Ultra White Collar Boxing goes global

Our partnership with Ultra Events has brought us £20m closer to beating cancer through a diverse and adventurous portfolio. Now, the team are taking Ultra White Collar Boxing to the global stage

On 5 November, our partnership with Ultra Events hit new heights when the company announced reaching £20m raised for Cancer Research UK. In just six years, Ultra Events has inspired more than 60,000 people across the UK to learn a new skill and take on a thrilling challenge, while raising money to help fund our life-saving research.

The Ultra model offers participants eight weeks of free professional training in six vastly different disciplines. Each cohort graduates in front of family and friends at a grand finale event and to date, they’ve entertained almost a million spectators as part of their work to help us beat cancer.

While the diverse UK events portfolio – which includes Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB), Ultra Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultra Ballroom, Ultra Darts, and Ultra Comedy – shows no signs of slowing down, for the past two years, their Ultra Adventures have also taken fundraisers further-afield to tackle the more extreme challenges of Mount Kilimanjaro or Machu Picchu. Intrepid participants fundraise in the months leading up to each daring challenge before finally tackling the world’s tallest free-standing mountain or trekking the Inca Trail.

And now, as the team passes this latest milestone, they’re preparing to take their original product to the global stage. They’ll launch UWCB in Australia and Poland before the end of this year, with America to follow in 2020.

Speaking of the partnership’s success, Stewardship Manager, Emma Hallas said: “Ultra Events’ latest steps are a reminder of the fact that cancer is a global challenge. It’s estimated that, in 2018, more than 18 million people worldwide were diagnosed with cancer. No single person, organisation or country is going to beat cancer on their own – we all have a vital role to play. And by expanding the network into more countries, Ultra Events are definitely playing theirs.”

As the world’s largest cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, our projects span continents and the treatments we’ve helped develop save lives all over the world. As we expand our international operations, it’s great to see Ultra Events consider their global ambition as they continue to dedicate themselves to supporting our work.

Emma continues: “Just like our researchers, the Ultra Events team has never been content to just reflect on past successes when they could drive forward and strive for more. It’s an ethos that resonates with us and that synergy is just one of the reasons our partnership works so well.”

At Cancer Research UK, we’re passionate about engaging in reciprocal partnerships like this with partners who share our drive and ambition to have a global impact in the field of cancer research. 

Eddie Bowers is Philanthropy & Partnerships Communications Executive at Cancer Research UK