It is 25 years since Jim Cowan came up with the idea for the Race for Life and for 23 of those years Cancer Research UK (and their predecessor the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) have denied Jim had anything to do with the event.
So why start this campaign to uncover the truth now?
The answer is that Cancer Research UK finally did something which saw Jim say ‘enough is enough” and share details of their latest lie on his Facebook timeline.
His post led to an outpouring of support from his friends, and from people he has never met. Having read the post, we decided the best support we could offer Jim was to run a campaign to uncover the truth and demand Jim receive the recognition he deserves.
Jim agreed to our idea and will be allowing us to share copies of evidence from the event’s beginnings and from the intervening years.
But what was that action by Cancer Research UK which caused Jim to say “enough is enough” after all these years?
Jim has consented to our copying the post he put on Facebook, the post which led to such a big outpouring of support and which motivated us to start this campaign.
That post read:
Is there a charity with less integrity than Cancer Research UK?
I thought long and hard before posting this but I am fed up with this charity and their campaign of lies about the origins of the Race for Life. Up to now I have been frustrated by it, annoyed by it, and (of course) missed out of the recognition due for being the creator of the event and, some might say, the change in the UK charity fundraising landscape that came with it.
But now their lie is adversely affecting my next career move.
Yesterday, I received a phone call from the HR department of a large charity at which I had recently been interviewed for a new role. The call was to inform me that, although they felt I was by far the best candidate, they would not be offering me the role.
The reason? They had contacted some of the charities on my CV to check my history and all but one had checked out. The one? Cancer Research UK claimed to have never heard of me and denied I had ever had anything to do with the Race for Life.
Enough is enough. Their continued lying needs exposing.
AND EXPOSING THE LYING IS WHAT RACE 4 TRUTH SETS OUT TO DO!
I have worked with Jim on a number of projects over the last 15 years. He has always acted with integrity and honesty. His work in developing running events for charitable causes has contributed significantly to both the event landscape and the funds of a wide range of organisations both large and small. The actions of Cancer Research are based on corporate and individual dishonesty. There should be no place in the charitable sector for behaviour such as this.
Clive, thank you so much for passing on your experience in working with Jim! We agree strongly with your opinions and hope that even small steps such as all of us working on and supporting the Race4Truth can help make change that can return more public faith in the charitable sector as well.
This is horrible! Have you contacted the media? Perhaps they will help. Jim deserves better!
If anyone has media connections we would be pleased to get further word out about this injustice. We hope that our efforts on social media might help facilitate interest by those in a position to help directly or get word out further.
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