Celebrity round up: 8 personalities supporting good causes
Melanie May | 8 February 2019 | News
Here is a round up of recent announcements about celebrities supporting charities, from Dougray Scott to Peter Andre, and Mr Tumble.
Rupert Lycett Green & Pancreatic Cancer Action
Rupert Lycett Green, former Savile Row tailor and designer, has become Pancreatic Cancer Action’s most recent Patron. He has supported the charity for many years with his biggest event, a 140-mile walk across the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park, raising over £56,000. Lycett Green was married to Candida Rose Lycett Green, author and daughter of John Betjeman, before she sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2014.
Harold Tillman & Variety
Variety, the Children’s Charity has announced the appointment of fashion entrepreneur Harold Tillman CBE as its Chair of the Board of Trustees for 2019: its 70th anniversary. Tillman is an established entrepreneur across fashion and business and an ambassador and champion of British fashion. He has held pro bono positions, including acting as the longest serving Chairman of the British Fashion Council, as a former Trustee of the V&A, and as Chair of the Fundraising Board for the London College of Fashion. In this latter role, he formed his own Scholarship to support students financially to achieve their MA degrees. He has also recently created and funded a new Scholarship for Sustainability. He currently Chairs the Ethical Fashion Forum. Tillman has been a longstanding supporter of Variety and founded the charity’s “Patrons of Variety”, created to fund the work of Variety while bringing together philanthropic and eminent individuals to celebrate the charity.
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Mr Tumble & Red Nose Day
BBC Studios and CBeebies have joined forces with Comic Relief on this year’s nursery campaign in support of Red Nose Day on 15 March 2019. Pre-school superstar Mr Tumble, from CBeebies show Something Special, will be the face of the campaign which will offer free fundraising packs to nurseries across the UK. The nursery activity packs are full of fundraising resources to help nurseries get their little ones excited for the day as well as learn more about the world around them. The packs include an activity guide, sponsorship form, a learning poster, stickers and balloons, and resources nurseries need to host their own Tumble-tastic fundraising party; including tips, posters, and tickets. The Something Special nursery fundraising packs are available to order now from the Comic Relief website.
Dougray Scott & WaterAid
WaterAid ambassador and actor Dougray Scott visited St Paul’s Cathedral in January, where 800 children’s schoolbags lined the steps as tribute to the number of children under five who lose their lives every day from dirty water. Each of the Cathedral’s 24 entrance steps represent one hour – and the 33 children younger than five who die every hour – a whole class that never make it to school, all for the lack of clean water. The event asked the British public to support to the international charity’s ‘Water Effect’ appeal to help raise £1.5 million to get clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to more than 20 health centres around the world.
Image: WaterAid/Oliver Dixon
Peter Andre, Chestnut Tree House & Together for Short Lives
Peter Andre has been named as Patron for Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice and Together for Short Lives. The announcement follows his appearances at the Together for Short Lives’ and Disney Nutcracker Ball in November, and Chestnut Tree House’s Snowman Spectacular Fundraising Ball in December. Andre has already supported the charities’ work for a number of years.
Kanu Nwankwo & Kanu Heart Foundation
Digital money transfer service Azimo has raised over $125,000 for the Kanu Heart Foundation (KFH). The charity, founded by footballer Kanu Nwankwo, helps children with serious cardiac diseases obtain life-saving medical treatment within and outside Nigeria. Nwankwoset up the charity after suffering heart problems during his football career. Azimo has been raising money for the charity since January 2017. Every time an Azimo customer makes a transfer to Nigeria, the company makes a donation to KHF. The CEO, Michael Kent, presented the cheque to the football legend himself at Azimo’s office in London.
Brian Blessed & WaterAid
Actor and comedian Brian Blessed is fronting a campaign that launched in January by WaterAid to show that reaching everyone everywhere with clean water is no pipe dream. In a new advert, which challenges the style of traditional charity adverts, Blessed addresses the frustrations that we are still seeing images of extreme poverty in 2019, and highlights the world’s progress in tackling the water and sanitation crisis. While one in nine people still lack access to one of life’s most basic resource, he shows that change is possible by highlighting the fact that an 1.4 billion people have got clean water since 2000: 21 times the number of people who live in the UK.
Chas n Dave & WaterAid
Dave Peacock led a star-studded evening of entertainment in memory of his musical partner Chas Hodges, while helping raise nearly £40,000 for WaterAid. The event, which took place on 17 December at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, featured artists from across the entertainment world. Eric Clapton, Paul Whitehouse, Joe Brown and Ed Tudor Pole were among the stars paying tribute to Chas Hodges, alongside featured musical contributions from Chas’s family. Proceeds from ticket sales and the sale of a commemorative programme, as well as donations on the night, generated £39,541 for the charity.
Image: WaterAid/Chloe Bayram, and main image WaterAid/Adam Batterbee
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.