Our partnership with Virgin Money

At Macmillan, we make sure we understand the holistic needs of everyone living with and affected by cancer. Based on our research, the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis is consistently one of the biggest concerns, after the impact on health.

People living with cancer are, on average, £891 worse off a month financially as a result of a cancer diagnosis. 

Our research consistently shows that many people don’t tell their bank about their cancer diagnosis for fear of being penalised, or simply because they don’t realise that their bank may have ways of supporting them through their cancer journey. That’s why we are working closely with Virgin Money to help customers get the support they need quickly and effectively. 

Working together, we have developed and launched a brand-new role which is the first of its kind in the sector - the Virgin Money Macmillan Guide role.

Macmillan Guides are customer-facing Virgin Money colleagues in Stores and contact centres, who have volunteered to be Guides. They have received bespoke training from Macmillan to help them to better support customers living with or affected by cancer. Guides provide emotional support, information and signposting to other sources of support at Virgin Money, Macmillan and beyond.

Click here to find out more about the Guide role and how to access support.

We have worked closely with teams across Virgin Money’s Credit Cards and Mortgage functions to provide customers with the opportunity to speak to Macmillan. This has involved setting up a direct referral process with our Financial Guidance Service, for customers who need help with understanding their options and making financial decisions. 

Macmillan has provided training to Virgin Money colleagues to understand the characteristics of customers living with or affected by cancer and the various ways in which Macmillan’s Support Line can help people affected by cancer.

Our Financial Guidance Service, can set up a conversation between you and Virgin Money and look at other ways Macmillan may be able to help:

Call us free on 0808 808 00 00 - 7 days a week, from 8am-8pm.

If you are worried about your finances or are having payment difficulties, there are ways that Virgin Money can try to help you. Find out more on their website. 

Not with Virgin Money? To find out more about the services Macmillan provides, visit the financial help section of our website. On here, you can learn about Macmillan Grants and access our Benefits calculator.

To find out what support is available in your community, visit the 'In your area' section of our website and enter your postcode.

Partnership Activity

As well as working together to support Virgin Money customers living with cancer, Virgin Money colleagues and customers are also supporting the partnership through fundraising and volunteering. Over 1500 colleagues at Virgin Money generously donated the last hour of their 2021 salary to Macmillan and there’s a full calendar of virtual and traditional fundraising events taking place in 2022.

Since October 2020 Virgin Money colleagues have raised an amazing £370,000, and we’ve set an ambitious fundraising target of raising at least another £500,000 by 2023.

Virgin Money colleagues have donated their time too, with a number of colleagues becoming Telephone Buddies during the coronavirus pandemic – giving high-value support to isolated people living with cancer. We are also working together to improve the support available for colleagues living with or affected by cancer. We’ve recruited and trained Macmillan Neighbours to provide peer-to-peer support, and have delivered Macmillan at Work training for Virgin Money HR teams.