A Year of Hope, Progress and Community:
The Bardo Foundation 2025 Annual Report
A Message from the Leadership Team
2025 has been a powerful year for The Bardo Foundation. Thanks to your compassion, generosity and belief in our mission, we have taken major steps forward. From funding cutting-edge research to welcoming our first permanent full-time staff member and creating moments of hope for young patients and their families, this year has demonstrated the strength and heart of the Bardo community.
We continue to strengthen our research mission by supporting ambitious projects that push the boundaries of what is possible in osteosarcoma science. Through your generosity we can go further and fund radical research efforts across the world that aim to move the field towards better and more personalised treatments. Each project brings us closer to a future where every young person diagnosed with this disease has access to more effective options and more hope. We will never stop developing to make a difference to every child that has osteosarcoma.
We are a charity built from loss but moving forward with hope. Thank you to every person who has given their time, their resources and their expertise to support us this year.
– Team Bardo
Founded in Memory of Bernardo "Bardo"
Bardo was someone people were naturally drawn to. He had a special gift for connection, making others feel seen, included, and valued. His love for an active lifestyle and sports was infectious, whether on the ski slopes, the football field, or the golf course.
What was first believed to be a simple sports injury was later revealed to be osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer that mainly affects children and adolescents. Through it all, Bernardo met life with courage, generosity, and love for those around him.
Before he passed, he shared a clear and powerful vision: to create a foundation that could change the future for others facing this disease. With limited research funding and little progress in treatment over decades, that mission matters more than ever. The Bardo Foundation exists to carry his spirit forward by supporting research, families, and hope.
Bernardo's life may have been cut short, but his impact will be felt for generations to come.
Highlights of 2025
1
Became a Founding Partner of Break Through Cancer’s 'Defying Osteosarcoma TeamLab'.
2
Published Our First Foundation-Funded Scientific Paper, a major milestone met in our commitment to fund osteosarcoma research.
3
Achieved UK charity status, formalising our work in the UK and Europe and strengthening delivery of our mission.
4
Welcomed Our First Full-Time Staff Member, marking an important step forward and expanding our impact.
Our Mission is always at the heart of what we do
Committed To Research
Funding radical research to discover better treatments and ultimately a cure for osteosarcoma through innovative, collaborative projects.
Channeling Support
Standing alongside children, young people and families affected by this devastating disease with resources, information and compassion.
Amplifying Awareness
Challenging the status quo in a field where treatment has seen little progress over 40+ years, seeking breakthrough solutions.
Committed To Research: Advancing the Science
Our purpose remains clear: to turn compassion into action. We do this by funding medical research. When funding research we look for projects that are innovative. We really believe in collaborative work as the foundation to understanding osteosarcoma and finding better, kinder treatment options for this disease. Read on to find out how the kindness of your donations are helping us to achieve our mission.
Where Your Funds Are Making an Impact
1
Bardo Joins Break Through Osteosarcoma TeamLab
Radical Collaborative Partnership: The Bardo Foundation marked a major step in global osteosarcoma research this year by becoming a founding partner of Break Through Cancer's Defying Osteosarcoma TeamLab.
Our pledge of $500,000 over four years supports a $15million collaborative effort that brings together leading scientists, clinicians and advocates from institutions including MD Anderson, Stanford School of Medicine, John Hopkins, Dana-Farber, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Tufts University, UCSF, Koch and BC Cancer Research.
This is a one-of-a-kind research project that has not been attempted before in the world of osteosarcoma. We have committed to funding this project as we believe it will make a real difference.
Click here to find out more
2
First Funded Scientific Paper Published
Breakthrough Understanding: A significant research milestone was reached as a scientific paper supported by The Bardo Foundation was published. The project advanced understanding of why some osteosarcoma patients do not respond to standard treatment options.
This is our first published paper from research that we have funded through your support and donations. The findings offered new insight into one of the most difficult challenges in childhood bone cancer: disease metastasis.
Having a published paper is a significant step for the foundation. It shows real progress and gives us the ability to demonstrate clear outcomes from the work we support.
3
Understanding Treatment Outcomes
Oslo University Hospital Study: The Bardo Running Club fully funded our participation in this research project, which aims to identify and understand prognostic biomarkers in newly diagnosed osteosarcoma patients. Currently, nearly all patients with high-grade osteosarcoma receive the same MAP chemotherapy regimen, irrespective of their individual biological or clinical characteristics. While this approach has remained the standard of care for decades, it does not account for the significant variability in treatment response and toxicity observed among patients.
This study seeks to determine which patients derive limited benefit from the current, highly toxic chemotherapy protocol. By identifying prognostic and predictive biomarkers early in the disease course, their goal is to better stratify patients and move toward more personalized treatment strategies. Ultimately, this research aims to support the development of long-term biomarkers that can guide individualized therapeutic approaches, improve outcomes, and reduce unnecessary treatment-related harm.
The hard facts: If 1000 children are diagnosed with osteosarcoma, on average…
560-640
will survive for the next five years. Each child will undergo gruelling treatment and possibly life-changing surgery.
360-440
lose their lives each year, highlighting the critical need for new research and better outcomes for every patient.
140-180
diagnosed will already have metastatic disease, significantly reducing their chance of survival.
Channeling Support: Together We Are Stronger
OsteosarcomaNow.org Joins The Bardo Foundation
When a child or loved one is diagnosed with osteosarcoma, life changes instantly. Families often face the added burden of searching for clinical trials when standard treatment does not work, a process that can take weeks and bring enormous stress.
To help ease this journey, we participated in the creation of Osteosarcoma Now in 2021, which we took into our sole stewardship in July this year. The website offers clear information, a helpful glossary of medical terms and ONTEX, a trial database that filters only osteosarcoma studies, removing the need to search through thousands of unrelated trials. Taking over this vital resource allows us to deliver our mission of supporting families and patients.
A Future in Motion: A New Year, a New Start
Children with osteosarcoma in well-resourced countries are typically supported by specialist medical teams, rehabilitation services, and long-term follow-up care. In countries with limited or under-developed healthcare systems, that level of support often does not exist.
We believe every child has the right to receive the same standard of care, regardless of where they live. Last year, we supported a child with a prosthetic leg. This year, our support includes both a limb prosthesis and access to a safe surgical environment which was not available to them.
We have launched an annual programme to support one child, every year, living in a country with limited access to care, throughout their entire osteosarcoma journey. Support may include surgery, prosthetics, rehabilitation, or any other essential care needed to give that child the best possible chance at recovery, mobility, and life after cancer.
Your support helps make this possible, directly funding life-changing care and giving a child the chance to move forward after osteosarcoma.
Youth Room Refurbishment
Thanks to the kindness of Bohus and the support of members of the Bardo Running Club, we were able to transform the youth room at the Oslo University Hospital into a brighter and more welcoming space that feels like home for young people receiving cancer treatment. This allows a comfortable space for them to spend time away from their hospital bed with their family and friends, and to just be a normal child for a short period of time. All furniture was kindly donated by Bohus.
Amplifying Awareness: Moving Us Forward
This year marked an exciting period of growth across our community work. The Bardo Running Club continued to bring people together across countries through events that honoured Bernardo and other children and families facing osteosarcoma.
Our fundraising events such as the Bardo Open grew in energy and connection, creating spaces where supporters, sponsors and friends could stand together with purpose.
But we start by sharing the exciting news of us achieving charity registration status in the United Kingdom.
Achieving UK Charity Status
The Bardo Foundation achieved full charity status in December 2025 and is now officially registered as a charity in the United Kingdom.
The registration opens the door for us to work directly with researchers across the United Kingdom and Europe, widening our reach and strengthening our commitment to supporting osteosarcoma research wherever progress can be made.
This important milestone means that we can now claim Gift Aid on eligible donations made by UK tax paying supporters in the UK, allowing every contribution to go even further for children and families facing osteosarcoma.
