Making an impact

Making an impact

We believe that everything we do, as individuals and as a firm, has an impact.

Whether helping clients to transition to new technology platforms, shaping international strategies for high growth firms or donating time and expertise to a local charity, we want to make a real and lasting difference.

Established in 2003, the charity’s aim was to provide patients that have blood cancer, many of whom had exhausted traditional treatment methods, access to the highly effective new treatments that were starting to become available.

Having identified an opportunity to match the needs of patients to those of the companies developing the cutting-edge treatments, the charity’s founders realised that the key now lay in the hands of the specialist nurses that would be needed to administer the trials.

Having raised more than £8m, Cure Leukaemia has now funded 15 specialist nurses who have supported more than 4,000 patients. Deloitte is extremely proud to have played its’ part by raising over £40,000 and directly funding the first year of a specialist research nurse. And, based on the innovative model constructed by the charity’s founders, with each £1 spent on a nurse equating to £10 of drugs, this equates to nearly half a million of new drugs for those continuing their fight against blood cancer.

As Cure Leukaemia and its work has continued to grow, so too has the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the QE Hospital in Birmingham, where patients are treated. Following the receipt of a £2.2m grant in 2005 it became the second largest adult stem cell transplant programme in the UK, hailed by Prime Minister David Cameron as an international centre of excellence.

Co-founder Professor Charlie Craddock is now also involved in the development of the Institute of Translational Medicine; a collaboration bringing together the clinical, scientific and academic excellence from across Birmingham to connect patients with clinicians and trials teams. The result will significantly reduce the time it takes for research to directly improve patient treatments and outcomes, and will further the city’s leading position in Life Sciences.

“There really is no better place to test new potentially life-changing drugs,” comments Richard Turnbull, partner at Deloitte and recently appointed Trustee of Cure Leukaemia. “We have the youngest age profile of any UK city, with a large catchment region that holds one of the most diverse populations in Europe.

“This attracts the international drug companies, who can then collaborate with - and through - some of the greatest minds, facilities and staff, not just in the UK but in the world. In turn that will attract more talent and investment to our City, creating a long-term economic impact that truly benefits all.”

To find out more about, or support, the fundraising that has been done by the Birmingham practice visit www.cureleukaemia.co.uk