Cambridge's college walk raised more than £57,000 on 13 September, its 26th year. The money splits equally between the hospice and Romsey Mill.

More than 2,000 people walked through six Cambridge colleges on Sunday 13 September and raised over £57,000 for two local charities.

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity has now published the total for the 26th Bridge the Gap. The money is split equally between the hospice and Romsey Mill, which works with children, young people and families across Cambridgeshire. On the figure announced so far, that is roughly £28,500 each.

The charity is clear that £57,000 is not the final number. It covers registrations and the sponsorship already collected. The organisers say the total is expected to rise over the coming weeks as outstanding donations come in.

We previewed the walk on 4 September. This is what it brought in.

The day, by the numbers

  • More than 2,000 walkers, starting and finishing on Parker’s Piece.
  • Six colleges on the route: Jesus, St John’s, Trinity, Gonville & Caius, Queens’ and Downing.
  • 150 volunteers marshalled the route, registered walkers and ran the cake tents.
  • 20 volunteers from the Society of Cambridge Tourist Guides were stationed along the way to explain the colleges as walkers passed them.
  • 146 people from The Cambridge Building Society took part or helped on the day. Their Spin the Wheel prize draw raised over £500 on top.

The Cambridge Building Society has been headline sponsor for 18 years. Cambridge University Press and Assessment and the Rotary Club of Cambridge also sponsored the event. That sponsorship covers the running costs, which is why every pound raised from registrations and walker sponsorship goes to the two charities rather than to the event.

Last year’s walk, the 25th, raised more than £53,000 from 2,156 walkers. The charity gave an exact headcount then and has not given one this year, so the two turnouts cannot be compared precisely. The money is up by about £4,000.

Across all 26 years, the charity puts the running totals at more than £860,000 raised by over 51,000 walkers since the first walk in September 2001.

Why the hospice needs it

This is the part the day’s coverage tends to leave out, and it is the reason the figure matters more this year than last.

In September 2025 the hospice announced that Cambridge University Hospitals was ending £829,000 of annual funding. That money, paid since 2018, let patients at the end of life move out of Addenbrooke’s and into the hospice. Losing it would have cut the Inpatient Unit from 21 beds to 12, and the charity said over 200 people a year would lose the option of dying at the hospice rather than in an acute hospital.

Donations bought time rather than a solution. The charity’s Protect Our Care page now says the nine threatened beds can stay open for a further 12 months, until March 2027, because of what the community gave. Chief executive Sharon Allen called it “a welcome but temporary reprieve for twelve months”. The same page says the nine beds are vulnerable to closure again from April 2027.

Against that, the scale of a walk becomes clearer. The charity’s own funding page says its services will cost over £14.7 million to run in 2026/27. Contracted NHS services are budgeted at £7.4 million. The remaining £7.3 million has to be raised from donations, fundraising, shops, the conference centre and the bistro.

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity funding, 2026/27 Running the charity's services costs over 14.7 million pounds in 2026/27. Contracted NHS services are budgeted at 7.4 million pounds. The remaining 7.3 million pounds must be raised from donations and trading. The hospice's half share of Bridge the Gap so far is about 28,500 pounds. Half the hospice's money has to be raised, every year Cost of running Arthur Rank Hospice Charity services in 2026/27: over £14.7 million £7.4m £7.3m contracted NHS services donations, fundraising, shops and trading about £28,500 the hospice's half of Bridge the Gap so far, or 0.4% of the £7.3m it must raise Source: Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, 'How we are funded' and the Bridge the Gap result release, 18 September 2026. Graphic by Cam News
A single large event covers a fraction of one per cent of the annual fundraising target. The hospice needs many of them.

What it means for you

If you want to give or take part, these are the next concrete things on the calendar, taken from the charity’s own pages.

  • Cambridge to Ely Trek, Sunday 21 March 2027. Registrations are open. It is about 17 miles along the Fen River Way, starting in Cambridge city centre with arrival from 8am and an 8.30am start, finishing in Ely. The charity puts it at six to seven hours for most walkers, and up to nine.
  • The cost is a £25 registration fee plus a commitment to raise at least £150. The minimum age is 16, and 16 and 17 year olds need a parent or guardian with them. Dogs are not allowed on this one. Details are on the Cambridge to Ely Trek page.
  • Bridge the Gap donations are still open. The organisers say the 2026 total will keep rising as sponsorship is banked, so money handed in now still counts towards it.
  • The hospice’s events team is on 01223 675888 or events@arhc.org.uk.
  • Romsey Mill takes donations directly through its own site.

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity cares for over 3,750 patients a year at the hospice in Cambridge, at the Alan Hudson Centre in Wisbech and in people’s own homes. Its services are free to patients and families.

More Cambridge coverage: what’s on in Cambridge, Cambridge planning applications and bin collection days.

Sources: Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, “Cambridge’s Bridge the Gap walk raises more than £57,000 for local charities”, 18 September 2026; “Record breaking 25th annual city walk raises more than £53,000”, 16 September 2025; “Arthur Rank Hospice announces news of devastating funding cuts”; Protect Our Care; How we are funded; and the Cambridge to Ely Trek event page.