charity Archives - Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust

This year’s 2024 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival raises a staggering £35k for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital

Posted on 12 September 202413 September 2024 by sarah.rastrick@act4addenbrookes.org.uk

This year’s 2024 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival blew fundraising expectations out of the water – with a staggering £35k raised for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH).

A total of 41 teams and over 600 competitors gathered along the riverbank at Fen Ditton for Saturday’s 18^th Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival – paddling 30ft Dragon Boats up the river in glorious sunshine.

As well as the races, bankside entertainment brought the crowds in – with lion dances from the Cambridge Chinese Community and family-friendly entertainment provided by sponsors, Illumina (pictured below), with fun activities such as strawberry DNA extraction, dress like a scientist with a walk-through Cambridge DNA history, face painting and flag making.

We were there too – in a tent full of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust staff and volunteers, with donations to our raffle and hook a duck all helping to boost our £14 million public appeal for the new specialist cancer hospital.

Saturday’s electric event raised £35,000 and all funds will be used in support of the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH). The hospital, which will be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus by 2029, will bring together clinical and research expertise in a new, world-class hospital, designed in partnership with staff and patients. It will detect cancer earlier, treat it more precisely, and save more lives.

A special shout out to all the teams who competed to raise money for the new hospital – and to Cambridge 105 for supporting us on the day with live interviews and the Cambridge Independent who were taking photos on the day.

Teams travelled from outside the county to take part in Saturday’s Festival – with winners of the best dressed competition, Mosses Arc, travelling down from outside Chester to celebrate their friend Paul’s 50^thbirthday. Following a Noah’s Arc theme their outfits came two by two – with everything from flamingos to leopards, giant furry rats and chickens. We’re not sure how they managed to row in them – but they looked great!

Thank you also to the teams with multiple entries including TWI Ltd; Ring; AstraZeneca; Huawei Technologies; and the Railway Arms.

ACT’s Natasha Robertson, Corporate Partnerships Manager, hailed the festival a huge success and said: “It was such a fantastic day with an amazing atmosphere. It was lovely to meet all the teams and having the CCRH project team competing, as well as on their stand, meant that everyone who came – whether they were competing or coming to join in the fun – could see the direct impact they were having by helping to raise money for the new cancer hospital.

“We are absolutely delighted to have raised £35,000. It’s been our best festival yet!”

**The overall winners were the Cosgrove Paddle Shifters**

Lucy Morton, Executive Director from organisers NewWave Events, said: “The 2024 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival was a complete success and the whole team at NewWave Events had a fantastic day with all the crews. The fundraising efforts resulted in a record-breaking amount being raised for ACT from this event and we’re eager to build on this further for 2025! Watch this space for more information about next year, with plans already starting we have lots of ideas and hopefully, we will be bringing the dragons back to the River Cam with a sell-out event for the 20^th year!’

Mark Robinson, VP and General Manager, UK and Ireland, and Northern Europe, Illumina said: “lllumina had an incredible day as sponsors of the 2024 Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival to raise vital funds for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust to build a specialist cancer hospital in Cambridge. Seeing families, friends, and local businesses come together to support their teams provided an amazing atmosphere for the day and made it extra special.”

Elaine Chapman, Lead Advisory Nurse for CCRH, joined the CCRH project team in their boat and said: “We were absolutely delighted to take to the waters to raise money for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. It was my third time in a race crew and probably the best event yet!”

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came out to support such an amazing cause which has led to an incredible £35K raised for our future facility, that is bringing world-leading research and clinical excellence together, to change the lives of cancer patients across the UK and beyond.”

“We’re involving patients and staff at every stage of our project, so it was incredibly fun and rewarding to have our patients with us racing on the River Cam for CCRH.”

ACT would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all the teams taking part on the day. We hope to see you return next year for an even bigger, better festival with funds from next year’s festival again going towards our £14 million public appeal to help build the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

Click here if you would like to donate to Cancer services at Addenbrooke’s and the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

Email our friendly fundraising team and find out what you can do to support our hospitals.

Tattoo artist takes part in Charity Flash Day to raise awareness of testicular cancer

Posted on 22 July 202422 July 2024 by Danni Smith

Tattoo artist Bobbie Lee is using a charity flash day at the Cambridge studios where he works to raise awareness of testicular cancer after being diagnosed with the disease at just 32 years old.

