Exploring Colleague Representation: Putting colleagues at the heart of everything we do

News
Published: 30 June 2025
Macmillan's Chief People & Culture Officer Francesca Okosi shares an update on colleague representation at Macmillan.

Francesca Okosi Chief People & Culture Officer at Macmillan

Moving mountains to support the growing number of people with cancer

Macmillan, and the vital support we offer, has never been more needed than it is right now 

Earlier this year we announced that there are now almost 3.5million people living with cancer across the UK – that’s the highest number ever reported. And right now, cancer care isn’t fair. There are huge gaps in the care that people receive, and this can be made much worse simply based on who they are or where they live – this must change.  

It’s vital that every pound donated by our generous supporters works as hard as possible to get the right care to those who need our support.  

That’s why we recently launched our ambitious new strategy, to ensure we can do whatever it takes to reach more of that growing number of people today, and to transform cancer care for tomorrow. So that the problems facing the 3.5 million right now, aren’t still facing them in 2030 and beyond.  

Putting colleagues at the heart of our decision-making

To be able to achieve our goals together, we need all our hard-working colleagues to continue coming to work knowing their voice is heard, valued and supported, because when our colleagues are at their best, Macmillan does its very best work for people living with cancer. 

Like many organisations, we have felt the impact of a tough financial climate and so last year we made some difficult but necessary choices to refocus our efforts. Now, by making these difficult decisions, Macmillan is in a strong financial position, but we know that this has been a challenging time. As we look ahead to the future, the time is right for us to review how colleague voice is represented.  

We strongly believe that this decision should be made by our colleagues. That’s why we are putting the choice about how colleagues are represented firmly in colleagues’ hands. 

Working with partners to shape change within Macmillan  

Services colleagues ballot outcome