7 celebrities supporting UK good causes
Melanie May | 28 January 2022 | News
From the always fab-u-lous Craig Revel Horwood becoming patron of North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity, to Sunetra Sarker’s winning of a £55,700 donation for Sightsavers on Celebrity Catchphrase, here’s news of seven celebs and their support for good causes.
Craig Revel Horwood announced as North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity patron
Craig Revel Horwood has become the North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity patron. The charity supports patients and staff at Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals. The new-look North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity relaunched at an online event with hospital staff on 24 January where the announcement was made. The surprise event was held online allowing Trust staff to safely join charity staff and fund managers for the announcement. Trust staff were also given the opportunity to meet Craig and ask questions at an online 45-minute live lunchtime chat.
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Celebrity support for Brain Tumour Research Wear A Hat Day
A number of celebrities are supporting this year’s Brain Tumour Research Wear A Hat Day. They include the charity’s patron Caprice Bourret, Sarah Beeny, garden designer and TV presenter Danny Clarke, and Sheila Hancock. Wear A Hat Day takes place on 25 March.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor joins Oscar’s Book Prize judging panel
Oscar’s Book Prize has announced that singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, along with her mother, Janet Ellis, a two-time author and former Blue Peter presenter, have joined its 2022 judges panel. The pair will help to choose the winner of the Oscar’s Books Prize, an award which seeks to find the best illustrated book for children, supported by Amazon. The mother daughter duo are joined by a panel of judges including the former Children’s Laureate and award-winning illustrator, Chris Riddell and rapper, actor, comedian and children’s author, Ben Bailey Smith (Doc Brown) amongst the Prize founder and Amazon’s UK Books country manager.
Weasley Twin becomes Global Charity Ambassador for Giving to Services
Oliver Phelps, one half of the Weasley Twins in the Harry Potter film series, has become the Global Charity Ambassador for Giving to Services, one of the world’s first cryptocurrency-based donation platforms designed to give back to public sector workers and use blockchain for good. The platform will utilise cryptocurrency staking to give money back to those working in public services, with an initial rollout amongst UK NHS workers. The initiative will work in conjunction with a decentralised, Ethereum-based cryptocurrency called SVS, which is owned and operated by Giving to Services, and currently trading on Uniswap.
Tommy Jessop becomes Mencap Ambassaor
British actor and Line of Duty star Tommy Jessop has been announced as the latest Ambassador for Mencap. Jessop was the first actor with Down’s syndrome to star in a prime-time BBC drama, playing Ben in Mark Haddon’s BAFTA nominated Coming Down the Mountain, following this with guest lead roles in Casualty, Holby City and other TV roles and radio plays for BBC Radio 4. He is the winner of various Best Actor awards for his short films and also the first professional actor with Down’s syndrome to tour theatres as Hamlet and the first to become a full voting member of BAFTA. In July 2021, Jessop received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Winchester for his services to the entertainment industry.
Jamie Peacock to run 100-mile ultramarathon for Greenhouse Sports
Jamie Peacock MBE, Great Britain Rugby League legend, is running a 100-mile ultramarathon around London to fundraise for sports and mentoring charity Greenhouse Sports on 16 April. With the charity having to temporarily close its HQ, the Greenhouse Centre, in December 2021 due to safety issues in the Centre’s roof, Jamie will ‘Run for the Roof’ in 2022 with Simon Dent, endurance runner and founder of HERO talent agency and sports marketing agency Dark Horses. Together, they will make a 100-mile double loop around London, which will begin and end at the Greenhouse Centre and check in at a number of the 40 schools in the capital that Greenhouse Coaches support.
Copyright: Sightsavers/Samyukta Lakshmi
Sunetra Sarker wins Celebrity Catchphrase donation for Sightsavers
Loose Women panellist and Ackley Bridge actress, Sunetra Sarker, swapped drama and discussions with deciphering puzzling clues recently when she took on ITV’s Celebrity Catchphrase. Her quick thinking resulted in a £55,700 donation for Sightsavers. Sarker took to our screens alongside comedian Roisin Conaty and radio presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams in the popular gameshow hosted by Stephen Mulhern. She breezed through the early catchphrases, earning a place in the Super Catchphrase round and winning the star prize for Sightsavers, where she’s been an ambassador for over a decade.
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.