Author: Zach Smith

Volunteering doesn’t only help others – it helps you too. That’s the message being shared by volunteers for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) ahead of Volunteers’ Week (June 1 to 7).

“What is surprising is how it lifts you. You think you’re doing it for others, but, my lord, it helps you so much as well.” So says Cambridge’s Sally Laight, who started volunteering with ACT following cancer treatment – a more than four-year journey which involved multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and emergency care for septic shock. 

Having been treated at both Addenbrooke’s and by London specialists, Sally says: “Don’t let anybody tell me anything bad about the NHS: they’ve saved my life 20 times over. And they really care. They treat the body; they treat the soul – they treat the person. With the personal experience I’ve had, how could I not want to give something back?” 

The official hospital charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, ACT funds cutting-edge equipment, specialist staff, extra comforts and pioneering research that helps change and save lives, above and beyond what the NHS can provide. 

In the course of her treatment for colon cancer, which metastasised to her liver and lungs, Sally experienced firsthand the difference ACT’s funding makes having benefitted from two projects funded by the charity; nature-themed vinyl wraps on the MRI scanner (“which sounds like a small thing, but you look up at these blossoms and just breathe”) to the robotic surgeon (which removed her lung tumour via keyhole incisions, speeding her recovery time and meaning she was home within three days).

Signing up last April and swiftly becoming one of ACT’s most prolific volunteers in 2025, clocking up 50 hours, Sally speaks to people waiting in Oncology, gives talks to community groups and supports fundraisers taking part in events such as the Cambridge Half Marathon.

“What is surprising is how it lifts you. You think you’re doing it for others, but, my lord, it helps you so much as well.”

Just 18 months ago, the trust had seven volunteers; today, Sally is among a fast-growing team of 31. With opportunities available to anyone over the age of 18, spanning fundraising and awareness-raising to hands-on support at events and hospital hubs, Volunteer Programme Lead, Alex Innes, says: “In many ways, our volunteers help celebrate why Addenbrooke’s is such an important and valued hospital. They recognise the impact hospital staff have on our lives and those of our loved ones, and they want to show their support in a tangible way.” 

For Cambridge’s Bansri Ramaiya, who fits volunteering around a job in pharma and being a mum to her teenage son, it’s a chance to continue her mum Usha’s legacy: “She always believed that we may not be able to solve the world’s problems, but we can help one person.” As well as taking on fundraising challenges, including clocking up a mile every day in May for ACT’s Walk to Remember initiative, Bansri participates in community outreach.

Gamlingay student Vicky Boyne, who’s about to graduate in Psychology, was connected with ACT by her careers adviser at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Magdalena Mucha. Volunteering in the charity’s hospital hubs, Vicky says: “Part of it was to build up my CV – I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t – but I also wanted to do something that made a difference; to be that friendly face for people and to see them smile.”

Volunteering has countless benefits for students, adds Magdalena, who’s been an Employability & Careers Adviser at ARU since 2022. “It offers something that goes beyond career development alone – it allows students to contribute their time and energy towards causes, communities and individuals in ways that can have a very real impact,” she explains.  

“That experience of being able to make a meaningful contribution and see the difference your presence can make is often deeply valuable in itself,” continues Magdalena, “particularly at a stage in life where many students are still shaping their sense of identity, purpose, and direction.” 

Also integral to ACT’s work are its corporate partners – including Cheffins and Cambridge Commodities – whose employees join the regular volunteers to help deliver events such as Daffodil Day, which saw 3,500 bunches of flowers handed out to staff at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals this spring as a thank you for their work.   

After seeing a call-out for Daffodil Day helpers, ARK Fire Protection volunteered to distribute flowers to NHS colleagues working in 12 offsite locations across the surrounding counties. 

Managing Director, Howard Hudson, says: “Being handed something physical, something cheerful, by people who took time out of their working day to be there; that landed differently. A few of them asked who we were and what we did. That conversation, that moment of genuine human connection, is the kind of thing you we are losing and it’s important to keep those moments happening.”

Adds Howard: “Acts of Random Kindness has been part of how ARK operates since the beginning; the idea that a business should leave the places it works in better than it found them. Partnering with ACT felt like a natural extension of something we were already doing.” 

With ACT supporting both the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, as well as the ongoing work of Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, the charity is also aiming to establish fundraising committees across Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Peterborough and Suffolk.  

