Two health charities have announced their new branding following a merger to pool their resources.

Bowel Disease Research Foundation and Bowel and Cancer Research have merged into a newly formed charity, called Bowel Research UK.

Through the merger the new charity has set a target of raising £1m for research into bowel conditions over the next 12-18 months.

Over the last ten years both charities have invested more than £9m in research.

Bowel Research UK’s chief executive is Rebecca Porta, who was appointed chief executive of both charities in April 2020.

Porta said: “More than 42,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in the UK, and an increasing number are impacted by life-changing bowel conditions, making the work of Bowel Research UK more critical than ever. Our patient-driven research will help deliver much-needed improvements in diagnosis, treatment and care.”

Bowel Research UK grants committee chair Professor Charles Knowles said: “Bowel Research UK has committed to a target of £1m for new research and we encourage early career researchers specialising in bowel disease to apply for this funding.

“We believe that, by investing in our scientific and medical communities today, a cure for bowel cancer and effective treatments to mitigate, or entirely eradicate, other bowel diseases are entirely possible in the future.”

This is the second major merger among charities supporting beneficiaries with bowel conditions in recent years.

In 2018 Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer merged, to be called Bowel Cancer UK.

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