Charities 2026 - CarFest

Help CarFest at Silverstone transform children’s lives

In 2026, CarFest is moving to Silverstone Circuit, the home of British motorsport for a family festival unlike any in the world. Created in 2012 by Chris Evans with the sole purpose of raising money for charity partners, over the past 14 years, CarFest has raised more than £28m for UK charities. Now, with your incredible support, we can raise even more!

10% of every CarFest ticket and 100% of profits will go to supporting a wide range of UK charities, along with money raised through on-site fundraising initiatives at CarFest 2026.

Not only that, this year Motorsport fans and those who visit Silverstone will also have the chance to donate via a range of methods, including when purchasing tickets to popular events, such as the British Grand Prix.

In 2026 funds raised through CarFest tickets sales will continue to be donated to our charity partners:

50%

Will go to

BBC Children in Need*

7%

Will go to each of the following:

Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Epilepsy

15%

Will be distributed to local Northamptonshire charities and initiatives in the surrounding areas (yet to be announced)

Keep an eye out for more news about how you can get involved by signing up to our newsletter.

For more information on the Solicitation Statement, please click here.

LET’S MEET THE CHARITIES

Click the logo to find out more about the charity and their ambassador for 2026

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BBC CHILDREN IN NEED

BBC Children in Need’s mission is to help ensure every child in the UK should have the opportunity to thrive and be the best they can be.

Our ambition is to create positive and lasting change across the UK for the children and young people who need us most. We raise money both throughout the year and in our annual November appeal and we fund local charities and projects who help remove the barriers that are facing children and young people, so that they can thrive. We do this by investing in positive relationships that strengthen children’s wellbeing and help them navigate the challenges in their lives.

We fund 1,800 local charities and projects which directly support children and young people in communities right across the UK. We support children and young people affected by a whole range of disadvantages such as poverty, disability, illness, distress or trauma. Together with the BBC and our partners we tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the UK’s children and young people today, including: mental health and wellbeing, violence impacting young people, child sexual exploitation, holiday hunger; access to employment, and social injustice.

MEET THOMAS

Fourteen-year-old Thomas from Surrey was born with multiple health conditions, including a cleft lip and palate, a visual impairment and scoliosis. When he was a baby, his mum and dad came across Cleft Lip and Palate Action (CLAPA) who have been supporting Thomas and his family ever since.

CLAPA get funding from BBC Children in Need to provide support and activities to children with a cleft lip and palate. They’ve helped Thomas as a baby with specialist feeding bottles, and as he grew up, they provided advice and guidance and fun residential trips. CLAPA have also supported Thomas every time he’s had an operation on his cleft, to help him feel at ease and know what to expect.

As Thomas has got older, he’s become part of CLAPA’s Children’s and Young People’s Council, doing face-to-face workshops and helping to create resources like surgery guides and nurse training. He thinks it’s important that young people with cleft have a voice and use their own experiences to help others, because things like hospitals and operations can be scary.

Thomas says, “I’ve been involved with the Cleft Lip and Palate Action, as part of the Children and Young Person’s Council since I was 10. I’ve been editor of the Cleft Youth annual magazine. I’ve participated in zoom training with Cleft Nurses. I’ve been on Camp CLAPA. And more recently we’ve been working on a new podcast.

Thomas firmly believes that young people should have a voice around their medical treatment and supports the aim of the CYPC, which is to make sure that no young person goes through their cleft journeys alone, to raise awareness about cleft, and support young people.

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ELLEN MACARTHUR CANCER TRUST

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust uses sailing and outdoor adventures to inspire young people aged 8-24 living through and beyond cancer to believe in a brighter future. For many young people, simply picking up where they left off before their diagnosis just isn’t possible. So, when treatment ends, the Trust’s work begins.

The friendships they make, the acceptance they find, boundaries they push, independence they gain, and the skills they learn help every young person discover what they are capable of again and stop feeling like ‘the only one’. Any young person who has been treated for cancer from across the UK can join the Trust for a transformational four-day sailing experience from Cowes on the Isle of Wight or Largs on Scotland’s West Coast. Many young people need support over time too, so once a young person has been sailing with the charity, they can return for more sailing or outdoor adventures.

Because of the Trust, young people start to re-establish their purpose and place in the world, they feel their mental wellbeing improve, and they are inspired to believe in a brighter future.

MEET RAVI

When Ravi was just six years old, his life changed overnight. Diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma, a tumour on his brain stem, he was rushed to hospital where he underwent ten hours of surgery. The year that followed was filled with rehabilitation and endless appointments, and Ravi was left with facial palsy, hearing and sight loss on one side, a hand tremor affecting his left hand, and ataxia, a balance condition that makes even walking in a straight line a challenge.

Returning to school was hard. He missed lessons for appointments and further surgeries, and his facial palsy deeply affected his confidence, leaving him angry and frustrated. One of his biggest struggles was feeling like adults were making life-changing decisions without him having any say.

