About Us

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading independent charity dedicated to cancer research. We carry out scientific research to help prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. We have discovered new ways to beat cancer that together have saved hundreds of thousands of lives across the world.

More than one in three of us will get cancer at some point in our lives. Our groundbreaking work, funded almost entirely by the general public, will ensure that millions more people survive.  Over the past 40 years survival has doubled, thanks to the great progress research has made. Find out more about how our research has already made a difference to patients and what we are funding right now.

Volunteers are a vital part of the Cancer Research UK Family and get involved in all aspects of our life-saving work.  We also employ over 3,500 people.

Volunteering with Cancer Research UK

We rely on volunteers to support our pioneering, life-saving research in many ways. Whether you want to help in a shop, support our participants at events, or have specialist skills to share, we have the volunteer role for you. Develop your skills, gain experience, have fun and help beat cancer sooner.

Join your local fundraising group
By joining your local fundraising group you'll use your local knowledge to optimise fundraising opportunities to raise money for life saving research.

Ways to get involved :

• Event Day Volunteer
• Course Marshal Volunteer
• Cheering Team volunteer
• Meet and Greet volunteer
• Volunteer Massage Therapist

Employee Volunteering
By volunteering with Cancer Research UK, your employees will learn new skills, meet new people and will make a difference to beating cancer.

Volunteer in our shops
Become the face of your local charity shop and support our lifesaving research – just 2 hours a week makes a difference.

The minimum age for volunteering in our shops is 18. If you are aged between 16 -18 you may still be able to volunteer in our shops but you must be on a recognised scheme, for example the Duke of Edinburgh.

What do shop volunteers do?
Typical volunteering tasks in our charity shops include:

• Serving customers, taking cash and providing good all-round customer service
• Sorting through donated items and pricing stock
• Working on window and shop displays
• Keeping the shop tidy, clean and well organised
• Interacting with the general public

Share your experience
Affected by cancer? Why not use your experience to provide feedback on a range of projects to ensure they're as effective as possible.

Campaign for us
Join our Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors programme and use your passion for beating cancer to help us make a real difference.

Reasons to volunteer

All our volunteers have their own motivations for being part of the Cancer Research UK team but here’s just some of the reasons why you should sign up today!

• A chance to work in a friendly team, to make new friends and meet a diverse group of people.
• The opportunity to make an invaluable contribution to Cancer Research UK’s goal of helping 3 in 4 people surviving cancer by 2034.
• The time to develop your confidence and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to gain valuable work experience to add onto your CV and to learn new skills

How do I get involved?
It’s quick and easy - just look for your perfect role, complete our short application form and someone will be in touch.

Working for us

Did you know that we employ over 3,500 people? And we call each of them Life Changers because they’re all helping us in our life-changing work to beat cancer sooner. And we always want more helping hands. We’re looking for both commercial and not-for-profit professionals in a whole range of roles – from the retail frontline to award-winning fundraisers, from leading researchers to policy makers. So join us. Find the career you’ve been looking for. And let’s change lives together.

No matter which part of the organisation we work in, we’re united in our goal to bring an end to cancer. To help us, we need people with all types of skills and from all kinds of backgrounds. You could fit perfectly with one our many teams and, maybe, in a way you haven’t thought about before. That’s why joining us could be life changing for you, as well as for the millions of people we give hope to every year.

Jobs by team:

• Philanthropy and Partnerships
• Technology at Cancer Research UK
• Work in our shops
• Nursing Opportunities at CRUK
• Events Seasonal Opportunities 2019

Thinking of joining us but not sure if we offer the right team for you? These are only some of the various business areas you can join at Cancer Research UK:

• Science 
• Fundraising
• Marketing
• IT
• Finance
• Events
• New Business & Account management

>Browse all available jobs

Want to know what it’s really like here?
"I’ve had a variety of roles since joining Cancer Research UK as a Sports Press and PR Exec. This first role was brilliant as it allowed me to talk to our amazing supporters on a daily basis. Since then my development has been supported; I went on secondment to the Brand and Strategic Marketing team, where I worked on a really exciting project with Classic FM.  This gave me new skills I didn’t have before and opened up other opportunities for me." - Kit Hegarty, Supporter Partnerships Manager

> Find out how you can develop your career at Cancer Research UK

It's really important to us that we help you become better at what you do, that's why we have a range of fantastic development offerings designed specifically for you. Our resources cover a range of development areas and learning styles to accommodate you, so there is something for everyone no matter what stage of your career you are in!

As an organisation committed to changing lives, we care a lot about our own people too. You need the right environment to thrive, so we have generous benefits to ensure your time with us is great in and out of the workplace. We’ll help you take care of your health, happiness and financial well-being, and your talent, passion and hard work will be rewarded. So, while our inspiring work and engaging workplaces might be a big incentive, our benefits package could bring some positive life changes you wouldn’t have expected.

>Take a look at some of the great offers and resources available to our staff...

Find out more

For more information about the opportunities we offer, follow us here on icanbea... and use the links provided to our website.