Trust raises £800,000 for children’s cancer care

5 November 2008

The Adam Rogers Trust (ART) has raised £800,000 to fund a children’s cancer care team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

The Adam Rogers Care Team is being set up by ART and Addenbrooke’s in memory of Adam Rogers who was a patient on the Paediatric Oncology ward – Ward C2 – at Addenbrooke’s. Adam sadly died of a brain tumour in 2006 at the age of 13.

Addenbrooke’s is highly regarded for the excellence of care provided for its paediatric cancer patients; however, although core medical treatments are met from the hospital’s budgets, there is a real challenge to provide high levels of continuing care once the children leave hospital. The Adam Rogers Care Team will aim to provide a continuum of care from Addenbrooke’s to hospitals and local community teams in the region and to home, giving specialist therapies and psychological support allowing the best quality of life for the child and the whole family throughout their cancer journey.

The Trust raised £800,000, with invaluable support from UBS investment bank, to fund a team of specialists who will provide these services for three years, and Addenbrooke’s has given a commitment to continue funding the team after the initial three year start up period.

Funds raised came from private donations, corporate donations, charitable trusts and community fundraising, much of which was undertaken by Adam’s friends and pupils, parents and staff of schools including Holmwood House, Littlegarth, Uppingham and Oundle.

Major fundraising events included a London to Cambridge cycle ride in which 165 people took part raising £200,000, and a football competition involving 24 hours of five-a-side football hosted by the David Beckham Academy in London.

The football competition, which took place in September, involved 48 teams comprised of UBS staff and their clients, and also a team of staff from Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The teams played in London until 12 midnight GMT, when the games began with UBS teams in Singapore. At 3am GMT play recommenced in London.

A cheque for £100,000 was presented to Peter Dalton, Director of Fundraising at Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and Dr Denise Williams, Clinical Director of Children’s Services at Addenbrooke’s, on the trading floor of UBS in London. At which point a spontaneous auction took place, where a trader known for his expensive shoes was encouraged to take them off and auction them for the cause - he won the auction, buying his shoes back for £800!

The first interviews for The Adam Rogers Care Team take place on 6th November for the post of a Palliative Care Consultant. Addenbrooke’s expects the team to be in place and supporting patients and their families by March 2009.

Mark and Fiona said: “The staff at Addenbrooke’s were the rock we leaned on when Adam was a patient. The money we have raised will make a big difference to thousands of families. We can’t thank everyone enough, but in particular we would like to thank pupils, parents and staff of Holmwood House School, where Adam attended, for all their support. Without the enthusiasm and commitment of everyone involved we would never have reached this amazing goal.”

Dr Denise Williams, Clinical Director of Children’s Services at Addenbrooke’s, said: "Having a child diagnosed with cancer is devastating for any family. Trying to support their child, control their child's symptoms, juggle work, involve and care for the rest of the family often a long way from home is an added challenge. The Adam Rogers Care Team will make an enormous difference to so many patients treated at our unit, both while they are in hospital but also supporting them whenever possible to be in their own homes with their family. We are overwhelmed by the generosity and support of the Adam Rogers Trust and the many people who have been involved in all of the fundraising ventures. We are all very excited to be starting the recruitment process now and hope to have the team up and running in early 2009. All of us at Addenbrooke’s cannot thank you enough - this initiative will make a big difference to so many people"

More information about the Adam Rogers Trust and the Addenbrooke’s appeal can be found at www.adamrogerstrust.org.