Julia’s House hospice offers evening with Robert Downey Jr on Omaze raffle site
Howard Lake | 24 March 2015 | News
Dorset and Wiltshire-based children’s hospice Julia’s House Hospice is offering a Hollywood A-list prize on Omaze, the fundraising raffle site.
The winner will get to spend the evening with actor Robert Downey Jr and join him for the premiere of the new ‘Avengers’ film – ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’.
Julia’s House Hospice is the first UK charity to fundraise on the site. The funds raised will help build a new children’s hospice for Wiltshire.
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The raffle went live on 2 March and runs for two more weeks.
The charity’s Chief Executive Martin Edwards reports that total income so far is already well into six figures, with interest still high.
The campaign is clearly doing well: the $50,000 option to visit the set of Marvel’s latest Captain America set and to meet Mr Downey has already sold out, and there is only one opportunity left at the same sum to enter and receive a private advance screening of the Avengers: Age of Ultron film in Los Angeles.
What is Omaze?
Omaze offers ‘celebrity experiences’ where people pay $10 for a chance to win the prize. The raffles are promoted internationally.
Mr Downey has also promoted the opportunity to his millions of Facebook followers, and his video features the ‘Iron Man’ actor explaining just what the winner will get to experience.
RDJ, as he styles himself, offers:
“Indoor sky diving, breakfast at Randy’s Donuts, a helicopter around LA, and that’s just the beginning. Got your attention? Great. I’ll be flying you and a friend out to LA to spend a day like Tony Stark before my motorcade picks you up en route to the World Premiere of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron”.
Maze has previously featured fundraising ’experiences’ with George Clooney, Matt Damon & Ben Affleck, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
How did RDJ get involved?
Martin Edwards explained that the contact with Robert Downey Jr was made via film director Guy Ritchie, the charity’s patron. He directed Downey in two Sherlock Holmes films. Downey became interested in Julia’s House after attending a fundraising event at Ritchie’s home in the UK last year which raised £1 million for the charity.
The winner will get to meet Mr Downey, have dinner, get dressed with new evening wear, and join him on the red carpet for the film premiere.
Edwards added that as a result of the widespread coverage, children’s palliative care and bereavement charities in the USA have contacted Julia’s House asking for advice and guidance on establishing services, as US provision for children with life-limiting illnesses lags behind the well-established children’s hospice movement in the UK.
- Omaze guarantees house draw charity partners a minimum of £1 million donation (17 November 2023)
- Omaze pledges £10 million for GOSH charity in first ever multi-year partnership (18 January 2024)
- First Omaze Million Pound House winner announced with £250k raised for Teenage Cancer Trust (26 November 2020)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.