Kidney Research UK

11/12/2025

Ian is selling hand-crafted wooden reindeer decorations to raise money in support of his wife’s battle against kidney disease this Christmas, having been told he is incompatible to donate a kidney.

Sadly, Anne-Marie’s kidney failed in 2022, caused by a form of hereditary polycystic kidney disease (PKD) which also affected her father and two uncles. She has had three years of exhausting dialysis to stay alive whilst she waits for a kidney.

“I was devastated when I found out I couldn’t donate a kidney to Ann-Marie. It has been very scary seeing her so unwell. Her condition has had a huge impact on our lives, she needs dialysis three times a day.

“We love Christmas. We used to go to Christmas markets across Europe but can’t do that anymore. We don’t go to as many parties or shows with friends either. Ann-Marie struggles with crowds because she worries somebody might bump into her and knock out the tube she needs in her stomach for dialysis.

“We’ve done our best to make new traditions. Every Christmas Eve we go to the picture house to watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

“When I was unable to be a kidney donor, I decided to donate my time to make a difference instead.

“I set about designing some in my shed and a couple of friends bought them – then I kept getting requests for more!

“They’re all made from tree branches with metal washers for eyes and a Christmas bauble for a nose. Each one has their own character because they’re all different shapes and sizes.

“Our innovation for the 2025 design is to add scarves knitted by my daughter Amy, keeping the reindeer warm. We’re also trialling some wooden snowman to accompany them.

“We’ve had lots of interest, and all the proceeds will be donated to Kidney Research UK. It means a lot to us to be able to support life-changing research that could make kidney transplants more readily available in the future.

“We also hope sharing our story will help to raise awareness of the importance of becoming an organ donor.”

Read more of Ian and Anne-Marie's story here: https://bit.ly/4a4Z4oU

10/12/2025

Wow, we are blown away by the support shown last night for our first ever Christmas Carol Concert.

Held at the beautiful St Marylebone Parish Church, over 250 guests attended to kickstart the festivities with choirs from London Show Choir and London International Gospel Choir.

Thank you to patient, Deborah Bakewell, longer-term supporter, Laura Plumptre, and ambassadors Danny Sebastian, Nina Nannar and Nina Wadia OBE, who gave a reading, and to Terrell Lewis and Kevanie Remekie for their powerful and emotional spoken word poem.

A huge thank you to our sponsors Myndstream, Adtrak, Plutus Wealth Management, Creative Triangle, and Just Digital whose support made this unforgettable evening possible.

And finally, to you, our wonderful supporters, through your generosity, donations, and silent auction bids, we raised an incredible £25,000! Your kindness will make a real difference.

Thank you for making our first Christmas Carol Concert a night to remember. Here’s to many more!

08/12/2025

Over one week to go until our next patient research webinar titled ‘new insights into kidney transplantation’.

Here, you can hear from our funded researchers and how their work could help kidney patients and their families.

Joining us are:

• Dr Sarah Hosgood on the potential to change blood types in donor kidneys as a solution to expand transplant access
• Mr George Nita on how a potential new blood test could help identify kidney transplant rejection earlier
• Dr Katrina Spensley on preventing the development of harmful antibodies by improving blood transfusion methods
• Mr Sam Tingle on if ultrasound scans could tell us about the health of donated kidneys before transplant

Our session takes place Tuesday 16 December from 6pm. For more information and to register, click here: https://bit.ly/4os5lzl

A webinar to hear directly from Kidney Research UK funded researchers as they share the latest updates on projects tackling BK virus and cytomegalovirus.

07/12/2025

In Spring 2024 we created a new volunteer role to bridge the gap between Kidney Research UK and renal and dialysis units.

Since then, we have recruited a team of 66 renal unit contact volunteers!

With their help we have been able to contact units across the UK to deliver literature, resources and get up to date contact details for the team.

This wouldn’t be possible without our incredible volunteers, who have become the trusted face and main point of contact for their local units.

