Caring for our local community, our volunteers, patients and staff is at the heart of who we are and what we do.
For over 20 years, we have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to operating as a socially responsible business and we recognise the active role we can play in helping to support our local community.
In addition to our mission to develop new medicines, we donate a proportion of our annual profit to The North West Lung Centre Charity, which funds independent academic research and patient care within the NHS. To date, we have donated over £10 million to the charity.
The North West Lung Centre Charity directly supports lung research and patient care in the North West. For example, it has supported the world-leading innovative service developments in Lung Cancer screening and treatment which are having a major impact on patient outcomes. Recently, we provided £500,000 towards an MR Scanner for Heart and Lung research.
We are proud to have partnered in a major North West Lung Cancer initiative. In 2015, we invested £1.3 million to build a state-of-the-art bronchoscopy unit for the North West Lung Centre. This has trebled the number of patients being assessed for early detection of lung cancer across the North West, with a doubling of patients going on to successful lung cancer surgery.
Our research has proven the validity of a simple blood test (blood eosinophil counts) in daily clinical practice to determine which combination inhaler would be best for which patient. This has had a worldwide impact on patient care.
We are committed to supporting local charities. Our staff fundraise for their preferred charity, and over the last 6 years, more than £10, 000 has been raised for charities. These charities include:
Together Trust which offers support and special education to children throughout the region.
Francis House Children’s Hospice which supports approximately 2,000 people with respite care, homecare, sibling support, end of life care and emotional and bereavement support.
Manchester Young Lives who work to promote the social and educational inclusion of children and young people through play, youth engagement, independent schooling and employability skills. Its facilities are among the most unique in Manchester, which enables them to work with over 4,000 young people in the city each year.
Tree of Life which provides many valuable services to the local community, from health and wellbeing sessions, advice, and friendship groups to providing an opportunity for local people train for qualifications and gain experience. They are also home to a food bank and food pantry – over 102,000 meals are provided to low-income families annually.
MEU supports our local volunteer blood bike service, Greater Manchester Blood Bikes. This charity funds bikes to transport Blood, Plasma and any other urgently required medical items to hospitals and healthcare sites 24/7. This service is provided completely free of charge through the use of volunteers, to help the NHS divert their resources where they are needed most. We believe that this is an invaluable resource to the NHS and society. Due to this, we aim to help this charity where we can and to date, we have raised £12,565 for this worthy cause.
In 2018, we took part in Bee in the City’s public art trail in association with Manchester City Council, by sponsoring our own bee sculpture, ‘SneezeBee’. This event brought together business and creative sectors with local schools and communities to celebrate Manchester’s heritage and showcase its diverse cultural offer and artistic talent. Sneezebee remains outside our unit as a landmark for visitors and volunteers.