A few days ago, I received a call from an old colleague, someone I worked with in law, many years ago.  It was lovely to hear from him and after the catch up around our families, work etc, he asked how COVID 19 had affected our work. Now then, there's a question!  

He said that he had seen several charity advertisements on TV, each saying how desperate they were for support and that had prompted a call to me, to see how we were doing and, bless him, if he could help in any way. 

I explained that despite our physical offices being closed for the moment, we are fortunate in that we have IT support and we can work remotely.  We find ourselves busier than ever, the phones are constantly ringing, patients needing support, newly diagnosed patients worrying about surgery etc, people who have noticed skin changes and can't get to see medics, the list goes on and on.  

The conversation got me thinking.  I too have seen several advertisements from charities, asking for support.  Any charitable organisation that has funding available that enables them to take out TV advertising in prime time slots, must have some funding in reserve, which is a good, if somewhat enviable position to be in!  

The truth is, that when lockdown was announced, several thousand small charities in the UK, pondered what the future might look like:  events cancelled in droves, all fundraising activities abandoned immediately with no real clue as to when they might be rearranged.  

We can't advertise on TV or radio to ask for support, but yet we still need to carry on our work.  Our projects will continue, albeit they will take us longer to achieve.  

There are thousands of charities in the UK, all as important as each other.  Right now we are needed more than ever. We might not have the budgets to appear on television, but we are here, doing what we've always done, supporting melanoma patients, families, funding equipment and helping to finance research.  

Please don't forget us.  

Gill NuttallCEO, Melanoma UK

If you have any questions, comments or ideas that you think we should know about, please reach out to us at [email protected]