The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
The Foundation is part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity who work with the Robson family and thousands of dedicated supporters to fund major pieces of equipment, national cancer initiatives and major studies into cancer.
We also fund specialist cancer posts in areas such as the Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer Unit at the Great North Children’s Hospital and at The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre at The Freeman Hospital, a world-leading centre for clinical trials of new drugs.
All donated funds benefit cancer patients in the North East, North Cumbria and North Yorkshire and play a significant role in international efforts against the disease – funding cutting-edge cancer treatment and innovative cancer support services.
Sir Bobby described his charity as his “last and greatest team.” He had no idea how large his team would grow, or how much it would go on to achieve.
It brings together all the clinical research staff who are working to improve cancer treatments into one purpose-built unit with a clinical treatment area, laboratory space for blood sample handling and offices for data collection and drug safety reporting.
The Centre offers patients access to early trials and potential new treatments and works closely with the Imaging Research Centre to improve diagnosis and study the effects of new drugs.
Often these are ‘first in human’ trials and the Centre’s dedicated staff also coordinate trials of drugs at later stages of development, working with the National Cancer Networks to ensure patients get offered the best options for treatment.
Every patient who goes on an experimental trial in the Sir Bobby Centre has terminal cancer and knows that standard treatment will not prove effective for them.
In some cases, patients are aware from the outset that the treatment they receive in the Centre will not benefit them at all – but that the information gained from their participation will help someone else facing cancer in the future. They are, as Sir Bobby put it, “utterly selfless and brave.”
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The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Centre
Constructed by the Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the Northern Institute for Cancer Research and Newcastle University, the Sir Bobby Robson Centre is at the forefront of research into cancer.
The centre is led by Professor Ruth Plummer MBE (pictured with Sir Bobby), NHS National Clinical Lead for Cancer Drugs and some of the UK’s top cancer specialists, in collaboration with Newcastle University.
As a result of these trials, life-extending treatments have already been rolled out globally, with more in the pipeline. Cancer trials change treatment and save lives, providing hope for patients who have exhausted existing options.
The Sir Bobby Robson Institute
Newcastle Hospitals Charity are launching our largest ever fundraising project, to raise funds to build a £30m centre at the Freeman Hospital dedicated to cancer research in Sir Bobby’s name.
The Sir Bobby Robson Institute will be a three-storey centre of excellence for early and late-phase cancer trials for the people of the North East, North Cumbria and North Yorkshire. Building will start in Spring 2026 with new facility opening in 2028.
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