Posthumous Special Recognition Award for Bradley Lowery at JustGiving Awards 2017

Howard Lake | 22 November 2017 | News

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• crowdfunding
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• Justgiving

The family of Bradley Lowery has received a special recognition award at tonight’s JustGiving Awards. They raised £700,000 for treatment for their son who had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer. He died in July this year.

The eighth annual JustGiving Awards, held at The Brewery in London, showcased some of the many people who have used JustGiving to fundraise for good causes this year.

Since 2001 JustGiving has enabled over 21 million people across 164 countries to raise $4.5 billion.
A record 72,000 nominations were made this year, ranging from a man crawling the London Marathon course dressed as a gorilla to a 10-year-old victim of the Manchester Arena attack raising funds for the British Red Cross.
Rhys Goode, spokesperson for JustGiving, said: “This year we’ve broken all our previous records for both nominations and votes for the finalists. From 72,000 nominations, we’ve welcomed 24 finalists and now have 9 winners – each and everyone one of them are truly inspirational. Congratulations to them all.”

The evening was co-hosted again by Caroline Jones:

and began with a performance by the Missing People Choir:

Winners of JustGiving Awards 2017

PayPal Crowdfunder of the Year – Luke Ambler

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
Luke launched #itsokaytotalk after his brother-in-law, Andy, committed suicide in 2016. He wanted to create a safe space where men could speak without fear of being judged. He set up Andy’s Man Club, encouraging men from all walks of life to talk to other like-minded men in his hometown.

When the #itsokaytotalk selfie campaign took off on social media, Luke realised that this was a big problem nationally. He’s now crowdfunding to set up an Andy’s Man Club in areas across the UK.

The JustGiving Life Changer Award – Esther Marshall

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
Esther Marshall set up sTandTall after surviving an abusive relationship. She crowdfunded on JustGiving to establish the organisation that helps woman and girls get access to the support they need quickly and anonymously. She wanted to help women and girls in similar circumstances to get back up on their feet, achieve their full potential and stand tall again.

She aims to set up education programmes to teach people about the effects of bullying and abuse as well as holistic centres to provide restorative care to victims.

Young Fundraiser of the Year – Brooke Taylor

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
Brooke is 16. She has been a patient at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital since the day she was born. She has had more operations than birthdays, including lifesaving surgery at just 11 days to remove a pelvic tumour.

In 2016, against medical advice, she completed the Manchester 10k with her surgeon by her side. This year, Brooke recruited more than 70 people to run with her in Brooke’s Barmy Army including a brass band. Together they raised over £16,000 for the hospital.

Celebrity Fundraiser of the Year – Jeff Stelling

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
Football presenter Jeff Stelling created his March for Men to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. In his second year of fundraising, he walked 15 marathons in 15 days, visiting 40 football clubs and encouraging hundreds of people to join him along the way.

He has raised over £700,000 to help Prostate Cancer UK fight for better diagnosis, better treatment and better support.

Creative Fundraiser of the Year – Chris Pickhaver

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
After a long struggle with mental illness, Chris’ son Joe sadly took his own life last December. He was 16-years-old. Chris created a beautiful book of photographs in his son’s memory that he uploaded to his JustGiving page. Joe’s family wanted to raise £16,000 – one thousand pounds for every year of his life. They’ve raised over £43,000 for Young Minds Trust, a charity committed to improving the mental health of children.

Endurance Fundraiser of the Year – Gary McKee

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
Gary completed the London Marathon this year. That is an achievement in its own right. But Gary did more than that. That was the final marathon in 100 which he had run in 100 days.

He did the challenge for his dad who was diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago and would have been 80 this year.

Gary has raised over £100,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Charity of the Year – Alzheimer’s Society

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

[Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc_2Zw7NMN8 no longer available]

 
Alzheimer’s Society is working to transform the landscape of dementia forever. Until the day a cure is found, they will “create a society where those affected by dementia are supported and accepted, able to live in their community without fear or prejudice”.

The Outstanding Commitment Award – George and the Giant Pledge

Watch the shortlisted finalists:

 
In January four-year-old George was diagnosed with cancer. In response to the dedicated staff at The Royal Marsden, his mum and dad started George and the Giant Pledge. They set out to make things better for all children facing cancer by raising £100,000. After reaching that target in just two weeks, they’ve inspired hundreds of people to join the pledge, raising over £430,000 in their quest to hit £1 million.

[Tweet at https://twitter.com/GiantPledge/status/933115148314841088 no longer available].

Special Recognition Award – Bradley Lowery

 
Bradley was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2013 when he was just 18-months-old. It is rare: fewer than 100 children in the UK are diagnosed with it each year. Most experience it when they are younger than five years old.

Bradley fought and beat the disease. Sadly it returned last year. His mother and father Gemma and Carl were told that his cancer was terminal last December.

Bradley achieved international recognition for his courage and for the fundraising efforts that his family and many other people undertook for him. A big Sunderland AFC fan, Bradley formed a close friendship with his football hero, Jermain Defoe. He regularly joined Jermain on the pitch as club mascot, and the striker visited him often him during his treatment. Bradley’s family raised over £700,000 to pay for him to be given antibody treatment in New York,

Aged six, Bradley died on 7 July 2017. His parents have set up the Bradley Lowery Foundation to raise awareness, and help other children and families who are faced with neuroblastoma.

The Awards in pictures

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.