Duxford Soapbox Derby

Can you help the Duxford Soap Box Derby?

2026-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

We have a very important announcement. Likely you will have seen our posters around Duxford village asking for support with our 2026 event. Without volunteers to help run the Soap Box derby this year’s event might not go ahead. There are a huge number of oppertunities including:

Road closure logistics
Event management
Media liason
Meeting minutes & administration
Treasurer
Prize sourcing for our auction and raffle
Website management
Social media management
Project management

If this sounds like something you would be interested in you can come along to our next meeting on the 11th February 6pm at the John Barleycorn, Duxford. No obligation to join but see what the derby is all about.

The 2025 grand total is in

2026-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

After another fantastic year and an unforgettable Duxford Soap Box Derby 2025, we are delighted to announce this year’s final total.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our racers, supporters, volunteers and sponsors, we raised £6,706 in aid of Cancer Research UK. This brings our overall total raised since the event began to an amazing £100,249, passing the £100k milestone.

A huge thank you goes out to all of our supporters, volunteers, prize donors and our wonderful venue The Plough especially Mario, Tracey and their team’s tireless efforts who stepped in at the last minute to support the derby from start to finish. We also thank Gen and everyone at Four, Duxford who were such good hosts and brought the carnival atmosphere to our event. The Duxford Soap Box Derby simply wouldn’t be possible without your continued support.

You can find out more about everyone who helped make this year such a success on our supporters thanks page.

Thank you once again to everyone who helped make Duxford Soap Box Derby 2025 such a special and meaningful event.

Provisional Charity Auction Lots and Raffle prizes 2025 - more to come

2025-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Provisional list of auction lots and raffle prizes

Important information ahead of the Duxford Soap Box Derby 2025

2025-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Important News

All races to start and end at The Plough

Due to the recent closure of the John Barleycorn, the organising committee has taken drastic action and moved our entire event to the Plough. This includes scrutineering, race registration and all races. We are grateful to Mario, Tracey and the Plough for stepping in and agreeing to host the entire event.

Information on the day itself

You can find information on the order of events for this year’s derby including a family fun day and silent disco all organised by The Lodge, Duxford.

Impact on the event

All of our race routes have been adapted so that each one starts at the Plough, departing down St Peter’s St and, eventually, returning back up St Peter’s St to the finish line. All routes are available online and we are sure they will be as enjoyable as our traditional routes.

Road Closures

Relevant roads will be officially closed from 11.30am until 2.30pm. If you live on the race routes please park in a way that offers the carts a clear run, especially if you usually park on St Peter’s St. The competitors are not winning any prizes for steering and we want to ensure a safe uneventful race for everyone.

Save the date Sunday 31st August for the 2025 derby.

2025-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

We can’t wait to see you all again in August! To date the derby has donated £93,543 meaning this year should see us break the £100,000 mark but we cannot do it without you.

The 2025 derby will follow the same format as the 2024 event. There will be 3 races on the day, two childrens races and the adult race. The first childrens race is for children aged 4 –7 or 8-11, these must have a responsible adult accompanying them throughout the race. The second childrens race is for children aged 12-15, they will complete two circuits of the childrens race route and do not require an adult to run with them.

The adults race has three categories: aged 16+, elite and veterans (55+). The elite category is for teams that have previously, or predict they will, complete the 1.4 mile race route in less than 10 minutes. Please ensure ages on the day are as per the general rules,

You can enter a team now by clicking here and filling out our registration form.

For now, pencil the date into your diaries and keep an eye on our Facebook page and this site for updates on what we have planned for this years event.

2024 Cheque Presentation to CRUK and total

2024-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

After an amazing year and Soapbox Derby we are happy to announce our grand total. We presented a cheque for £8,284.30 in aid of Cancer Research UK to CRUK representative and Soap Box supporter Gill Burgess alongside event volunteers, contributors and the committee. After the event we had more charity donations coming in from our contactless payments increasing the total raised in 2024 to £9,193.30 bringing our grand total raised to £95,543.

Thank you to all of our supporters, volunteers, prize volunteers and amazing venue hosts Mario & Tracey at The Plough, Ian & Andrew at The John Barleycorn and Gary at Graystones. You can find out about everyone who helped us this year at our supporters thanks page.

2024 Cheque Presentation to CRUK

2024-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

There are a lot of major events for the Soap Box Derby like the day itself but perhaps more importantly is the announcement of how much money we have raised in support of Cancer Research UK. Well you do not have to wait too long to find that answer out. Please join us at The Duxford Plough (57-59 St Peter’s St, Duxford) on the 9th October at 7:30pm to be part of the celebrations.

We kindly invite all of our supporters from those of you who attended and supported us on the day, those who volunteered to help, participated in the races or our generous donators. Without your help the derby would not be a success. We cannot wait to see you there.

2024 Soap Box Derby Results

2024-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

What an amazing day (even if a bit too hot) we had on Sunday for the 2024 Duxford Soap Box Derby. We can reveal that Nathan Littlefair and Scott Linsdell from Team Arthur Rank were the winners in the adults race claiming the Phill Hill Cup! Their winning time was 7 minutes and 36 seconds, beating the previous course record of 7 minutes and 51 seconds by a whopping 15 seconds!

Congratulation are also in order to the winners of the childrens races:

4-7 age group was won by team “Hot diggity dogs”, Theo Harris and Remy Sethi
8-11 age group was won by “It’s Corn”, Edward Lober and Tom Varley
12-15 age group was won by team “Sawston 2461 Air Cadets 1”, Aaron Grafham-Karp and Alexander Graham
The Mayor of Duxford fancy dress award was won by team “TMNT Minecart Bros”, Nathan Fisset and Joshua Parker

Click here to see the 2024 Soap Box Derby Results in full.

We will be adding the photographs from this years race to this website over the next few days so keep your eyes out for those - we have some fantastic pictures!

Charity Auction Lots and Raffle prizes 2024

2024-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Provisional list of auction lots and raffle prizes.

Race entries are now open for the 2024 Soap Box Derby.

2024-05-10T00:00:00+00:00

It is with great pleasure we can confirm the 2024 Soap Box Derby race entries are now open.

The 2024 derby will follow the same format as the 2023 event with 3 races on the day, two childrens races and the adult race. The first childrens race is for children aged 4 –7 or 8-11, these must have a responsible adult accompanying them throughout the race. The second childrens race is for children aged 12-15, they will complete two circuits of the childrens race route and do not require an adult to run with them.

£5.00 per team for the childrens race
£10.00 per team for the adults race

Applications must be received by 31st August 2024.

By entering you confirm that you will abide by our general rules and childrens rules or adult rules, depending on which race you will compete in.

We also want to encourage as much sponsorship of the competitors as possible so we have new information on how to setup a Cancer Research Giving page and links to sponsorship forms. Every pound and pence raised will help us towards our ambitous total.

Event disclaimer – Participants in this event do so at their own risk. The organising committee Duxford Soapbox Derby 2026 take no responsibility for any accidents, injuries, loss or damage incurred during this fund raising event. Contact details above. This event or activity is kindly being organised by a supporter of Cancer Research UK. Many fundraising events are organised in this way and we rely on the generous support of our volunteers and the general public to raise vital funds for our life-saving work. Cancer Research UK staff may have supported the organiser of this event but the charity is not responsible for the event itself. The event organiser will be encouraged to look at all aspects of safety for their event or activity. However Cancer Research UK cannot accept responsibility for any loss, damage or injury from the fundraising event.