The Cancer Council of Tasmania is aiming to raise $10 million over the next 10 years to secure the organisation's future with the launch of its Future Fund initiative.
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CC Tasmania chief executive Penny Egan said the COVID-19 pandemic had magnified the reasons why the organisation wanted to establish the fund.
"Tasmania will have a far greater need for cancer support services in the future but we need to take action now," Ms Egan said.
"90 per cent of our funds come from the community and in the current coronavirus environment, where fundraising has been severely impacted, the Future Fund would have provided significant financial support to CC Tasmania."
Ms Egan said the fund would take away the organisation's reliance on current fundraising and donor activities, and there would specific rules as to how the funds could be used to provide transparency and assurance to donors.
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"Our aim is to secure substantial earnings from the fund that will be reinvested back into the operations of the business to ensure we can continue to deliver its programs, services and investment into research," Ms Egan said.
Future Fund chairman Royce Fairbrother said the fund was a proactive solution to the long-term challenge of cancer.
"It's a way to provide people with an opportunity to donate to something that is going to continue to go on giving," Mr Fairbrother said.
Peter Ennever, whose son James was diagnosed with cancer in December 2019, said the CC had provided support to his family in a number of ways including through counselling.
"There are gaps there [in the health system] while you are on this journey when you are looking for answers for questions and that's where these guys were pretty invaluable," Mr Ennever said.
"As you can imagine that was a fairly anguishing time for us as parents as well as for James."
Officially launching the fund, Premier Peter Gutwein spoke of his family's experiences of cancer.
"Everybody does have a cancer story," Mr Gutwein said.
Mr Gutwein said his father had died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 10 years ago and his younger sister died about a year later of ovarian cancer.
He said two of his sisters had also been diagnosed with cancer, with one now in remission after being treated for breast cancer and the other healthy after being treated for early stage melanoma.
Mr Gutwein said the forward-thinking put into the fund was excellent and he was certain the CC would achieve its $10 million goal much sooner than 10 years.
"It's something that all Tasmanians can relate to and I'm certain they will support this initiative," he said.
To find out more about the Future Fund, visit the CC of Tasmania website.