Stand Up to Cancer announces BT as lead sponsor

BT Sport stars and BT employees to help raise vital funds

BT has been announced as lead sponsor of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 to accelerate progress in cancer research and speed-up breakthroughs from labs to patients to save more lives, more quickly.

On Saturday 22 October Stand Up To Cancer stars will be injecting some humour into BT Sport’s daily programming, with some of viewers’ favourite comedians appearing on the BT Sport channel throughout the day. BT will also be sponsoring a celebrity special of the adventure game show The Crystal Maze, and one of the BT Sport presenters will appear in the live show on Channel 4 on 21 October.

John Petter, CEO, BT Consumer, said: “BT is proud to once again be partnering with Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 to support Stand Up to Cancer. This year we are going bigger and better, with lots of opportunities for our staff and customers to help us raise money for this great cause.”

Frances Milner, Executive Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships, said: “BT has been a crucial partner of Stand Up To Cancer since its UK launch in 2012, so we are delighted that BT is extending and increasing its support in 2016. We’ve made amazing progress against cancer in the past few decades but one in two of us in the UK will develop cancer in our lifetime so we can’t afford to stand still. Together with BT we can look forward to raising more funds which will go directly to vital research to accelerate new cancer treatments and tests, and ultimately help save more lives.”

Tom Beck, Commissioning Editor, Live & Events at Channel 4 said: “We are delighted that BT is partnering with us for what promises to be a phenomenal campaign culminating in a spectacular night of entertainment and fundraising which will ultimately help to save more lives.”

BT employees will be getting involved in Stand Up To Cancer through a range of fundraising and volunteering initiatives throughout September and October and will be supporting a nationwide bucket collection on 21 October.

On the night of the live show on 21 October, the BT Tower and three BT call centres will be providing the technology, network management and volunteers to enable donations from the public.

BT will also raising money through BT MyDonate, a not-for-profit, online fundraising service. BT MyDonate is one of the few platforms available to UK charities that doesn’t take any commission from donations or charge charities to use it. This means charities can receive up to an additional 63p per £10 donation with gift aid when using BT MyDonate.

BT has been a major partner of Stand Up To Cancer since the campaign was launched in the UK on Channel 4 in 2012.

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Notes to editors

About Stand Up To Cancer (UK)

• Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4
• Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer funds translational research, accelerating new cancer treatments and tests to UK patients to ultimately save more lives
• More than £25 million has been raised in the UK to date and 30 trials have been funded, involving more than 9,000 cancer patients
• This October Stand Up to Cancer returns to Channel 4 with an unmissable night of live TV
• Teaming up with YouTube for a second year, there will be more fun and games with some of the internet’s best-loved Content Creators, including Zoella, Joe Sugg, Caspar Lee, Dan and Phil, Scola Dondo many more
• Stars such as Naomi Campbell, Noel Gallagher, Nicole Scherzinger, Pharrell Williams, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gillian Anderson, Britney Spears, Idris Elba, Andy Murray, Bradley Cooper, Taylor Swift, Martin Freeman, Jamie Oliver, Kathy Burke, Miranda Hart, Paul O’Grady and Richard Ayoade are just some of the talent who supported Stand Up To Cancer
• To find out more about fundraising activities visit Standuptocancer.org.uk or channel4.co.uk/SU2C or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram