January Media Roundup

Sophie Pierce's Atlantic row challenge

We would like to wish our Trustee, Sophie Pierce, and her team good luck on their Atlantic Ocean row challenge. Last week, Sophie and her crewmates Polly, Miyah, and Janine set off on their incredible challenge to row 3200 miles from Lanzarote to Antigua.

Sophie and Janine are attempting to break world records on this trip. Sophie will be the first person with CF to row the Atlantic and Janine, 70, will be the oldest woman to complete this challenge. 

Sophie said: “For me, this row isn't just a crazy personal adventure, it's also a chance to reimagine the future of cystic fibrosis and bring hope that one day, everyone with CF will be able to cruise free through life.”

Team Cruising Free, will be raising money for the Trust, Emily's Entourage, and Paul Sartori, Hospice at Home. You can read more about the challenge here and on our website. 

Collaborative Discovery Programme (CDP)

There was further media coverage on the Collaborative Discovery Programme (CDP). Glox Therapeutics announced that they received funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Antimicrobial Resistance (CF AMR) Syndicate.

The funding will help with the development of antibiotics to treat CF related lung infections. 

Dr Paula Sommer, Head of Research and Partnerships, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: “For people with CF, lung infections can cause major disruptions to day-to-day life and may lead to permanent lung damage. These infections are hard to treat due to AMR, which is why we’re delighted to see the CF AMR Syndicate support these projects that will develop urgently needed new antimicrobial treatments for CF.”

You can read more about it here. 

Mitchell’s football fundraiser

Our supporter, Mitchell Smith sadly lost his brother Jordan to CF at the end of last year. Mitchell set up a charity football team in Peterborough to honour Jordan’s memory. The team played their first match and held a raffle on the day, which raised over a thousand pounds for the Trust.

Mitchell said: “Thank you everyone for your donations and well done to all the winners of the raffle. I am gobsmacked at this! The support in memory of our J was truly beautiful.”

We’d like to thank Mitchell for his generous donation and for raising awareness of CF. 

You can read Mitchell’s story here and watch our January media roundup video here.