In brief: Macmillan Cancer Support Jersey’s annual report for 2025 shows counselling and emotional-support sessions more than doubled over five years, while complementary therapy sessions hit a record high. The charity raised nearly £1 million in 2025 and is now setting out a new five-year strategy to meet growing demand.
Five Years of Growth in Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support Jersey has published its annual report covering 2025, which also takes stock of the charity’s five-year strategy period running from 2021 to 2025. The headline figures make for striking reading. According to the BBC, counselling and higher-level emotional-support sessions more than doubled, rising from 407 in 2021 to 835 in 2025, an increase of 105%. Complementary therapy sessions climbed even more sharply, from 405 in 2021 to a record 965 in 2025, a rise of 138%.
Across 2025 alone, the charity delivered 4,253 support sessions to Islanders affected by cancer, and 308 people accessed its drop-in cancer support and wellbeing centre without a referral. That last figure is worth pausing on: more than 300 people simply walked through the door, no appointment, no bureaucratic hurdle, just help when they needed it.
Steph Gibaut, chief executive officer of Macmillan Jersey, put the numbers in their proper human context. “Behind every figure in this report is a person, a family and a moment when support mattered,” she said. She added that over the past five years the charity had “transformed the way we support people affected by cancer,” identifying needs earlier, offering more personalised care and providing a wider range of emotional, practical and wellbeing support.
Holistic Needs Assessments: A Quiet Revolution
One of the more significant developments highlighted in the report is the formal launch of holistic needs assessments, introduced after an initial pilot. The BBC reports that these assessments are designed to identify a person’s “physical, emotional, practical and financial needs earlier in their cancer experience, allowing an individual care plan to be put in place.” In plain terms, the charity is trying to get ahead of problems rather than waiting for people to reach crisis point, which is exactly the kind of joined-up thinking that tends to produce better outcomes and, in the long run, more efficient use of charitable resources.
Over the full five-year strategy period, Macmillan Cancer Support Jersey generated £4.38 million in income and invested £3.44 million in delivering and developing services for Islanders affected by cancer. In 2025 specifically, the charity raised £963,090 and invested £890,352 in its work.
Fundraising Highlights and What Comes Next
On the fundraising front, the Tour des Pyrénées stood out as a particular success, with 52 cyclists completing a coast-to-coast challenge and raising a “record-breaking” £236,000 for the charity. It is the sort of effort that reminds you what community spirit, combined with sore legs and a good cause, can actually achieve.
Gibaut was candid about the road ahead: “We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved, but we also know that demand continues to grow and people’s needs are changing.” The charity’s new strategy for 2026 to 2030 will focus on expanding emotional, wellbeing and group support, as well as broadening services for people living with and beyond cancer. Given that the five-year trend shows demand rising consistently, that forward planning looks prudent rather than merely aspirational.
Source: BBC News
