A cancer support charity set up in memory of former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss’s wife is to merge with Maggie’s, which runs 27 cancer support centres across the UK.

The Ruth Strauss Foundation was set up by England captain Andrew Strauss in 2019 in memory of his late wife, who died the previous year from a non-smoking lung cancer.

It focuses on supporting families where a parent is living with an incurable cancer.

Meanwhile, Maggie’s is named after its founder Maggie Keswick Jencks, who used her own experience of having cancer to offer support. The first Maggie’s centre opened in Edinburgh in 2996. Over the last 30 years it has supported more than four million people.

The Foundation’s staff will begin moving over to Maggie’s from next month in a move that follows the two charities already working closely in partnership.

In a statement the two charities say that they also share “similar values, legacies and ambitions to help people with cancer and their families.

“The Ruth Strauss Foundation has provided much needed care and support to thousands of families facing cancer over the last seven years. Staff should be incredibly proud of all they have achieved,” said Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee.

“Their important work will continue as they become part of Maggie’s. We will prioritise their vital support for families and work closely with staff to ensure that Ruth’s legacy lives on through the work that we do.”

The Ruth Strauss Foundation’s chief executive Ines Thiru added: “What began as Ruth’s determination to ensure her children could continue to thrive, both during the uncertainty of living with incurable cancer and after her death, has grown into a trusted network of support for families across the UK.

“I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved in just seven years since our inception. Together, we have built something truly meaningful that is making a real difference to families navigating the most difficult of circumstances, and those affected by non-smoking lung cancer.”

Maggie’s is registered in Scotland. According to its most recently submitted accounts for the year ending December 2024 its income was £30.2m, and it spent £28.9m.

According to the charities register the Ruth Strauss Foundation’s income for the year ending March 2025 was £2.3m, however its spending in that year was more than £2.4m.

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