We are grateful to our dedicated Campaign Board and network of Ambassadors who share our passion and commitment to making Cambridge Children’s Hospital a reality. They are working closely with our campaign team to achieve our philanthropic target of £100 million.
Dame Mary Archer DBE - Co-Chair
Dame Mary Archer started her career as a physical chemist and taught Chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge. She was previously Chair of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a Founding Director of Cambridge University Health Partners.
In 2012, she was appointed DBE for services to the NHS. Dame Mary is Chair of the Centre for Personalised Medicine, Oxford, Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and President of the National Energy Foundation, the UK Solar Energy Society, the Guild of Church Musicians, Cambridge Global Health Partnerships and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust.
Majid Jafar - Co-Chair
Majid Jafar is Co-Founder of the Loulou Foundation, a private non-profit UK foundation dedicated to advancing research in the understanding and development of therapeutics in the rare disease space.
His commitment to children's health is deeply personal. Following the diagnosis of their daughter, Alia, with CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD), a rare neurogenetic condition, Jafar and his wife, Lynn, became actively involved in advancing research and improving outcomes for children living with complex conditions. Together, they established the Loulou Foundation for advancing treatments and cures for CDD. Through its work, the Foundation has helped support scientific collaboration, translational research, and a growing ecosystem focused on accelerating therapeutic development. They also co-founded High Hopes, a Dubai-based paediatric therapy centre supporting children with complex special needs and their families.
Jafar is a strong advocate for bringing together clinical care, scientific discovery, and innovation to improve patient outcomes. He believes that advancing children's health requires more than excellence in medicine alone; it requires sustained investment in research, collaboration, and the institutions that enable discoveries to reach patients more quickly. His support for Cambridge Children's Hospital reflects a commitment to helping create an environment where world-class care and research work hand in hand to improve outcomes for children and families.
He is CEO of Crescent Petroleum, the Middle East’s oldest and largest private oil and gas company, and Vice-Chairman of the Crescent Group, with assets in energy, port management, logistics, venture capital, private equity, and other sectors.
Majid Jafar sits on various non-profit and advisory boards including of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Atlantic Council, and the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School, where he co-chairs the Discovery Council, the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre, and the MRC Centre for Human Neural Development (CHiLD) at Kings College London.
Majid Jafar graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering (Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics) and holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), and an MBA (with Distinction) from the Harvard Business School. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by UMass Chan Medical School.
Helen Pemberton
Helen Pemberton has worked with Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust to establish a strong network of over 50 Regional Ambassadors across the East of England to support the Campaign for Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
Helen also sits on The Marlay Group committee, the patrons’ group for the Fitzwilliam Museum, which raises vital funds to support projects within the museum. She enjoys taking on residential building projects and has completed several over the years.
Helen and her husband Richard live just outside Cambridge and have three teenage children. She jumped at the chance to be part of the Children’s Hospital Campaign Board, as a way to say thank you to Addenbrooke’s for patching up her children over the years.
Helen says it is a huge privilege to think that with the help of her ambassadors, they will be able to leave a legacy that will help generations of children across Cambridgeshire, the East of England, nationally and globally.
Kate Symondson
Kate is Head of Philanthropy for The Symondson Foundation, the philanthropic dimension of Alexander Square Partners, a family investment office. The Symondson Foundation is proud to be funders of Cambridge Children's Hospital's truly pioneering vision for integrating emotional and physical wellbeing in their treatment of children.
An experienced and passionate researcher, Kate's background is in academia, earning her PhD in English Literature at King’s College London, where she also taught undergraduates. She has a sprawling career as a writer of academic, educational and cultural pieces, as well as working as a freelance communications consultant for socially and community-minded organisations.
The foundation she runs is theme-agnostic, giving to UK-wide organisations working to combat and break inequitable systems. They focus on achieving long-term impact by funding organisations working either as opportunity makers or cycle breakers in social issues.
Kate is on the Board of Directors for Forward Global and co-chair of the London Ambassadors for Cambridge Children's Hospital. She is proud to join as a member of their Campaign Board.
Our Regional Ambassadors
We have ambassadors in every county in the East of England.
Our London Ambassadors
Lord Bilimoria
Lady Susan Hammond
Sir Ron Kalifa
Nitya Khemka
Dame Sue Langley
Nicholas Lyons
Lord Neuberger
Sir William Russell
Meenal Sachdev
Rishi Sachdev
Paul Staples