Zach Smith, Author at Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust

Sign up for this year’s Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival and help change the story of cancer in the region and beyond

Posted on 10 March 202612 March 2026 by Zach Smith

This year’s Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival celebrates its 20^th year – with the hospital charity behind the popular event saying everyone who takes part will make a ‘meaningful difference’ to cancer care in the region.

The launch celebrations kicked off in true Dragon Boat style – with a full-size Dragon Boat at the UK head office of sponsors Illumina. Joining forces for another fun-filled event were staff from Illumina, who are sponsoring the event for the third-year running, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) whose event is raising money for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and organisers NewWave Events.

This year’s festival, which takes place on the River Cam at Fen Ditton on Saturday September 5th, has a fundraising target of £50,000 and will once again see Cambridge Radio reporting live from the riverbank on the day.

The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, which is set to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus by 2030, will bring world-leading research and clinical excellence under one roof, changing the story of cancer, and improving the lives of cancer patients across the UK and beyond.

Built over seven floors, the new hospital will house three world-leading University of Cambridge research institutes focussing on early cancer detection and prevention, integrated cancer medicine and precision breast cancer medicine to accelerate and bring new innovations to the bedside faster, detect cancer earlier and treat it more precisely.

For the third year in a row, a team from the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital project will be in the water, representing the new hospital and doing their bit to raise money and awareness to bring this new hospital to Cambridge.

Speaking at the launch event, ACT’s Corporate Partnership Manager Natasha Robertson said: “We are thrilled that Illumina is sponsoring our Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival for the third year running. Their continued support shows a real commitment to helping change the story of cancer in Cambridge and beyond.”

“The event is a fantastic opportunity for local businesses to come together, have a great team day and raise vital funds for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. We’re confident that together we can raise over £50,000 this year, with every team taking part helping to make a meaningful difference to patients and their families dealing with cancer.”

Illumina is a global genomics and human health leader innovating the future of precision health, they develop DNA sequencing and array-based life sciences technologies to enable research discovery and personalised health.

Mark Robinson (L), VP & General Manager, UK & Ireland and Northern Europe, Illumina, said: “Illumina is delighted to once again join forces with ACT to support the 2026 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival, taking place on 5^th September. Last year’s fun‑filled event raised an incredible amount to help build the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It’s a fantastic opportunity to give something back to the communities in which we live and work, and we can’t wait to make an even bigger impact this year.”

John Spicer, Project Director said:

“We’re thrilled that this much-loved event is helping to raise the crucial funds needed to make the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital a reality. Our mission is to catch cancer earlier, act faster and change the story for every patient, and we couldn’t do it without the incredible support of our community and partners. We’ll once again be sending a brave team of patients and staff out onto the water – hopefully with a better finish than last year!”

Lucy Morton, Executive Director of organisers NewWave Events, said: “We’re thrilled to be officially launching the 2026 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival with Illumina as our headline sponsor once again and of course our fantastic charity partner, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. The event has gone from strength to strength over the last few years with team entries filling up and fundraising reaching record numbers year on year so we’re so excited to see what the 2026 festival will bring!”

Whilst the event is raising vital funds to help build the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, everyone who signs up for the day knows they are signing up for a fun-filled day of team bonding and friendly competition.

Many of the teams take part in fancy dress with last year’s ‘best dressed’ award going to one of Illumina’s three teams – the ‘Rowfessors’ who dressed as mad professors in white lab coats, wild white wigs and stick-on eyebrows and moustaches. Highly Commended went to a team from the Rosie Maternity Hospital, dressed as characters from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Ark Colour Design, dressed as sunflowers.

The festival takes place on the River Cam at Fen Ditton with teams paddling 30ft boats up the river with a drummer at the front beating time and a helm at the tail.

Races start at 10am, with a prize ceremony at the end of the day. Bankside entertainment and refreshments include traditional lion dance performances. There are also funfair style rides, with sponsors Illumina hosting family-friendly, fun activities including strawberry DNA extraction. Cambridge Radio will also be there on the day, reporting live from the riverbank.

Each team completes three heats, with the 12 fastest teams going through to the semis. Three semi-final winners and the fastest runner-up go through to the final. Each boat seats up to 10 paddlers and 1 drummer. The racecourse is a 200m straight course with each race lasting anywhere between 55 and 90 seconds, with times affected by water flow and weather conditions.

Trophies are awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place as well as to the highest placed mixed crew (minimum of five female paddlers), best dressed crew and top charity fundraiser. Medals also go to the top three crews and the highest placed mixed crew.

The good news for any teams thinking of entering is that you don’t need to be pros to take part. Winning is all about teamwork – with last year’s champions, Bango, complete Dragon Boat novices.

For more information and to register your team, sign up here or call NewWave Events on: (01536) 674 748.

ACT has announced another record-breaking Cambridge Half Marathon as it continues efforts to raise money for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital

Posted on 9 March 202610 March 2026 by Zach Smith

Year on year the hundreds of runners taking part in this event for Addenbrooke’s have been raising extraordinary amounts of money to help make this amazing hospital even better – with money raised through the event over the past three years going towards helping build the groundbreaking new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

Sophie Street, Community Fundraiser at ACT, said in response to the success; “It’s incredible to think that as recently as 2022 we had just four runners taking part in this event, and this year over 200 runners registered to toe the start line as part of Team Addenbrooke’s!”