Groups of friends, families, peers and networks who come together to organise their own fundraising activities, these range from community quiz nights, school summer fetes and monthly lunch clubs to participation in ACT‑led initiatives like Walk to Remember. 

“We provide support throughout, enabling groups to give their time in ways that work for them,” says ACT’s Alex. “Currently, we have a well‑established group in Peterborough dedicated to raising funds for the new Children’s Hospital, and a new group forming in Hertfordshire. We are keen to build and grow this network over time.” 

A UK-wide campaign held every June since 1984, Volunteers’ Week celebrates people who give their time freely to make a community, a county and the country a better place. To mark this year’s event, Cambridge’s 106-year-old bakery, Fitzbillies, is giving all ACT’s volunteers a free Chelsea bun.

Say Fitzbillies owners Alison Wright and Tim Hayward, who credits Addenbrooke’s with saving his own life during Covid: “It’s a little thank you. We are so lucky to have an amazing, world-class hospital like Addenbrooke’s in our area – and ACT and its volunteers play an essential role in funding things that make it even better.” 

Find out more about volunteering with Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust here.

Click here to read Sally’s story.

Click here to read Vicky’s story.

Patients walking into the reception area of the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital when its doors open will be welcomed by… The Welcome: a huge 3D sculptural mural made from locally sourced clays and glazes.

Ivan Morison, the artist commissioned to design the piece, has designed it using ceramic tiles, with a 3D depth, allowing patients and visitors to sit within the piece, allowing them time to pause and reflect.

“It’s a real honour to be commissioned to develop a work for such an important place, where people will be going through profound and life-changing experiences,” he said.

“The patients, visitors, the hospital deserve a really great piece of art,” he added, describing the work as “quite a monumental piece.”

“It’s big and it’s quite physical. But I want that to be like a reassuring touchstone.”

Thanks for funding from ACT supporters, Ivan has been able to run a series of Conversations with Clay workshops for people who have lived experience of cancer care, exploring local clays and natural materials, allowing them to contribute to the development of what he refers to as the material language of the finished piece.

Ivan’s piece will sit alongside bespoke exhibition screens and seating in the new hospital, forming a creative exhibition space within the hospital’s main reception.

Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus by 2030, will unite world-class healthcare with cutting‑edge research to transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

Art is an integral part of the design for the new cancer research hospital and Ivan’s The Welcome is the first of several art commissions for the new building.

Elaine Chapman, Lead Advisory Nurse for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital said:

“Throughout my nursing career, I’ve seen how much the environment around us can shape how people feel when they come into hospital. Art has a unique ability to bring moments of calm, comfort and connection at what can be an incredibly difficult time. It can help ease anxiety, support wellbeing and give patients a greater sense of control in a place that can otherwise feel overwhelming.”

A reflective workshop, bringing together learning from the programme and open to all, will take place at Kettle’s Yard on Saturday 23 May. Book on the CUH Arts website.

There will also be a public exhibition of the Conversations with Clay workshops at the Addenbrooke’s Gallery, at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, from 17 June 2026.

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust are proud supporters of CUH Arts, the hospital’s arts for health programme, and actively fundraises to extend the reach and impact of this important programme. To find out more about supporting the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, click here.

We are delighted to report that the ground-breaking da Vinci Robotic System, made possible because of the generous support of ACT supporters back in 2023, has reached another milestone for Addenbrooke’s. A team from the hospital has successfully completed the most complex robotic procedure at the hospital to date – a pancreaticoduodenectomy, or Whipple’s procedure as it is known – and is the first time this procedure has been carried out robotically in the East of England. 

The Whipple’s procedure is likened to open heart surgery for the abdomen in terms of technical difficulty – and not one but two of these procedures were carried out within a matter of weeks at Addenbrooke’s, with both patients undergoing robotic assisted surgery to treat ampullary cancer (cancer at the bottom of the bile duct). 

Each operation took around eight hours to perform, and required two consultant surgeons jointly operating the robotic consoles – and despite the length and complexity of the operations, both patients expressed their surprise at their fast recovery, lack of pain and reduced scarring; some of the many benefits that made ACT so keen to fundraise for the surgical robot back in 2023. 