That’s where the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust came in. The sailing adventure gave Ravi something he hadn’t felt in years: independence. Away from his family, making his own decisions and spending time with other young people who truly understood what he’d been through, he finally felt back in control.

Now 11, Ravi’s tumour is stable and he is focused on adapting and pursuing everything he dreams of. The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust sailing adventures are there for young people who are ready to look beyond their diagnosis and towards a brighter future. As Ravi would say: “Don’t be scared. You’ll get great support, have amazing experiences, meet wonderful people and take back some control in your life.”

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RAINBOW TRUST CHILDREN’S CHARITY

For nearly 40 years, Rainbow Trust has been supporting families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness. They pair each family with a dedicated Family Support Worker who provides expert practical and emotional support to the whole family: the sick child, siblings, parents, carers and grandparents. Family Support Workers become a trusted and constant person in family life, helping wherever it is needed: from hospital visits and school runs to sitting in silence or holding space for grief. The Family Support Workers help families feel less isolated, helping them to navigate their new normal.

When a family is facing the unimaginable, that their child is so seriously ill they might die, they need more than hope. They need someone who shows up and stays. Rainbow Trust ensures that no family should face this alone. Family Support Workers enable families to make the most of time together, providing support wherever it is needed and for as long as it is needed, from diagnosis, treatment and, if needed, through bereavement.

MEET LUKE

Last year, 14-year-old Luke complained of a swollen sore neck. Lindsey, his grandma, took him to Darlington Hospital where he had an ultrasound and blood tests.

Lindsey said: “we were called into a room, and there were a lot of doctors. A nurse took Luke out of the room, so I had an awful feeling that we were going to be told something not very nice. And she said that they thought he had lymphoma.”

Luke was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, a cancer of the blood.

Family Support Worker Monica began supporting the family in May 2024, providing Lindsey with respite and helping Luke with his social development, isolation and anxiety.

When Luke was diagnosed, life changed dramatically for the whole family. Luke endured intensive chemotherapy, multiple blood and platelet transfusions, he had to stay in hospital for long periods of isolation and had to leave school because of the treatment.

Lindsey became his primary carer, alongside caring full time for Luke’s mum, Laura, who is disabled. Their lives became a relentless cycle of hospital visits and treatments.

Luke couldn’t go out, couldn’t go to school or see friends like other children his age for 10 months.

Monica has been supporting Luke as he adjusts to going back to school after spending so long at hospital and home. She takes him out of the house, helping him to have some much-needed fun and socialise with different people, including other seriously ill children, helping with his anxiety and social development.

Luke said: “When they told me I had cancer we all burst out crying. Family Support Worker Monica is the nicest person I’ve met. Monica makes me laugh and it makes me happy to be around different people. Rainbow Trust has made a very big difference in my life after the isolation I’ve been through.”

Luke is now in the maintenance stage and will continue to receive chemotherapy treatment every two weeks until January 2027.

Before Family Support Worker Monica started supporting them the family struggled as they felt like they had no one they could go to for help and support. Monica’s practical and emotional support gives Lindsey respite and a chance to do some essential household tasks and paperwork.

A Family Support Worker like Monica can help in numerous ways, tailoring their support to the specific needs of each family. This has a positive impact at the time of a family’s most traumatic situation.

For Lindsey, Monica is a stable presence that she knows she can rely on whenever she needs support.

Lindsey said: “The last 11 months have been horrendous for Luke. Before Rainbow Trust I felt like we didn’t really have anybody to reach out to. It’s been really good for Luke, because for the last 11 months, he spent all of his time with me, his mum and auntie. It is lovely for him to get out with Monica and do something enjoyable, meeting other people, and socialising rather than just being around us all the time.”

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TEENAGE CANCER TRUST

Every day, seven young people aged 13-24 hear the words “you have cancer”. Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to providing the specialised nursing care and support they need to get through it. Cancer doesn’t just devastate a young person’s health. It threatens to take away everything they care about – their identity, their independence, and their dreams. Teenage Cancer Trust makes sure young people have someone in their corner right from the start. We fund specialist nurses, youth support teams and hospital units within the NHS to provide the very best care and support during treatment and beyond, making sure cancer doesn’t stop young people living their lives.

Please visit www.teenagecancertrust.org to find out more or to donate please visit donate.teenagecancertrust.org Teenage Cancer Trust is a registered charity: 1062559 (England & Wales), SC039757 (Scotland). www.teenagecancertrust.org

MEET ZAK

Zak was 16 when he was diagnosed with Acute promyelocytic leukaemia in April 2025. Running up to his diagnosis, his gums were bleeding, he had headaches, fatigue, nausea and sickness and he’d have two or three nose bleeds a day.

