Our Mission

Sir Bobby launched his Foundation in 2008 after a request for help from his oncologist Professor Ruth Plummer.

Professor Plummer was treating Sir Bobby as he faced cancer for the fifth – and what he knew would be the final time. She needed to raise £500,000 to equip a new cancer drug trials centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care in Newcastle upon Tyne and asked him if he knew anyone who might like to donate. Sir Bobby responded by launching a charity to get the money she needed. He described it as “like being at the helm of a team again.” What he called his last and greatest team.

In February 2009, Sir Bobby officially opened the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre.

How we do it

The charity is intrinsically linked, and is a fund within, the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Charity. The substantial support it receives from this local NHS charity means it can significantly limit administrative costs.

It does not employ professional fundraisers to pro-actively raise money and coordinate volunteers, has no fund-raising targets and relies completely on third party, volunteer fund-raisers and the incredible generosity of the general public.

The Foundation funds projects within the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that directly benefit cancer patients from across north east England and Cumbria – and which also contribute significantly to international research into the disease.

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