The festive season is here, and for us, it kicked off beautifully with our annual Christmas lunch at the Shelbourne earlier this month. It was a truly special day filled with warmth and generosity. Thanks to the incredible support from attendees and our sponsor, Flogas, the funds raised will go directly towards providing our vital services and supports up and down the country —offered free of charge and meeting ever-growing demand.

We were delighted to have the wonderful Anna Daly as our host for the event. Her heartfelt support, along with everyone involved, ensures we can continue making a difference for families affected by cancer across the country.

As we look back on 2024, we celebrate a year of significant achievements and impactful work, despite the challenges we faced. The Marie Keating Foundation has continued to make a meaningful difference in communities across Ireland, and we are incredibly proud of how our dedicated team has risen to the challenges of ever-growing cancer diagnoses.

1 in 2 of us will get cancer at some point in our lives and cancer is now the leading cause of death in Ireland, with over 43,000 people diagnosed annually. By 2045, this number is expected to increase substantially unless meaningful changes are implemented. These stark statistics reaffirm the importance of our mission: ‘to make cancer less frightening by enlightening’ and our vision: ‘to create a world free from the fear of cancer’.

Bringing Cancer Awareness Nationwide

In 2024, our specialist cancer nurses engaged with more than 21,000 people across Ireland, delivering the critical message of early detection through community visits, school workshops, and workplace initiatives all around the country. By providing these services free of charge, particularly to people in disadvantaged and marginalised communities, we ensure that those most in need can access information and support, helping to break down barriers to early diagnosis and care.

Our focus remains on addressing issues such as lack of symptom awareness, poor health literacy, health system delays and inequalities in access to treatment. These barriers often lead to poorer outcomes for patients from underserved groups, and we are committed to providing the information and support needed in a culturally sensitive way in order to close this gap.

Helping us achieve this is our partnership with the Dalata Hotel Group, which has again been a transformative force in 2024. Thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts of their employees across Ireland, this support has funded two new Mobile Information Units, facilitated 63,000 lifesaving conversations, and expanded our team with five additional specialist nurses, bringing the team to seven.

Together, we are securing the future of our lifesaving cancer outreach services and working towards the ambitious goal of reaching 100,000 people during this partnership.

Advocacy for Change: Key Campaigns

Our April Bowel Cancer Awareness Campaign, No Regrets called for the government to lower the screening age in response to the rising incidence of bowel cancer in people under 50. Partnering with the patient advocacy group Bowel Cancer Ireland alongside other groups and organisations, we successfully prompted the Health Information and Quality Authority to review the current screening age.

In June, we launched our Supporting Early Cancer Detection policy report at Bord Bia Bloom, alongside our Early Cancer Detection is Key show garden, which engaged thousands of visitors. The report set out actionable recommendations for the government to prioritise early detection, including:

• Multi-annual funding for the National Cancer Strategy.
• Lowering the age for breast cancer screening to 45.
• Expanding bowel cancer screening from ages 50–74.
• Establishing a lung cancer screening pilot programme.

A Promising Step Forward for Cancer Care

As we reflect on the year, we are heartened by the progress made in advancing cancer services in Ireland. Budget 2025 allocated an impressive €33 million to enhance cancer services, including funding for the National Cancer Strategy, with a full-year cost of €46.2 million projected for 2026.

We also celebrate the announcement of a groundbreaking €4.9 million lung cancer research programme, which includes a pilot Lung Cancer Health Check Programme for high-risk individuals in in the north Dublin and the northeast area, which will kick off next year.

These and other remarkable developments are truly welcome steps forward. We extend our deepest gratitude to the organisations, patient groups, advocates, and policymakers who worked tirelessly to bring about these much-needed initiatives. Together, we are creating brighter possibilities for all those impacted by cancer.

Innovation and Recognition

Innovation remains at the heart of our work. This year, we were honoured to receive a nomination for the All-Ireland Marketing Awards in the Innovation and Creativity category for our November lung cancer awareness campaign, The Big Check Up. The campaign used social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram to introduce an innovative AR filter , helping to raise awareness of lung cancer symptoms in an engaging way.

Additionally, we were proud to achieve the Triple Lock of Good Governance for the ninth consecutive year and to be awarded WINNER at the Good Governance Awards 2024 . These accolades reflect our commitment to transparency and accountability.

Some additional highlights from this year that I must mention are:

• An award winning garden at Bloom with our ‘Early Cancer Detection is Key’ Garden taking home the bronze
• Golf Classic, which was kindly sponsored by Skechers
• MBC Day – Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day this year on October 11th at the Richmond Building, Dublin and our members contributing to the first ever  Patient Led research for women in Ireland looking at the unmet needs of women with MBC
• Being nominated as Best Corporate Charity Partnership 2024 as a result of our partnership with the Dalata Hotel Group in the prestigious Charities Institute Ireland Awards
• Our BRCA Seminar in April – BRCA In The Horizon and our members contribution to the National Cancer Control Programme hereditary cancer model of care.

Challenges and Gratitude

While 2024 brought many highlights, it also presented challenges. With less than 5% of our funding coming from statutory sources, we rely heavily on the generosity of the public, corporate supporters, and our own fundraising efforts. The cost-of-living crisis, inflation, and global conflicts have made fundraising more difficult, even as demand for our services continues to grow. Our small but dedicated team of just 23 people worked tirelessly to meet these demands despite limited capacity and resources.

We also experienced loss within our patient ambassador groups, particularly among our Bowel Cancer Awareness advocates, they died far too young, leaving young families and loved ones behind – they were all under the age range for Bowel Screen when diagnosed, these losses fuel our determination to push for change in Ireland’s cancer screening programmes and to continue expanding our support services for those living with and beyond cancer.

Thank You

At its core, the Marie Keating Foundation is about people—patients, families, supporters, and communities. None of our work would be possible without the incredible dedication of our team, our Board, the Keating family, our volunteers, supporters and patient ambassadors, who give their time and expertise so generously.

To our valued corporate sponsors and companies that helped to make our campaigns, programmes and events so successful, we would like to say a huge thank you.

Lastly, we would be remiss not to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you—our supporters and friends—who consistently support our services, programmes, and events each day.

From all of us at the Marie Keating Foundation, a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who supported us this year—whether by hosting a fundraiser, attending an event, reading our newsletter, sharing our resources, or spreading awareness of our campaigns.

As we look ahead to 2025, our goal is to build on this year’s achievements, supporting even more people and their families through their cancer journeys and connecting with more communities. None of this would be possible without your incredible support.

Wishing you and your loved ones a safe and joyful Christmas and a healthy New Year. And please remember, if you or your family ever need us, we’re here for you.

Liz Yeates,

CEO,

Marie Keating Foundation.