Richard Soan, Managing Director of Richard Soan Roofing Services, has been recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours for his longstanding fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Lewes-based roofing contractor was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to youth cancer treatment through charitable fundraising, recognising more than a decade of support for the charity.
Central to Soan’s fundraising is his annual Charity Race Day at Brighton Racecourse, which is a well-supported fixture for businesses and individuals from across the roofing and construction industry.
The event has generated substantial sums each year. In 2024 it raised more than £60,000, taking the cumulative total beyond £400,000, while the 2025 event attracted almost 400 guests and added around £55,000.
Following this year’s Race Day on August 7th, which included a particularly well contested charity auction, Richard Soan Roofing Services announced that even with donations still being counted, the fundraising total for Teenage Cancer Trust had passed the £500,000 milestone.
The money raised supports Teenage Cancer Trust’s work providing specialist care and support for young people with cancer, including specialist hospital units, nurses and youth workers. The charity’s brilliant work was highlighted by this year’s guest speaker Faye Mullins, the talented Sussex cricketer, who herself was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma but is now cancer-free following treatment and support by Teenage Cancer Trust.
In a moving and powerful speech Faye told those assembled Teenage Cancer Trust “don’t just treat the cancer, they treat the person” providing them with “little moments of normality which are priceless”, and having “lived it” and seen the charity’s brilliant work first-hand, she urged everyone to “keep supporting Teenage Cancer Trust.”
Find out more and donate to Teenage Cancer Trust here.