After being diagnosed with cancer, he met Claire and Jax, Teenage Cancer Trust’s Clinical Nurse Specialists. They supported Zak, but also his family who were reassured to know that they had Claire and Jax’s work mobile numbers so they could contact them if they were worried about anything.

When his treatment became unbearable, Claire and Jax asked my consultant whether he could half the dose. They also checked in on him every day as they knew it was affecting his mental health.

Zak was supposed to be having chemo over Christmas but Claire and Jax were able to sort it so that he wouldn’t be in hospital over Christmas.

He went to Teenage Cancer Trust events and met other young people who were going through similar experiences, which helped him.

He also liked having a unit especially designed for teenagers, with a pool table and exercise bike, and having his own room where people can stay.

He finished treatment in January.

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STARLIGHT

Starlight is the UK’s leading charity for children’s play in hospitals and hospices. Evidence shows that play has the power to reduce fear, pain and trauma during treatment and recovery from illness – boosting mental and physical health and resilience. We work to ensure every child has the opportunity, space and time to experience play. We also undertake research and campaign to ensure children’s right to play is protected and provided for. This means campaigning for more and better, fully funded play services and play practitioners to be recognised and embedded within the NHS.

MEET FILLY

Filly was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was three and a half years old. After weeks of being ill with a number of symptoms from a cough to a high temperature, she was rushed to A&E a week before Christmas when her condition deteriorated. On 23 December, the bone marrow biopsy confirmed she had cancer.

That Christmas, the whole family (parents and 7-year-old sister) stayed at the hospital. A member of the play team assured Filly and her sister that Santa knew the way to the hospital and ensured both children did not miss out on Christmas festivities or presents.

Throughout the years of treatment, Lyndsey, Filly’s mum, recalls how the play team used therapeutic play during hospital appointments and stays so Filly could understand, at an age-appropriate level, what was happening to her. They used Chemo Duck to demonstrate a central line and gave her a syringe to practise on her duck. The health play professionals were proactive about the subject of hair falling out and played with Filly with Barbies, wigs, hats and bandanas. They were always there ready to play or distract whenever she needed blood tests or a transfusion.

“That holistic care – wrapping around us as a family – was just as important as the medical treatment. Cancer felt like an area where getting it wrong meant kids became institutionalised. And cancer steals so much. But from the beginning, I was determined it would not steal Filly’s childhood. It wasn’t going to steal her spirit or her freedom. Play was about keeping it light, protecting her childhood so she didn’t become an institutionalised patient. And she didn’t. Play supported Filly and minimised her distress.” Filly’s mum Lyndsey

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YOUNG EPILEPSY

Epilepsy in childhood can be frightening, isolating and is often misunderstood. We stand up for children and young people with epilepsy. We campaign for children’s rights. We provide innovative tools, information, and practical support for living everyday life. We coordinate world renowned research into the causes and treatments of epilepsy and deliver cutting edge health services. You can help create a society in which children and young people with epilepsy thrive.

Together we create possible.

MEET JAMIE

Jamie was diagnosed with epilepsy last year at the age of 10. It began with absence seizures - brief moments where Jamie would appear vacant, often unnoticed at first. The absence seizures quickly became more frequent, happening multiple times a day and disrupting Jamie’s school and everyday life.

Over the following months, Jamie’s seizures evolved. What started as absences progressed into focal seizures, each bringing new challenges and uncertainty. It was the beginning of a long and difficult journey.

For Jamie and his family, there have been many challenges with different medications, side-effects, and setbacks. For a long time, nothing seemed to fully control the seizures. Then, in August last year, everything escalated when Jamie experienced his first tonic-clonic seizure – the most recognisable seizure type – causing him to drop to the floor and convulse. After that, Jamie’s seizures became more severe and more frequent, sometimes occurring a couple of times a week.

It was a frightening and exhausting period for Jamie, in his final year of primary school and trying to cope with the constant changes physically and emotionally. Due to the complex nature of epilepsy, the right medication and dosage can take time to pinpoint as everyone is different. Eventually, the right combination of medications was found, and things began to improve for Jamie.

Jamie and his family found Young Epilepsy, the only national charity dedicated to children and young people living with epilepsy in the UK and used the self-referral service to match Jamie with Stephen, one of Young Epilepsy’s dedicated Youth Support Coordinators. With regular one-to-one support from Stephen, Jamie has managed to get through a turbulent time, even stopping to take on challenges to raise money for the charity – walking 50 miles in October! The charity also connected Jamie with other children living with epilepsy through their virtual youth clubs, crucially providing connections with other young people that ‘get it’.

Today, Jamie is three months seizure-free - a milestone that once felt out of reach.

Through everything, Jamie has shown incredible resilience. Now, as a Young Epilepsy’s CarFest ambassador, he is using his voice to raise awareness, share his journey, and support other children facing epilepsy.