Our Mission

At Love Hope Strength (LHS), our mission is to save lives, one concert at a time.
We believe that all people deserve quality cancer care, a marrow donor if needed, and most importantly, hope.
Founded by cancer survivors, LHS leverages the power of music to expand the marrow registry through our “Get on the List” campaign .
At LHS, we believe in offering real hope to people currently living with cancer.

Love Hope Strength (LHS) is now firmly established as the world’s leading rock and roll cancer foundation. The organization was created in 2007, registered as a charity in 2008 (IRS #26-0528852), and co-founded by Mike Peters and James Chippendale. Mike is a 3-time cancer survivor and an internationally acclaimed singer for the Welsh rock band The Alarm. James, a fellow cancer survivor, is a respected insurance executive specializing in the music industry. Together they had the vision that LHS could literally, “Save lives, one concert at a time!”

Our Beginning

Starting out, our mission was to save lives, right now, with advances that had already been made in cancer care. We did not fund cancer research, rather we used our funds to purchase medical equipment and supplies, raise awareness through special events, documentaries and media, and help build cancer centers.

Love Hope Strength founders James Chippendale and Mike Peters celebrate with the rest of the Everest Rocks team after the highest rock concert in the world at 18,536 feet atop Kala Pattar at the foot of Mount Everest, Nepal.
James Chippendale and Mike Peters celebrate with the rest of the Everest Rocks team!

In 2007 we hosted the world’s highest concert on land at 18,536 feet on Mt. Everest, witnessed by over 3 million people on the internet and by many more via the MTV commissioned documentary ‘Everest Rocks’. Events throughout the world included numerous UK fundraising treks including the summit of Mount Snowdon, to the roof of Africa atop Mount Kilimanjaro, and to the land of the rising sun for a dawn concert atop Mount Fuji, Japan. Funds raised have enabled us to accomplish important things like installing the first ever mammography machine at Bhaktapur Cancer Center in Kathmandu, build a Children’s Cancer Unit in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, as well as funding cancer projects within the UK.

LHS has taken many prominent musicians and celebrities to some of the highest places on earth taking the message of love, hope and strength to those who do not have access to the same medical treatments, care and facilities experienced by many of us here in the west. And we look forward to more opportunities to continue this important international work.

 

Get on the List

Since 2008 we have been hosting marrow donor drives at concerts and festivals across the globe via our Get on the List campaign. This program encourages people to sign up for the International Bone Marrow Registry via a simple cheek swab, taking our concept of, “saving lives, one concert at a time,” to a whole new level.

Andrew McMahon with Abby Fessler
Andrew McMahon with Abby Fessler

Working with our amazing programmatic partners at DKMS and hundreds of incredible volunteers, we have been able to add over 129,000 music fans to the registry and found over 2,400 potentially lifesaving matches, giving hope to those who would otherwise be denied the chance of life as they navigate through blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.

“In terms of impact in the cancer community, I feel there is no bigger bang for your buck than adding people to the bone marrow donor registry. The simple act of swabbing your cheek and getting on the list gives tremendous hope to the tens of thousands of people with blood cancer across the USA and around the world.” – Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD

As we look to the future the focus of LHS is to simply do more for more people. We hope you’ll want to be a part of this amazing experience, either as a potential marrow donor, a volunteer at our drives, or a supporter of the organization. It’s a great time to be a part of the Love Hope Strength movement!