Sir Bobby Robson’s life and career in football were defined by his toughness and his humanity. The same characteristics define the North East and its people, and Sir Bobby took them to the world playing and managing in Europe and North America.

The Sir Bobby Robson Institute will do the same for cancer treatments, it will be a catalyst for change, building on Newcastle’s growing international reputation in the field of cancer trials.

The Institute is a £30m project to establish a world-leading cancer trials hub in Newcastle, serving a northern regional catchment of 3.5m people and with a global impact. It will:

● Increase capacity for cancer trials in the North East by 50%

● Bring together early and late phase cancer trials under one roof, creating efficiencies in their ground-breaking work

● Improve patient experience and outcomes, in line with Sir Bobby’s vision

● Help attract and retain the best talent to the research and cancer care teams in the region

More than £28m has already been raised towards the project, and we need your support to raise the final £2m.

Sir Bobby Robson’s extraordinary life and vision inspired the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, and it now inspires this world-class project.

Elevating the city and the region to the global stage in cancer research, the new drugs and therapies developed in the North East will benefit people across the world.

The need:

● Since 2018/19, teams at the Freeman Hospital have conducted 180 studies, reaching 2300 patients

● The strength of the expertise of the unit is accredited by Cancer Research UK status

● However, 44% of early-phase and 39% of late-phase trials are currently being turned down

● 55 active studies, but 29 studies have been declined since 2022

● More than 50 patients currently on the waiting list to be part of trials

The vision:

● A £30m purpose-built facility proposed for the Freeman Hospital site

● A three-storey 1800m2 space dedicated to early- and late-phase cancer trials

● A 50% increase in Newcastle’s cancer trial capacity over five years, with space for an additional eight trials every year

The timeline for delivery:

● Technical design work beginning summer 2025

● Construction beginning summer 2026

● £10m fundraising complete, and £30m total secured, by spring 2027

● Institute opens in April 2028