“Seeing that many people running in our tops, each one with their own personal story of why Addenbrooke’s is special to them, and why the Cancer Research Hospital is so important, has been incredible. All the events we get involved in are special but seeing those hundreds of people coming together and running this race, right here in Cambridge, was amazing, and I loved how so many of our runners made an extra special effort to come and say hi at our charity marquee before and after the race!”

Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital is planned to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest biomedical campus. The specialist facility for the East of England will unite world-class healthcare with cutting-edge research to transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. The pioneering research that will take place in the three research institutes embedded inside the hospital is expected to have a global impact – starting here in Cambridge but changing the lives of people with cancer all over the world.

Dr Hugo Ford, Clinical Lead for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and Director of Cancer Services at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“It’s fantastic to see so many runners raising money for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, we’re grateful to everybody who took part this year. The funds raised will go towards our ground-breaking new hospital which will enable us to detect cancer earlier, treat it more precisely, and save more lives.”

For Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust this event has grown year on year, and with each year it just gets better and better. ACT’s Director of Communications & Impact, Paul White, who laced up his trainers for the event, said at the end: “This event is on our doorstep, so of course it was always going to be special to us. But the whole way around I was looking at my fellow runners, the thousands of people lining the course cheering, and the crowds of people at the event village on Midsummer Common, thinking each one them will have their own story to tell about Addenbrooke’s, and that really helped me to carry on putting each foot in front of the next.”

Among the 200 runners representing Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust on Sunday was Boe Claybourn (R), who clocked an extraordinary time of 1hr 16minutes. Boe was running for Addenbrooke’s having been treated at the hospital for Addison’s disease, a rare, chronic, and potentially life-threatening disorder where the adrenal glands are damaged and cannot produce sufficient cortisol and aldosterone. Often resulting from an autoimmune attack, the symptoms of Addison’s disease include extreme fatigue, weight loss, low blood pressure, as well as nausea and abdominal pain. What makes Boe’s result even more amazing was that he was running with an arm in a cast following a recent car accident!

Also crossing the finish line on Sunday was mother-of-two Sunita Mena from Essex, who underwent a lifesaving liver transplant following acute liver failure. Sunita, who had been fit and healthy up until a few days before, learnt her condition was brought on by two overlapping autoimmune conditions.

Unable to breathe following surgery, Sunita was given a tracheostomy – and had to re-learn how to walk, talk, eat and drink after the operation. Whilst recovering and undertaking regular physio and speech therapy sessions, Sunita was diagnosed with cancer and remarkably it was during her treatment that she decided to sign up for this year’s race.

Before race day, Sunita told us “This, for me, is not ‘just a half marathon’. It’s a deeply personal way to honour a second chance at life, raise awareness of organ donation and support a future where cancer care improves the lives of many. This half marathon is my way of giving back, and in honour of my donor and her family, my fellow transplantees, cancer warriors and their families, and everyone facing health challenges along their journey.” Read more of Sunita’s story.

Running for the second year in a row was Chris Doughty, 47, from Elmswell in Suffolk who was keen to raise money for the new cancer hospital after his son, Oli, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia back in 2018 when he was just 10 years old and treated at Addenbrooke’s.

In a cruel twist of fate, Chris and his wife, Claire, found out Oli had leukaemia whilst supporting their close friends, Garry and his wife, Lisa, who were going through the same journey after their daughter, Arlea, then 11, had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia a year earlier.

The two men, whose friendship spans over 20 years after meeting in the prison service where they both work, ran the Cambridge half for ACT last year, along with Chris’s wife Claire, Chris’ daughter Lottie, now 22, and son Tom, now 25.

Although Chris alone ran this year, both men want to use their experiences to raise awareness of childhood cancer and to champion the new cancer hospital and the innovative new treatments and specialist facilities that it will offer – something that Garry has experienced himself after Arlea relapsed back in 2024.

Garry said even with only five years between Arlea finishing her treatment and her second cancer diagnosis, he could see how much treatments for cancer patients like Arlea had progressed. The now 20-year-old received genetic mapping as part of her second treatment and whilst she wasn’t able to undergo immunotherapy treatment, she received a progressive treatment called Car-T therapy and later underwent a bone marrow transplant thanks to a donor from Germany.

Describing childhood cancer as a “whole world you don’t want to be exposed to”, Garry said the care that Arlea had received at Addenbrooke’s had been “second to none.” Read more of their story here.

To show runners like Boe, Sunita, and Chris how much their efforts were appreciated the charity had over 50 people at their dedicated cheer point in St John’s College, along with friends and family of the runners, and joined by the Cambridge Community Samba Band, Arco Iris, and Victoria’s Academy of Dance cheerleading group – all of whom helped make a riot of noise that carried participants through the miles to come.

ACT’s Sophie said:

“We wanted to make sure no runner was left in any doubt as to how proud we were of them, and we wanted that noise, that experience to be so rapturous that it would stay with them all the way around the course.”

