New data from the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), of which Brain Tumour Research is proud to be a member, shows a fall in the amount of money charities are spending on medical research, although AMRC members remain the top public funder of medical research in the UK.
A report released today shows that in 2021, AMRC member charities spent £1.55 billion on research in the UK, out of a total charitable investment of £2.4 billion.
Nicola Perrin, CEO of the AMRC, said: “The financial year of 2020/21 was predictably difficult for the sector. The pandemic’s impact was as we projected, severe, with a shortfall of £260 million in research spend mainly caused by the hit to fundraising income.
“This has forced our charities to re-forecast their research spend over the next few years and many have had to make difficult decisions. Over a third of our members have had to cancel or cut funding for early-career researchers and research into new treatments.
“We’re seeing encouraging signs of resilience and recovery, with more charities increasing their research spend and over a third saying their spend had not been affected or had already recovered. Unfortunately, though, for many there is still a long way to go.”
Dr Karen Noble, our Director of Research, Policy and Innovation, said: “It is a tribute to our sustainable funding model, that despite the challenge posed by the pandemic, Brain Tumour Research was able to maintain support for all our Centres of Excellence, although we know this is not the case in other funding models.
“It’s thanks in no small part to the tenacity of our supporters and our ability to adapt and innovate that we were able to continue investing in ground-breaking research at our Centres. We are now looking forward to continuing to build our research capacity and inviting applications to establish a new Centre later in 2022”
Read the report online: https://www.amrc.org.uk/research-expenditure-2021
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