Bobbie, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November last year, underwent surgery at Addenbrooke’s in December.

He has since been given the all-clear but has regular check-ups every two months and has to return for regular blood tests and CT scans.

Although testicular cancer is rare, it is the most common cancer in men aged between 15 and 49, with around 2,400 men diagnosed each year in the UK. According to Cancer Research UK, the most common symptom of testicular cancer is a lump or swelling.

Testicular symptoms to look out for include: a lump or swelling in part of one testicle; a testicle that gets bigger; a heavy scrotum; discomfort or pain in your testicle or scrotum.

All Known Tattoo Collective, a multi-award-winning tattoo studio in Hills Road, Cambridge where Bobbie works, has organised a charity flash day on Saturday 17^th August, with walk-in appointments.

Seven of the team’s award-winning tattooists will be there on the day, with doors open from 10am to 6pm. Cambridge bar Vodka Revs is hosting a pop-up bar, with food, between 12 noon and 5pm, with merchandise on sale on the day.

Proceeds will go to Addenbrooke’s Hospital via Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. As the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, our supporters raise funds to help make the hospitals even better by funding cutting-edge research, innovations and high-tech equipment, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.

Bobbie, whose cancer was diagnosed early, says he is keen to take away some of the stigma around talking about testicular cancer – and remind men to check their bodies.

“It is a little embarrassing to talk about as it is testicular cancer but I would rather talk about it than not as it is more about raising awareness. I spoke to my dad about it and he said he wouldn’t have gone to the doctor as he would have been too embarrassed but that’s why it’s important to talk about it and to remind men to check their bodies.”

Bobbie, who has one friend the same age currently undergoing treatment for testicular cancer and a second, in his 20s, who has been given the all-clear, said: “I didn’t have any of the more obvious signs like swelling or pain, I only had a little discomfort, so it’s really important to check out anything you might be worried about.”

He has been working as a tattoo artist for 14 months, describing his style as ‘colour work, neo traditional, cartoon style, with lots of ducks’, and says he now talks to his customers about his cancer too.

“I normally make jokes about it to be honest and have a bit of banter because if you are miserable about it, it’s not good. But if I am tattooing someone for a long time, it can get a little uncomfortable as you have to lean forward a bit when you tattoo so I can feel where my scar is, so I explain to customers why I need to get up and walk about.”

Bobbie’s diagnosis came after he found what he thought was a lump in his left testicle but having then been told there was nothing there he asked to be referred as he was concerned something still wasn’t right.

An ultrasound scan at Addenbrooke’s Hospital picked up something in his other testicle and on further investigations it was discovered that Bobbie did have testicular cancer. Shortly after diagnosis, Bobbie underwent surgery to remove his right testicle and he was given the all-clear.

Early diagnosis prevented him having to undergo any other forms of treatment such as chemotherapy and now Bobbie is keen to give back to Addenbrooke’s, whose staff, he said, were amazing.

“When I woke up in the recovery room after surgery, I was talking to one of the nurses and she had a few things going on in her life and she looked visibly upset and I just thought, she is still coming in to help people even though she still has her own stuff going on, so if I can raise awareness and raise some money for Addenbrooke’s at the same time that would be great.”

Studio owners Kyle Warwick and Alex Hugianu were keen to support Bobbie’s fundraising efforts and opened their studio up for a charity flash day, producing a short film to talk about Bobbie’s story and promote the day. The video can be viewed below.

Kyle, who started out as a graffiti artist before becoming a tattoo artist, gained notoriety after his tribute to British physicist, Stephen Hawking, on a permission wall in Cambridge caught the attention of local media.

He usually gets booked up five to six months in advance and has customers coming to see him from across the UK, including firefighter, Ray, who was adding Kyle’s drawing of Kasabian’s Serg on his leg after an earlier design by Kyle showcasing football manager Jürgen Klopp.

Alex, whose designs are described as ‘black and grey geometric’, started tattooing in Romania, aged 14. Welcoming the chance to give back to Addenbrooke’s she said: “We are all really excited about the charity flash day and just want to help however we can.”

Donate to the All Known Tattoo Collective Just Giving page.