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust are looking to carry on their record-breaking run next year with even more runners raising even more money. Head of Community Fundraising at ACT, Donna Lee-Willis, said after the race; “Every year we increase our target for the number of runners we want to join Team Addenbrooke’s and every year we exceed that. We’re expecting our places for next year’s race to go as fast as some of our runners ran, so if anyone reading this wants to be part of the greatest team in Cambridge get in touch fast!”

Runners’ places on the official Cambridge Half Marathon website sell out within minutes once places go live, but anyone who wants to guarantee their place for next year can sign up and run for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust today by visiting www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/cambridgehalf.

The Cambridge Half Marathon has become one of the country’s bucket list races, and by running for Addenbrooke’s you get the added benefit of helping to change and save lives!

Addenbrooke’s Hospital staff fundraising for the new Cancer Research Hospital in Cambridge describe site visit as ‘deeply moving’

Posted on 26 February 202627 February 2026 by Zach Smith

_{CUH staff runners viewing the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital site for the first time}

A group of hospital staff from Addenbrooke’s was taken this week for a special ‘sneak preview’ of the construction site of the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital – with one of them describing the visit as ‘deeply moving’.

The group of eight are part of a bigger team of 30 hospital staff from Addenbrooke’s who are running this year’s TTP Cambridge Half Marathon for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) to raise funds for the groundbreaking new cancer hospital.

The 30 hospital staff make up a total of 200+ runners who are running for ACT in this year’s half marathon on Sunday 8^th March. Last year, 200 runners running for the hospital charity raised an impressive £150,000 for the new hospital – with the charity saying they would be ‘over the moon’ if they could beat that figure this year.

As the official hospital charity for Addenbrooke’s, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), funds cutting-edge equipment, specialist staff, extra comforts and vital research to fund potential cures and help save lives, above and beyond what the NHS can provide. ACT is also raising funds for two new pioneering hospitals in the city – the Cambridge Children’s Hospital and the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital is a first for the East of England and will bring world-leading research and clinical excellence under one roof, changing the story of cancer, and improving the lives of cancer patients across the UK and beyond.

Built over seven floors, the new hospital will house three world-leading University of Cambridge research institutes focussing on early detection, integrated cancer medicine and precision breast cancer medicine to accelerate and bring new innovations to the bedside faster, detect cancer earlier and treat it more precisely.

Monday’s visit (the 23rd) gave staff running the Cambridge half to raise funds for the new cancer hospital the chance to see the construction site for themselves and hear how their fundraising will be spent.

“It’s more than a new infrastructure; it represents a commitment to bringing world-leading research and clinical excellence together under one roof, so that care is not only delivered but continually advanced.”

Joining them on the site visit was Matt Allen, Director of New Hospital Construction at CUH, who gave staff an update on the exciting plans and progress of the site, along with Ingela Oberg, Lead Cancer Nurse at CUH, who spoke about the difference the new hospital will make to not just the region but the UK and globally too.

_{Matt Allen, Director of New Hospital Construction at CUH, and Ingela Oberg, Lead Cancer Nurse at CUH}

Eunice Morada, a Trauma and Orthopaedic Specialist Nurse and Staff Governor at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was one of the eight runners given a sneak preview of the site.

Talking about how moved she was by the visit, Eunice said: “Visiting the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital site was incredibly moving. Whilst standing there, you can truly feel the scale of ambition behind the vision. It’s more than a new infrastructure; it represents a commitment to bringing world-leading research and clinical excellence together under one roof, so that care is not only delivered but continually advanced.”

“That moment strengthened my resolve. It reminded me that every mile I run symbolises something bigger. Every step on race day is for our patients, for their families, and for the future of healthcare here in Cambridge.”

She added: “In my roles as a Trauma and Orthopaedic Specialist Nurse and Staff Governor at Cambridge University Hospitals, I see first-hand how research, innovation, and compassionate care shape not only patient outcomes, but the experiences of families walking alongside them.”

“Running for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust is deeply personal to me. It is my way of giving back to the hospital and community I am proud to serve — beyond my clinical role, beyond governance, and simply as a member of this Cambridge family.”

_{Chris Doughty, Arlea and Garry Newnes}

Someone else who is a huge advocate of the new cancer hospital is Garry Newnes, from Elmswell in Suffolk, who ran the half for ACT last year – but is supporting his friend, Chris Doughty, in this year’s race.

Garry’s daughter, Arlea, was diagnosed with leukaemia twice – as a young child in 2017 and later as a teenager in 2024. Happily, Arlea is now cancer-free – but as a result of seeing the leaps in the advancements in cancer treatments in the five years between Arlea finishing her first treatment and being diagnosed a second time, Garry is now a huge advocate of the new hospital.

Arlea was offered genetic testing for the first time when she relapsed in 2024. She underwent a progressive form of treatment called Car-T therapy and had a bone marrow transplant – where genetic testing allowed for her perfect match to be found.

Garry’s friend Chris, who is running the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon for ACT next month, is running as a close friend of the family and because his own son, Oli, was also diagnosed with leukaemia as a child but is now, happily, cancer free.

Click here to read their stories and to donate.