The milestone surgeries follow months of intense training and meticulous planning by teams at Addenbrooke’s to safely prepare for the procedures. Surgeons Mr Siong-Seng Liau (who anyone involved in the 2023 fundraising will be familiar with) and Mr Simon Harper completed additional robotic surgery courses, perioperative theatre staff did additional training, and a small team travelled to Amsterdam to observe live robotic Whipple’s procedures at a hospital specialising in complex pancreatic surgery. 

On top of this, consultant radiologist and clinical lead for MRI, Dr David Bowden modelled all the scans in 3D, to allow teams to visualise the anatomy, structures and tumours in advance and to guide the navigation of the robotic consoles. During the procedures, two external surgeons or ‘proctors’ oversaw the operations to ensure the highest safety standards were met. 

As the only centre in the East of England specialising in surgery of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts, performing a robotic Whipple’s procedure is a milestone for the region – and one that has been made possible through the support of everyone that fundraised and donated to ACT’s appeal in 2023. 

Robotic surgery was first introduced at Addenbrooke’s in 2005 – again following a successful fundraising appeal by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. A second da Vinci robot was unveiled in 2023 following our successful appeal where supporters donated over £1.5m! The da Vinci Xi dual console surgical systems have revolutionised patient care and surgical training for no less than six specialities at Addenbrooke’s – urology, gynae-oncology, gynaecology, colorectal, ENT (ear, nose and throat), and HPB (Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary – diseases of the liver, pancreas and biliary tree). 

The CUH Robotic Surgery Steering Group (RUG) worked with ACT and the Trust to set-up the multi-specialty robotic service. Chair of RUG and hepatobiliary surgeon, Mr Siong-Seng Liau said: “Since the introduction of multi-specialty robotic surgery at Addenbrooke’s more than three years ago, everything has been building up to this moment. The Whipple’s procedure is one of the most complex surgical procedures, so to have performed it robotically, safely and successfully, is hugely significant for the Trust and for our patients.”  

Consultant HPB and robotic surgeon Mr Simon Harper, who carried out the operations with Mr Liau, said: “While the Whipple procedure is lifesaving, it is technically challenging and associated with significant risks. It is testament to the meticulous planning, training and preparation by so many teams that we’ve performed it robotically for the first time at Addenbrooke’s. We are thrilled by the success of these surgeries and how well the patients have recovered.” 

Shelly Thake, Chief Executive of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust said: “Our supporters’ generosity in funding the surgical robot truly is the gift that keeps on giving. This remarkable achievement marks the first operation of its kind to be carried out in our region and is testament to how charitable funding can make an extraordinary difference to patient care and pioneering medical innovation. ACT is incredibly proud of what our community has enabled and the hospital teams that make these procedures possible.” 

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust’s (ACT) intrepid team of trekkers setting out on a Great Wall of China challenge to raise funds for two new pioneering hospitals in Cambridge includes one team member who is terrified of heights.

Other team members have personal stories as to why they are walking, special birthdays to commemorate and challenges to conquer along with a love of the charity – with two staff members joining the trek, ACT’s Head of Community Fundraising, Donna Lee-Willis, and Rebecca Beattie, Events and Public Campaign Manager.

All of them have one thing in common: to raise funds for ACT to help build two pioneering new hospitals in Cambridge – the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and Cambridge Children’s Hospital.

Flying out next month, the eleven team members – who so far have raised just over £28,000 between them but hope to hit £30,000 – will trek a remote section of the Great Wall of China, often referred to as one of the great wonders of the world.

The team will trek stretches of the wall, which have been built and restored over thousands of years, from Gubeikou to Jinshanling and Simatai. They’ll pass through wild and remote landscapes with views of rolling hills and mountain peaks and stay in guesthouses along the way to experience authentic Chinese culture.

The trek is rated as moderate to challenging with many steep uphill and downhill sections to contend with whilst carrying a daypack weighing between 6 and 7 kilogrammes.

In total the team, who will be flying out to China on 7 May, will complete just under 50 kilometres over five days, averaging about six hours a day. However, although the distances trekked appear short, due to the hilly terrain it can take 6-7 hours to trek just 5km, as ascent and descent ranges between 515 metres and 866 metres each day.

The trek is ACT’s first international challenge and will be raising money to help build both the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and the Cambridge Children’s 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 research institutes, embedded within the hospital, which focus 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.

Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be the first specialist children’s hospital for the East of England, the only region in the UK without one. Like the Cancer Hospital, it will be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s leading life sciences cluster, with construction due to be complete in 2030.  Once open, Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be unique in fully integrating mental and physical healthcare under one roof, alongside world-leading research solely dedicated to children’s health.

Spread over five floors, the new hospital will include 108 inpatient beds, 16 paediatric intensive care beds, 42 day-case beds, seven operating theatres, imaging and diagnostics, a hospital school and a 5,000 square metre University of Cambridge research institute.

Since signing up for the challenge, the inspirational team of trekkers have become quite close – meeting for training treks which have included going up and down the steps of a multi-storey car park in Cambridge as well as walks on Royston Heath. They have also organised their own personal training – with one team member, Sharon, from C4B Media, climbing the 674 steps of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Andrew, climbing Snowdon. The team have also met socially on several occasions, including a fundraising quiz night including family members.

Each team member has their own reason for signing up but probably the biggest surprise of all in sign-ups was Nick Ferguson, a lorry driver for Royal Mail, whose fear of heights is so bad he doesn’t even like climbing a ladder.

Nick blames ACT’s Donna, a family friend, for persuading him to sign up.

“I was in Ascot with Donna and she was talking about it and after a few beers, I thought it sounded like a great idea. It was a moment of craziness and I thought, why not? It’s a good thing to do something for charity but now it’s getting close, it’s getting more and more daunting. Right now, I’m as scared as anything.”

He says just looking up makes him feel sick and if he has to climb a triangular ladder with nothing to hold onto, he struggles. He said his wife has been showing him photos of sections of the trail which are just loose rubble – saying, “The last photo she showed me literally gave me the sweats. I definitely won’t be looking over the edge!”

As the Trek gets closer he gets more and more nervous, adding: “Driving around at night, obviously just me in the van with my thoughts, it’s literally all I’m thinking of.”

Nick, a father-of-four from Hertfordshire, said Donna has also managed to persuade him to run the London Marathon in the past too, joking, “That’s why I’m going to have to stop associating with her!”

Also in the team is Annie Ng, who works at Addenbrooke’s, and Sharon, Christine, Peter and Sarah from C4B Media, an official corporate partner at ACT.

They describe their support for ACT as ‘not just professional – it’s deeply personal’ after several members of the team have experienced first-hand the outstanding care and compassion of Addenbrooke’s over the years.

Creative Director, Sarah Kralj’s daughter, Cerys, was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and owes her life to the care she received at Addenbrooke’s – before birth, during delivery and in the critical months and years that have followed. Cerys is a member of the Cambridge Children’s Hospital Youth Forum and has been involved in a number of meetings and design workshops for the project, contributing to how the future hospital will operate, look and feel.

Managing Director Sharon Grocott is Cery’s aunt – and both Sharon, and mum Sarah, will be completing the trek to give back to Addenbrooke’s. Their fundraising events have included a pottery day, drag bingo and a pilates and prosecco event.

As well as ACT’s Donna, and Rebecca Beattie, the final team members are:-

• John Eagle, who works for the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie. He is also a patient and describes the care he and his family have received at Addenbrooke’s as ‘outstanding’.

• Maxine Farmer who took on the challenge to celebrate ‘a significant birthday’ last year.

• Andrew Walsh, who in addition to the trek is also doing 7 marathon distance walks in seven days, after signing up to raise money for Addenbrooke’s after hospital staff saved his life. After being involved in a serious car crash, the team saved him by finding and removing a 27mm lump in his thyroid.

Asked about some of the ‘most likely’, ‘least likely’ ‘most looking forward to’ moments, Donna says most likely to freeze at the top of the wall will be Nick; least looking forward to would be herself with two things – not being able to wash and dry her hair every day and having to carry nappy bags in the event they need the toilet as there aren’t any along the route and there are no bushes to hide behind!

But despite any concerns, Donna says everyone is really looking forward to their challenge.

“We are all absolutely determined to finish the Trek, even Nick with his fear of heights, because we all know what a difference the cancer research hospital and the children’s hospital will make to the region. If we have days when we are struggling all we will need to do is think of that and that will get us through.”

To read more about the Trekkers’ personal stories and to donate to their fundraising pages, click here.