We love seeing photos of volunteers out and about delivering our literature, and wanted to share this photo of Roy, with ward sister Sally at the Barnsley unit, who is one of our fab volunteers.

We’re keen for more people to come forward and volunteer as a renal unit contact. You’ll receive emails throughout the year with different materials and resources for you to take to your local unit.

More information about this role and how to apply can be found below.

https://bit.ly/47Ut05n

We are looking for people bridge the gap between Kidney Research UK and their local renal unit or unit they visit most.

05/12/2025

“Our family finds it difficult to enjoy Christmas because of the bad memories of losing my Uncle Graham. This Christmas will be even more challenging with Mum still waiting for a kidney transplant. Her first transplant is failing after 10 years, and she is now back on dialysis again – something she has been dreading.

“I was very young when he died. I remember seeing him on Christmas morning before visiting my dad’s side of the family. When we returned to see Uncle Graham later that day, everyone was panicking. He had high potassium and had a heart attack, which stopped his heart immediately.”

Kidney disease has affected multiple generations of Jack’s family, including his grandma, mum, auntie and uncle. Before he died, Uncle Graham also needed dialysis.

Jack was too young to donate a kidney to his mum when she received her first transplant, but Jack’s older sister, Jessica, was able to do so via the Living Kidney Sharing Scheme.

Now, Jack, who is also not able to donate directly to his mum, has put himself forward for the scheme, to match them with a compatible donor and recipient pair.

“I’m excited about the prospect of donating to Mum. It’s incredible how a kidney transplant can give someone a new lease of life, without affecting the health of the donor in a significant way.

“When someone has kidney disease, it doesn't just affect them. It’s everyone around them too.

“I want to make a difference for as many people as I can and ran the Windermere Marathon in June with a cousin and a friend for Kidney Research UK.

“Mum was buzzing with our fundraising, and I hope that I can do something even more special for her by donating a kidney. Meaning we can make happier Christmas memories together in future.”

04/12/2025

“Kidney transplant recipients are at over three times greater risk of bladder cancer.”

Dr Simon Baker at the University of York suggests that BK virus can trigger bladder cancer development.

BK virus is a common virus that nearly everyone picks up in childhood generally without noticing which can hide in the kidneys without causing symptoms.

Reactivation of BK virus can happen in kidney transplant recipients due to their immunosuppressive medication.

Simon and his team will now look for an antiviral treatment to target BK virus and help prevent the development of bladder cancer in kidney transplant patients.

To read the full story, click here: https://bit.ly/4pjXEvr

The study was jointly funded with York Against Cancer

03/12/2025

The silent auction for our Christmas Carol Concert is now live! You don’t need to attend the concert to take part, bidding is open to everyone!

Browse our fantastic prizes, either for yourself or for a loved one, just in time for Christmas! From designer watches to luxury afternoon teas, and racing events to relaxation trips and spas, there is a little something for everyone.

Know someone who’s dreamed of walking the red carpet? Well, there’s a chance to bid on two tickets to a UK Premiere in London!

Check out the link below and start placing your bids. Bidding closes Tuesday 9 December at 8.30pm 👇

https://bit.ly/4asAkXy

02/12/2025

"Life for Bella and our family has totally changed since she was diagnosed with kidney disease. She’s not been able to live the same life as other children her age, she’s missed out on so much, and she has spent so much time in hospital. It’s been absolutely heartbreaking.

"While her school friends were fast asleep at 5am, Bella was in hospital connected to a dialysis machine. While her friends were having their breakfast, my husband Mike was giving her the pills she needs to survive. While her friends were putting on their school uniforms, Bella was putting out her arm for the nurses to take her daily blood samples.

“And while her friends were putting on their shoes and heading out of the door to school, Mike and Bella were in the car, doing the 90-minute drive home, hoping that the traffic wouldn’t make her late for the nativity play she’d been looking forward to for so long.

