Meningitis Now support proposal to preserve charity-funded medical research

In 2019, AMRC member charities funded half of all publicly funded research in the UK, collectively investing £1.9 billion.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has had an immediate and devastating impact on charity funded research, with more than two thirds of AMRC members deferring future grant rounds and withdrawing funding from ongoing or new research. A recent survey found that due to the dramatic fall in fundraising income, AMRC members are planning for an average 40% reduction in research spend in 2020/21. In addition to the immediate impact, this will have much longer-term consequences on all aspects of research and development, and the continuity of charity funded research in the future.

Charity Partnership Fund

In order to address these problems, and preserve the significant contributions of medical research charities, the AMRC is proposing a Life Sciences – Charity Partnership Fund. This will be a co-funding scheme based on a partnership between government and charities; it aims to ensure that vital medical research can continue. This co-investment scheme would provide a level of match funding from government for future charity research over the next three years. 

We are asking our MP contacts to support this proposal and sign an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.  It urges the Chancellor to take action to preserve medical research charities' contributions to the UK’s research base and economy. 

For more than 30 years, Meningitis Now has funded innovative research into the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia, with the aim of saving lives and rebuilding futures. It is vital that charities are able to continue their significant contribution to medical research and innovation.