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Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant

The Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant provides flexible funding for local partnerships to address cancer care challenges in their communities. Bringing health and care services, community organisations and people with lived experience together, to bring cancer care closer to home  

Better cancer care cannot be created by one organisation alone

Across the UK, health and care services, councils, community organisations and people affected by cancer are working together to improve care in their local area. However, even when partners know what needs to change, finding the funding to put ideas into practice can be difficult. 

That’s why we are proud to be launching the Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant to help local partnerships take that next step to design cancer care around people's lives. 

Grant overview

The Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant will give established local partnerships the funding and time to put those ideas into action. 

  • You can apply for between £100,000 and £500,000 for the initiative.
  • Applicants are expected to plan for evaluation to understand the difference your initiative is making and what you are learning along the way. Funding for evaluation is available through the grant programme, with up to 10% of initiative cost (maximum amount £50,000). 
  • Funding will be available for initiatives lasting between one and three years. 
  • The grant is open to eligible organisations and partnerships across the UK and Isle of Man. 

We want to fund initiatives that: 

  • Respond to a clear local cancer care need.
  • Are shaped by people and communities experiencing the greatest barriers, inequalities or unmet need for cancer care and support.
  • Bring organisations together to improve care for people affected by cancer.
  • Help make cancer care more joined up or bring support closer to home.
  • Are ready to put into practice, with a commitment to generate learning about conditions for change in cancer care and share what works and what doesn't.

The funding for this phase of the grant is limited, only some applications will be successful. We want to be transparent and open about this and use the grant to build relationships and learning beyond the partnerships we can fund. The insights and connections developed through the Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant will help inform future investments, including further iterations of this grant programme to create more joined-up cancer care closer to home. 

Who can apply

Before applying, please check the full eligibility, financial and organisational requirements in the Information Pack.  

We're looking for established partnerships with a track record of working together and a shared understanding of the local cancer care challenge they want to tackle and are ready to put their ideas into practice.

The host organisations can be:

  • a registered charity or community organisation
  • a faith or social enterprise organisation
  • public sector health organisations
  • a local authority
  • another eligible organisation involved in delivering health, care or community support.

Every partnership must include at least one voluntary, community, faith, or social enterprise organisation.

If you're not eligible, we'd still like to hear about the types of initiatives you're seeking funding for. Your feedback will help shape the future development of the grant programme. Please fill this form to tell us about your funding needs.

How to apply

Expressions of Interest open from 09:00 BST on 7 September 2026 to 23:59 BST on 20 September 2026. 

Before applying:

We expect to receive more applications than we can fund, so we encourage you to apply as early as possible. We may close the form early if we receive a very high number of applications.

More information and guidance

Information pack - English
Information pack - Welsh
Glossary of terms
Frequently asked questions

Grant information video

Watch our information video below for more detail on the Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant:

What happens next

  • We will assess Expressions of Interest against the criteria set out in the Information Pack.
  • Partnerships that are shortlisted will be invited to complete a full application.
  • We expect to let applicants know whether they have reached the next stage during the week commencing 28 September 2026.

Accessibility support

Please let us know if you need help to complete your Expression of Interest or need the information in a different format: BetterCancerCareTeam@macmillan.org.uk

Contact us

For questions about the Collaboration for Better Cancer Care Grant or the application process, email: BetterCancerCareTeam@macmillan.org.uk

To ensure a fair and transparent process, we are unable to advise on whether individual initiatives are suitable for funding through this grant.

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