"When Bella’s kidneys failed, Mike and I assumed that we’d be able to donate one of our kidneys. We were desperate to try and give her a normal, happy childhood. So, we were devastated when we found out that neither of us was a match.

"To not be able to do that, you feel so helpless. Since then, so many friends and family members have put themselves forward for testing. It’s been amazing to see the love for Bella. But despite all our efforts and searching and hoping, we haven’t found a kidney just yet.

"Bella can’t wait till she gets her new kidney. She’s started asking “Have you found me a kidney yet? When’s my kidney coming?” I tell her we just need to find the very best kidney for her.

"Trying to navigate your child through this is really hard and I don’t think people realise the extent of what families go through. We hope sharing Bella’s story will help people see the severity of kidney disease and the importance of research.

“It would be amazing if you could help make more research possible. So, if you can, please will you make a special Christmas donation to Kidney Research UK?”

For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/3X0WyZ4

01/12/2025

A few weeks back, we attended Downend School and delivered a session on kidney health and treatment options.

The students were then tasked with creating vibrant and inspiring posters for dialysis patients in Bristol, after watching an informative video about life on dialysis.

The posters have since been delivered to dialysis units across Bristol.

Featured in the photos is a patient named Lynn, she's been attending South Bristol Renal Unit for 20 years and said it was absolutely wonderful to see them! The posters included a message of hope and support for the patients.

Thank you Downend School for getting involved and creating such thoughtful and understanding posters, the dialysis units are already looking more colourful💜

30/11/2025

Rachel has spent over two years waiting for a simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK) transplant.

Having lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) since childhood, Rachel was then diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 2022. Following a kidney infection, she also developed sepsis.

“I was used to feeling poorly, so when I woke up feeling pain around my kidneys I didn’t think too much of it.

“I had a really high temperature but was freezing cold and shivering. I felt breathless and was vomiting. It was awful. I went into septic shock and was moved into intensive care for two and a half weeks, before being transferred to a specialist kidney unit.”

Rachel’s kidneys had stopped functioning and required multiple treatments before she was discharged three weeks later.

After briefly regaining some kidney function Rachel needed to begin peritoneal dialysis at home.

“Dialysis is hard. I find I need to rest a lot because I experience anaemia and fatigue. It has affected my ability to work full-time and has put much of my life on hold until I receive a transplant.

“Diabetes and sepsis both led to my eventual kidney failure. Now, my kidney disease affects my ability to manage my diabetes because of the glucose levels used in peritoneal dialysis. It has been trial and error in getting my insulin levels right to combat this.

“It’s so important to understand how my different conditions relate to one another to be able to manage my overall health and try to prevent further problems."

For more information on kidney disease and diabetes, click here: https://bit.ly/3Od1BPr

For more information on sepsis, follow The UK Sepsis Trust

28/11/2025

Tuesday 2 December is Giving Tuesday – a global day that inspires people to give and inspire generosity.

While many of us enjoy life’s simple pleasures, kidney patients often have to give them up because of the restrictions of kidney disease.

This year, we asked 6-year-old Roman what he would like to eat and drink the most if his kidneys weren’t poorly. His answer? Fizzy drinks and candy canes – a true childhood delight.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) kept Roman in hospital for the first five months of his life after his mum, Carrie, noticed his lack of feeding. He will require a kidney transplant in the future as his kidney function continues to deteriorate, but, despite everything, he and his family are remaining positive.

“When people meet Roman, they don’t meet the ‘boy with kidney disease’. They meet Roman and think ‘wow, what a great personality’, they don’t say ‘oh, he’s got kidney disease’ but say ‘look how fast he is at running or how good he is at climbing!”

For Giving Tuesday, we're asking for a small but powerful gesture. Instead of spending £2 on candy canes, £3 on a fizzy drink, or buying something that is an everyday treat to you, donate the cost to help fund vital research.

A small token can go a long way. Donate today to help make a difference: https://bit.ly/4oZ85nX