The Bardo Running Club
The Running Club brought passion and visibility to our mission throughout the year. From the busy streets of the Barcelona Half Marathon to the dramatic mountain trails of the Lofoten Skyrace and the energy of team relay events, every mile was dedicated to children and families facing osteosarcoma.
For the third year, the club increased to 3 teams running for Bardo and 3rd year consecutive winning 1st place in Holmenkollstafetten (relay race).
These events drew in new supporters, strengthened friendships across countries and reminded people that the power of community can turn physical effort into meaningful awareness.
The Running Club continues to be one of the most heartfelt expressions of what The Bardo Foundation represents.
354
Donations made to the Bardo Running Club and supporting the foundation.
80+
Runners working together to honour the memory of lives lost to osteosarcoma.
16
Races including the New York Marathon and Rome Half Marathon.
9
Countries across 3 continents including Spain, Italy, Norway, and UK.
The Bardo Open 2025
The Bardo Open 2025 charity golf tournament became our most successful event to date, bringing one hundred and twenty players to the beautiful Miklagard Golf and Lily Country Club in Norway. The event combined sport, community and generosity, with supporters and sponsors coming together to raise funds for research and patient support.
The growth of this tournament reflects the increasing visibility of The Bardo Foundation and the commitment of everyone involved in advancing our mission.
A special thank you to our ambassador Dorthea Forbrigd and all our amazing volunteers for joining us on the day, along with our sponsors.
Our Ambassadors
We are incredibly grateful to our ambassadors Lars-Erik Lindgren and Dorthea Forbrigd for their support throughout 2025.
Highlights included Lars-Erik proudly wearing our branded shirt on the world stage at the WDF World Cup of Darts, and Dorthea representing the Foundation at golf tournaments across the world in our branded kit while actively supporting us on social media. We are truly humbled by your support. Thank you.
Gift Giving: Supporting Our Mission
This year our giving campaigns brought our community together in a powerful display of generosity and shared belief in a better future for children with osteosarcoma. Supporters across countries joined us to give what they could.
Bardo Champion
We launched the Bardo Champion programme, inviting people to stand with us through monthly giving that provides steady and reliable support for our mission.
Bardo Champions help us plan for the future, fund research with confidence and respond quickly to emerging opportunities.
New Ways To Give
As part of our development in 2025, we introduced new ways to raise funds and made it easier for people to support our work in the way that suits them best. Everyone’s circumstances are different, and offering flexible ways to give helps wherever our community is based.
For our supporters in the United States, donations may also be eligible for tax relief, helping your generosity go even further.
Double Your Donation
We have moved to a new donation platform called Funraise and partnered with Double the Donation. Check to see if your monthly gift can go further.
  1. Click on Donation Options + on our donate form
  1. Click on Company Match
  1. Type in your company name and if it appears select it
  1. We do the rest.
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)
We can now receive donations through Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), one of the most tax-efficient ways to give.
If you have a DAF with providers such as Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, or others, you can now recommend a grant directly to us. Simply log in to your DAF account, search for The Bardo Foundation, and select us as your chosen charity. Or click Pay By DAF on the donation form on our website.
Workplace Giving
We are excited to share that The Bardo Foundation has partnered with the following workplace giving platforms:
If your workplace offers donation matching or payroll giving through, you can now support us directly. Just search for The Bardo Foundation or by EIN 30-1281323.
What Is Next: Looking Towards 2026 and Beyond
As we close 2025, we are filled with gratitude. To every sponsor, donor, runner, golfer, volunteer, ambassador, partner hospital, doctor, nurse, researcher, patient and family member – thank you. Your commitment fuels progress.
Deepen Research Investments
Pushing the boundaries of treatments and bringing promising therapies closer to children who need them most.
Expand Support Services
For families and patients globally through Osteosarcoma Now and enhanced resources.
Grow Community Engagement
Through new events, collaborations and shared stories that inspire and unite.
Thank You
For your incredible support throughout 2025. We truly could not do what we do without you. We wish you and your loved ones happiness this festive season and a hopeful, healthy New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2026!