If you would like to make a difference and fundraise for ACT, click here for a selection of events you can sign up to. Alternatively, email: fundraising@act4addenbrookes.org.uk

Fundraising brings company ‘happiness in spades’

Posted on 3 June 202413 June 2024 by Danni Smith

Here, James Stevens, Founder and CEO of Cambridge Commodities, which provides nutritional ingredients across a variety of industries, talks about the positive impact that fundraising has had on his staff.

James, who founded his company working out of his parents’ spare bedroom at just 21 years of age, has since grown the company to the size it is today – with a global workforce of 170 staff, with offices in Ely, Sacramento and the Netherlands.

The company, however, didn’t start raising money for charity until its 20^th year.

“I really wanted to raise £20,000 for charity in our 20^th year so started looking for a charity. Somebody wrote down Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and it just stood out. It’s the perfect charity for a business of our location and size and it touches the hearts of every single member of staff. We all know someone who has either been admitted to the hospital or visited somebody there. All my children were born in the Rosie.”

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) is the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals, and money raised by our supporters help make the hospitals even better by funding cutting-edge research, innovations and high-tech equipment, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.

One of the reasons for picking ACT as its charity was to be able to see the direct impact of all their fundraising efforts, James says – something that has happened on several occasions already with different members of staff, including Emily, the firm’s EU Account Manager, whose two-year-old Ayda was born in the Rosie just after Christmas.

Emily had helped other members of staff to wrap Christmas presents which ACT funded to be distributed to patients on Christmas Day. Emily, who had been booked to have a C-Section on New Years’ Eve, went into labour early and was admitted to the Rosie on Christmas Eve.

“I was in hospital on Christmas Day waiting to give birth so I received one of the Christmas presents that ACT had funded; some hand cream and body lotion, which was a really thoughtful present. Something like that just makes you feel supported and reassured that people are thinking of you and trying to make you feel better about being in hospital over Christmas, when you don’t want to be.”

Another member of staff to see the direct impact of their fundraising efforts was Natalie Scott Paul, the firm’s Head of Payroll, who organises the Annual Christmas Ball with finance manager Carly Purell.

“As one of our things we wanted to do, staff chose to pay the salary of a play therapist. That year my daughter was admitted to Addenbrooke’s, and the play therapist came to see her while she was waiting to be seen. I texted everyone at work and said, ‘we did that!’”

Staff have taken part in, or organised, a range of activities or events – from wrapping Christmas presents for patients to competing in the Cambridge Half Marathon to handing out daffodils to hospital staff at Easter.

“We were handing out daffodils to staff as they were leaving work for the day,” James said, “and to see the smiles on their exhausted faces, you cannot describe how good that feels. To see them all leaving and to be able to say thank you is amazing. I think we all had a little cry when we got home that day.”

The firm has organised other events themselves – from cake bakes to a cyclathon (24 hours of cycling); a Walking Challenge where staff had to walk the equivalent in miles from their office in Ely to their office in Sacramento (over 5,000 miles which they managed to more than double) as well as their annual Christmas Ball, which after five years is soon expected to top half a million pounds raised.

ACT’s Corporate Partnerships Manager Natasha Robertson said companies who would like to join forces with the charity can get involved in a number of different ways, from making one-off donations to choosing ACT as its Charity of the Year.

“Most of the companies that we work with have a connection with the hospitals and find fundraising a really worthwhile, bonding experience. Employees can organise their own fundraising events or take part in some of the fun events that we organise throughout the year, including the Dragon Boat Race and the Cambridge Half Marathon.”

“We have a diverse range of companies across sectors that are fundraising on our behalf and as we continue to grow.”

As for James, he says fundraising gives his staff an enormous sense of pride as well as helps him get to know employees in areas of the business he wouldn’t normally interact with. It also helps with recruitment.

“We have people saying they chose us as an employer because we had a relationship with a charity.”

For any company thinking of becoming a corporate supporter for ACT, James has this to say, “You just need to find the time to do it but that time is paid back in spades through the happiness of your staff.”

Find out more about our corporate partnerships here. If your company is able to support ACT and is looking to make a real difference, please email Natasha at: Natasha.Robertson@act4addenbrookes.org.uk.

Click here to find out more about fundraising for the hospital.