Kirsty Waugh, 12, from Tunbridge Wells, is a 2026 Pride of Britain winner after raising about £250,000 while on chemotherapy for a brain tumour.
Kirsty Waugh, a 12-year-old from Tunbridge Wells, has been named one of the winners of the 2026 Pride of Britain Awards. She has raised money for children’s cancer research through two campaigns while being treated for a brain tumour. (Pride of Britain, Kirsty Waugh)
Her own campaign site puts the total at £250,000 for children’s cancer charities. (My Name Is Kirsty)
How it started
Kirsty was 10 when she began having problems with her eyesight, memory lapses and fatigue in 2024. In November that year an MRI scan in hospital found a brain tumour. She had a seven-hour operation, but surgeons could not remove much of it. She nicknamed the tumour Terry.
She then began a 70-week course of chemotherapy. Her sight was impaired, but she had just learned to crochet, so she carried on by touch. She made one bunting triangle for every chemo session.
That campaign, Crochet for Cancer, raised more than £120,000 for Children With Cancer UK, according to the awards. It also won her JustGiving’s 2025 Rising Star award, and a surprise crafting session in hospital with Stacey Solomon. (JustGiving Awards 2025 winners)
Finding every Kirsty
At the end of last year Kirsty was told the treatment had stopped working. It had, unexpectedly, restored much of her eyesight. She began a new 85-week plan.
She also launched a second campaign, My Name Is Kirsty. The idea was to track down her namesakes, put them on a digital map and ask them to support research into childhood brain tumours. The awards say she has connected with more than 14,000 Kirstys in more than 50 countries, on all seven continents.
Her father, Mat, told the awards that her tumour is benign, “but as the charities explain, ‘Benign isn’t fine’, because it’s growing in a place it can’t grow.”
He said that about 17 weeks into the second course of chemotherapy, Kirsty had an allergic reaction. The family is now waiting for a new plan.
“It’s been tough,” he said. “She’s had to cope with an ever-changing list of consequences from both the chemo and the tumour itself, however she tries to live in the moment and put a positive spin on things.”
On the second campaign, he said: “She said, ‘Why don’t I just ask people called Kirsty?’ It was a real slow burn at first but now it’s genuinely gone worldwide.”
Kirsty told the awards: “This year I’m trying to show how much everyone cares about children with brain tumours, and raise money to find cures and better treatments, wherever they are in the world.” (Pride of Britain, Kirsty Waugh)
What the second campaign has raised
The awards put the My Name Is Kirsty total at more than £125,000 for OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity. Her JustGiving page, read on Tuesday morning, showed:
- £113,418.67 from 6,137 donations
- £18,712.29 in Gift Aid on top
- a target of £125,000
(JustGiving, My Name Is Kirsty)
What it means for you
Kirsty is now asking for regular supporters, which she calls her Queens. You do not need to be called Kirsty. A Queen sets up a monthly donation of any amount to OSCAR’s, and Kirsty keeps in touch with them about her treatment and the research.
Her site said on Tuesday that 117 people had joined. Her aim is 500. (My Name Is Kirsty)
There are three ways to help:
- Become a Queen: set up a monthly gift through her website.
- Give once: donate through her JustGiving page.
- Join the map: add yourself if you are a Kirsty or Kirstie, or as one of her Friends. The map holds more than 14,000 Kirstys and 2,000 Friends so far.
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