Cheffins has marked its 200-year anniversary by raising £212,000 for a brand new permanent playroom at Cambridge Children's Hospital.
The new specialist facility is bringing together mental and physical healthcare with world-leading life sciences research in a whole new way, treating mind and body as one. Once built, Cambridge Children's Hospital will be the first specialist children's hospital for the East of England, the only region in the UK without one.
Architect visualisations of what inside Cambridge Children's Hospital could look like
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZOmydg1Lg
Cheffins originally pledged £100,000 to Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT) for Cambridge Children's Hospital in 2025 during its bicentenary year (part of a larger £200,000 charity goal), but by more than doubling that amount, the extra funds raised will provide a significantly larger, purpose-built playroom in the new Children's Hospital which will become a space to support the wellbeing of children undergoing treatment for decades to come.
In addition to the financial contribution, Cheffins has also donated a toybox containing more than 200 toys, symbolising each year of the firm’s history. Collected across all Cheffins offices and donated by staff, the toys will be used by play teams at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the toybox itself will take pride of place in the Cheffins playroom once completed.
Bill King, Chairman of Cheffins, said:
“Celebrating 200 years in business gave us a unique opportunity to reflect upon our heritage and more importantly, to look forward and ask what kind of legacy we want to leave behind. We have been overwhelmed by the support our bicentenary campaign received."
Our staff showed extraordinary energy, creativity and commitment throughout the year, and thanks to them — alongside the generosity of our clients, partners and the wider community — we have been able to raise more than double our original target for the Children’s Hospital. The extra money raised means we can provide a significantly larger, purpose-built playroom which will have an even bigger impact for children and their families from the region and across the UK.
Bill King, Chairman of Cheffins
During the Cheffins fundraising campaign, members of our Cambridge Children's Network and Youth Forums delivered moving speeches at events about what play had meant to them in hospital - for entertainment, to help them more easily understand procedures, and a much-needed distraction.
Our Parent Advocate Kate, talked about how play had been a core part of her son's rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury. She said it helped him and his brother reconnect, saying "play became their language when there were no words."
Cambridge Children’s Hospital is a place for healing. But healing doesn’t just happen in surgery rooms and ICUs. It happens on soft mats with silly toys. In shared laughter. In the quiet triumph of throwing a ball at your brother for the first time. We’re building wards and theatres, but we also need to build a space for families to connect, and kids to reclaim childhood. We need to build a room for rehab in disguise; where recovery feels like play, and where play becomes recovery.
Kate, Parent Advocate
The property firm's fundraising activities throughout 2025 included the sale of their Charity Tractor - (opens in a new tab) which alone raised over £80,000 - plus an online charity auction featuring exclusive experiences, sponsorship of the Saffron Walden Carnival, staff participation in the Three Peaks Challenge, Cambridge Half Marathon, skydives, bake sales, rounders tournaments and the Cheffins Cycle Ride among many others.
Shelly Thake, Chief Executive of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, said:
“Working as closely as we have done with Cheffins this past year has been a fantastic experience for us and left us all with a lot of fond memories. Not only have they managed to exceed their ambitious fundraising target of £200,000 - but they have done so by throwing themselves into everything they’ve done with both passion and creativity.”
As attitudes towards healthcare provision continue to grow and evolve, we see more and more importance given to the mental wellbeing of patients. This pioneering new children’s hospital will be the first in the world to fully integrate the treatment of children’s mental and physical health, alongside world-leading research. By making this very generous donation to ACT, Cheffins will be part of an important legacy for years to come.
Shelly Thake, Chief Executive of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust
Shelly added: "We would like to thank everyone who was involved in fundraising for all their hard work and for taking us on what has proved to be a fun and memorable journey.”
Bill King, Chairman of Cheffins, said:
“From the Saffron Walden Carnival and Newmarket Bake Sale, to the Cheffins Cycle Ride, charity tractor sale and countless personal challenges, this campaign brought the whole firm together behind a shared purpose. While our bicentenary year may have ended, our commitment hasn’t.
“Our history gives us a strong foundation. But it’s how we adapt, innovate and support the communities around us which will define Cheffins for the next 200 years. We have really enjoyed working with ACT and will be continuing our partnership in order to continue to raise even more money for a fantastic cause.”
We will continue to fundraise throughout the hospital’s construction to ensure we make a meaningful difference when construction is complete in 2030.
Bill King, Chairman of Cheffins