Press release
10 March 2025
A leading hospital charity behind fundraising for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital has praised its runners in this year’s TTP Cambridge Half Marathon – announcing its biggest fundraising total yet with a staggering £150,000 raised.
Every penny raised will go towards Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust’s multi-million pound campaign to see a new world-class cancer hospital built in the city by 2029.
The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH) is to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and will be the first specialist cancer hospital for the East of England. It will bring together clinical and research expertise under one roof – allowing clinicians to detect cancer earlier, treat it more precisely and save more lives. Pioneering research to come out of the hospital is expected to have a far-reaching impact not just regionally, but nationally and globally too.
Donna Lee Willis, ACT’s Head of Community Fundraising, described Sunday’s event as ‘amazing’, saying: “In 2022, we had four runners and they raised £1,267, so to go from that to 200 runners this year and raising a total of £150,000, you just can’t put into words how amazing that is.”
“Last year, we had 150 runners, who raised £60,000 so we have more than doubled our income even though we haven’t doubled our runners.”
“We have massively grown this event and we keep getting bigger and better all the time. As an event, the Cambridge Half Marathon is really special to us and something we are very passionate about as it’s on our doorstep.”
Praising the runners, Donna added: “I am super proud of every single runner that went out there yesterday and raised money for us and I am so proud of the team and the commitment all the staff have put in behind the event.”
“Some of the stand-out moments for me were when the runners came to thank us for how special we’ve made them feel and for sharing some of their really personal stories with us. Addenbrooke’s has done so much for them and given them such a positive experience but the fact they took time out to come and thank us when actually they’re doing something incredible and we owe them so much, it was just very emotional.”
The TTP Cambridge Half Marathon is considered to be one of the UK’s ‘bucket-list’ races, offering a scenic route through the historic streets of Cambridge and routing through the colleges of Cambridge University.
Among the 200 runners representing ACT on Sunday, were paediatric oncology nurse Molly Shelley (below), who ran with parents Alison and Paul as a way of thanking nursing staff on the ward where she now works, who cared for her as a child when she had leukaemia aged 3.
There were about 100 people at the charity’s cheer point in St John’s College including ACT staff and volunteers supported by St John’s, SJA and a cheerleading troupe from the Victoria Academy of Dance – buoyed along by the infectious music of the Arco Iris Cambridge Community Samba Band, ensuring every runner had a rapturous reception as they passed.
Donna said: “All of the volunteers that came to our cheer point made each and every runner that went past feel super special and we had the Samba band there too, who we can’t thank enough because of the atmosphere they bought. A lot of the students that were on site in St John’s got out of bed to come and watch because they could hear all the noise from the band. Some of them were still in their pyjamas and we had all the runners getting their phones out to film the cheer point and they were cheering us. It was just such a brilliant day.”
Several family members and ACT staff took part in the race including Donna’s cousin Archie and her son Charlie along with Reece Parr, the son of another member of the fundraising team. Also running were Tom Gull, Co-Director of Philanthropy and Paul White, Director of Communications and Impact, who ran for the tenth time – completing the half marathon in 1 hour and 29 seconds, placing him in the top 7% of all runners.
Describing the experience on the day, Paul said: “This year was my tenth time taking part in the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon, and this event is always one of the highlights of my year – but very few things come close to the experience of running than this year’s race. The weather was fantastic and meant that every mile was packed with supporters lining the roads cheering us on. And to be part of a #TeamAddenbrooke’s team of over 200 runners, all supporting Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust in raising money for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital was incredible.”
Runners’ places on the official website page for the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon website normally go within a record time – but anyone who would like to sign up to run for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust next year can do so TODAY by clicking here.
And if you still haven’t donated – it’s not too late! If you would like to push the total raised to over £150K please donate by clicking here.
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