About Marie Curie Cancer Care

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give terminally ill people the choice of dying at home supported by their families. For more than 50 years, across the UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care has been caring for people affected by cancer and their families. At Marie Curie Cancer Care, we think people with cancer should be able to decide where they spend the last few weeks of their life. Our nurses work through the day or night, usually for eight or nine hours at a time, to care for the patient and allow the family to get some well-earned rest.
 
In addition to providing home nursing care, your local Marie Curie Hospice actively promotes quality of life for people with cancer and provides support for their families. The services are completely free to patients.

World class scientists at the Marie Curie Research Institute are investigating how cancer develops to find better ways of treating the disease in the future.

Our history

The charity was founded in 1948 as the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation, the same year as the NHS, adopting Marie Curie’s name in honour of her discovery of radium, which contributed to the development of radiotherapy treatment. Following a nationwide survey of cancer needs, it was decided to establish a charity to "attack and allay the disease of cancer; to alleviate the suffering, promote the welfare and relief of patients and to investigate the causes, distribution and treatment of the disease whilst promoting its cure". The charity has developed four major service activities - Nurses, Centres, Research and Education - which are co-ordinated from a Head Office in London and supported by fundraisers throughout the UK. The trading activities with around 170 shops are controlled from Swindon and the Scottish Office is in Edinburgh.