Who Has Project Cambridge Supported & Impacted?

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 Following the announcement of the tragic fundraising cuts, Project Cambridge Founder, Jen Richardson was inspired to organise a charity skydive fundraising event.

We were passionate about not only raising money, but also highlighting this cause.

In April 2026, 16 people representing Project Cambridge completed a tandem skydive from 15,000 feet.

We persuaded politicians, C-suites and well-known figureheads from the Cambridge ecosystem to join us in completing a freefall at an exhilarating speed of 125mph for over 60 seconds, before floating down for 5 minutes.

CEO, Sharon Allen OBE said, "Thank you once again Jen Richardson, Project Cambridge and to all our jumpers for your fantastic support. Thank you also to everyone who donated - please keep it coming, we need to be here for the long term."

This donation will support the hospice to keep all of their inpatient beds open.

We also gained the generous support of Cambridge Wireless and The Liberal Democrats, as well as our volunteer photography team, Henry Field & Paul Beastall.

 Standing up and presenting to a group of people can be flipping daunting.

Now imagine the audience are all adults, and you are 11 or 12 years old.
 

 The Young Pathfinders Programme is an eight-week innovation challenge delivered in partnership with Innovate Cambridge, and East West Rail (EWR) & MWJV (a joint venture of Mott MacDonald and WSP, delivery partners for EWR). 

Working in teams of four, students identified real problems faced by young people in Cambridge and developed genuine solutions. They pitched their innovations Dragons’ Den-style to a panel of Cambridge entrepreneurs and industry leaders. 

Jen was invited by Innovate Cambridge to support the programme as an Entrepreneur Mentor, including giving a talk and also working individually with the 5 groups.

This was such an impactful programme to be involved with, along with Jess Fishman MCMI ChMC, Kathryn Chapman, Tabitha Goldstaub, Inge Hunter, Agnieszka Iwasiewicz-Wabnig FRSA, Derek Jones, Lucy Jung, Jason Mellad, Vanessa McNiven, Pashiini Supramaniam, Gemma Cranston and Becky Gardner. 

Photo credit: Angelynn Zhang

We were invited by the team at Cambridge Wide Open Week to lead one of the popular 'Punt Conversations' river tours in a theme of our choice.

We decided that in the midst of a huge variety of talks and lectures, we wanted to do something that was fun, interactive, inclusive and educational - embracing the 'community' vibe that #CWOD stands for.

We also recognised that a 'lunchtime' slot would offer a more relaxed setting for people to enjoy as they perhaps take a break from the indoor talks.

Making in multiple choice allowed for everyone to 'have a go' and including a mix of questions on Cambridge, Science and #CWOW allowed for us to send everyone back onto dry land with a bit more knowledge than they stepped onto the punt with!

The quiz proved to be highly popular - it would have been wonderful if we could have squeezed everyone into the punt wanted to take part - hopefully one day we will organise something similar on a larger scale!

Photo credit: Henry Field

We're keen to support young people to help them gain experience and skills and we also recognise how value their input is, too!

In fact, we couldn't have completed some of our projects without them!

The Project Cambridge Show operates on a tiny budget and we want to be as sustainable as possible and also make episodes that come from different angles.

That is why we are always looking for young people to help us with interviewing, storytelling, filming, sound, photography and editing.

Thanks to Henry, Drew and Lauren who have been an important part of the crew. 

Check out the link to see more of Henry's work outside of his studies.

Form The Future champions young people in and around Cambridge by connecting schools and employers to shape tomorrow’s workforce.

With more time to volunteer, Jen joined Form The Future as an Ambassador, to help young people to discover and prepare for opportunities in the high-growth sectors on their doorstep.

Jen's experience in recruitment within the technical and scientific sectors have been particularly useful in advising students on career guidance as well as providing practical support through 'mock interviews', 'career carousels'.

Jen has also been able to share her own lived experience of education and growing up in Cambridge by providing talks to whole classrooms.

Project Cambridge were also asked to cover the 2026 Form The Future Conference as media partners to showcase the event.

We did so by producing an episode of The Project Cambridge Show, supported by a team of work experience students. 

Jen's years of developing relationships across the Cambridge ecosystem and expansive connections have proved to be a highly valued asset.

Relationships are everything and having gained years of trust and respect from clients means that making a telephone call or inboxing a contact sees genuine results.

Project Cambridge has been in demand to assist with projects where we have been tasked with targeting groups and individuals to sign up for events and purchase exhibition opportunities, as well as general awareness of an event or programme.

Sign-ups and sales increased, resulting in happy clients and valued customers.

We were invited by the prestigious Impulse Programme to host and deliver a workshop to Impulse Alumni and associates. 

The workshop style event, titled "How To Build & Grow a Team" covered 4 key sections and was a 90-minute interactive, participative session, rich with practical advice and real-world insight, suitable for Founders and start-ups in their very early stages. 

• You've identified a need for your first key hire – now here's how to ensure you hire someone who embraces your culture, values and ethos
• What’s in it for them? All about the Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
• Tools & resources – how to advertise and screen candidates yourself, or how to get the best out of a recruiter when you're on a tight budget
• The interview process – everything to consider

Hosted live, as a hybrid event in person and digitally, this workshop is available to be delivered to other similar programmes and accelerators and we can redesign and retrofit it around your needs.

We produced an exclusive pre-event video podcast with We Are GLOBAL Women🌍 Founder and event organiser, Fiona McGonigle to promote the forthcoming event.

On the day, we provided support as the event's 'Roving Mic', engaging with the audience and delegates. 

We also recorded a post-event interview with Fiona as a debrief to the event.

Fiona thanked us by saying "A HUGE heartfelt thank you. You made this event unforgettable.🎤 Jen Richardson our brilliant Roving Mic, who brought the audience to life - with 13 flights of stairs achieved!!"

We were approached by a contact to help organise a week of work experience for a year 12 student interested in Chemistry. 

Ben’s dad died suddenly when he was just 11. He is neurodivergent and has worked really hard to succeed in education.  

Along with his diagnosis of autism, Ben was unable to access school lessons for some of year 9 and years 10 and 11 due to the level of disruption at his school following COVID. 

However, he has completed 7 GCSEs based on independent study; eventually managing to attend lessons in Year 11 for A’ Level Chemistry. He is now in Year 12 and thriving in all his subjects, and his teachers are very supportive of him applying to a top university. 

It had proved very difficult to find work experience for Ben, but we wanted to support his university application and do what we could to help him secure a placement.

After a few calls and emails, we were delighted that Pulpex in Sawston were able to help!

Ben's mum, Ruth, said "Thank you Jen for taking the time and calling in favours to make this happen for Ben, I’m eternally grateful!"

Our thanks go to Adam Cooper, Business Support Director at Pulpex for helping to make a difference.

UPDATE February 2026: Ben has been offered a place at the University of Oxford to read Chemistry!