tackle the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route as CL became the official charity partner for the event – not forgetting our largest-ever entry of female cyclists in our London 2 Paris cycle.

On behalf of all the blood cancer patients across the UK who have continued to have hope through access to potentially life-saving clinical trials because of your continued support, thank you.

Over the past 12 months, the TAP Network has been able to increase it’s portfolio of practice-changing clinical trials within the Network by 50% with the addition of two new trials – Prizm+ and Ammo – across 14 sites throughout the UK. Both trials will offer new novel treatments that were not previously available through standardised care and continue to drive forwards the hunt for a cure.

Whilst we are delighted with the progress made in clinical trials this year, the harsh fact remains that every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with a form of blood cancer. Despite so much positivity in the year, too many people continue to lose their lives to this horrible disease.

It therefore serves as an ongoing reminder that we still need to do more, raise more funds and keep doing all we can – which I know we will.

2024 promises to be incredibly exciting year for the charity as we look ahead to our 21st birthday, with a host of brand-new events to support along the way.

We would like to end by taking a moment to thank the Clinicians and Nurses across the country, who will be hard at work over the festive period taking care of hospital-bound patients and continuing their lifesaving work.

We do hope to see you again in the New Year and wish you a safe and restful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

James McLaughlin
Chief Executive,
Cure Leukaemia