Early Diagnosis with the Voluntary and Community Sector

The Cancer focused Community Outreach fund aimed to support voluntary and community organisations in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to implement innovative engagement activities that increase education around prevention in our targeted cancer sights and increase the awareness and uptake of cancer screening. The funding was intended to address health inequalities in these communities and encourage innovative and targeted approaches to meet the need of our communities.

Any community group based in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and serving the population were eligible to apply for the funding as long as they could attribute the work to providing outcomes for the below focused areas.

Learning From Our First Year Fund Can Be Found Here

What Did The Projects cover?

Cancer Prevention

We looked for projects that could help change behaviours and encourage healthy lifestyles for the local community.

The project could focus on any cancer which falls under the following areas in the body:

It needed to include messaging around the risks of developing these cancers and how people can make changes to reduce this risk.

We wanted these projects to be able to engage with specific groups and communities to reduce barriers faced when they engage with healthcare. We wanted to empower people with knowledge and bring cancer into the conversation so that it loses its stigma.

We were looking for anything that could spread education, awareness and engagement. This was ultimately about trying to change behaviours so that people reduce their risks of developing cancer in the future. We wanted to raise awareness around these cancer types so that more people are of their bodies and pick up of changes/ risks earlier.

Cancer Screening Attendance

Improve cancer screening knowledge, coverage among specific Devon communities through activities such as screening workshops, outreach events and communications.

The projects could cover any of the below cancer screening programmes:

Breast
Cervical
Bowel

FAQ's and Additional Updates

For further information on the fund please read our FAQ's found here.

If you would like to talk about this opportunity with someone on the team please contact peninsula.ca@nhs.net and put 'VCSE Cancer focused Community Outreach Fund' in the header of your email and include which county you are based in.

The fund has now closed and we have no future plans to open up another round of small grant funding.

Map showing the groups we funded in 2024.

Our Projects

Over 2024/25 we managed to fund 16 different organisations over Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly whose projects all focused on improving cancer symptom awareness or cancer screening uptake. Our infographic shows the different groups who were part of the design and delivery of this work.