LONDON — Macmillan Cancer Support has appointed healthcare specialist The Difference Collective to help identify and test news ways to increase revenue beyond its existing fundraising portfolio.

The strategic planning brief, which includes insight-gathering and analysis to identify short- to medium-term income opportunities, comes as the UK charity – which works to help people living with cancer – faces fundraising pressure and increased demand for its services as a result of the pandemic.

According to Macmillan, as many as 50,000 people are missing a cancer diagnosis in the UK because of the disruption that Covid-19 has caused the National Health Service.

Macmillan’s director of innovation and commercial partnerships Heather Pearl said: “We’re seeking to engage experts across sectors to bring new experiences to our supporters whilst unlocking fresh income streams to support our goals. The team’s ability to fuse diverse perspectives from within health and wellbeing is powerful and we’re excited to see what their deep sector know-how will unlock”.

The Difference Collective was set up as a virtual agency of healthcare communications specialists in 2017 by former Virgo health co-founder Angie Wiles, who said: “This is exactly the kind of work The Difference was set up to excel in. Covid has expanded how people see health and our multidisciplinary teaming approach, which unites broad and deep senior talent, enables us to create ideas that make a meaningful difference to a disease that touches so many.”

Macmillan’s current marketing campaign is “Whatever It Takes” (pictured), developed with AMV BBDO to show the resilience of health workers in the UK during the pandemic.