Doddie Aid ’23 raises £1mn in first 11 days – & more event news
Melanie May | 25 January 2023 | News
With Doddie Aid hitting the £1mn mark just 11 days into the six-week campaign, here’s a fundraising event round up with more on this, and news on other charity events.
Light Up A Life campaign raises £150,000 for hospice
£150,000 has been raised throughout Cardiff charity City Hospice’s Light Up A Life campaign, during which donations were matched by the Hodge Foundation. The Light Up A Life campaign ran between October 1 and December 31, providing supporters with opportunities to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones in the run up to Christmas. Back by popular demand, the digital ‘Virtual Star in the Sky’ feature allowed people to donate and leave a message of remembrance on a virtual star in the Cardiff skyline. With no restrictions in place for the first time in three years, remembrance and fundraising events returned during the campaign period including an art auction, remembrance event and light trail.
Advertisement
Doddie Aid 2023 passes £1mn mark 11 days into campaign
ORGANISERS of Doddie Aid 2023 have set their sights on a record-breaking fundraising total after passing the £1 million mark just 11 days into the six-week campaign. With a month still to go in the campaign (in mid Jan) – the first major My Name’5 Doddie Foundation fundraising event following the death of founder Doddie Weir – the running total has already eclipsed the entire Doddie Aid 2022 total. More than 35,000 fundraisers across the UK have already rallied to raise as much money as possible for MND research in memory of Scotland rugby legend and MND campaigner Weir, who died in November last year six years after his MND diagnosis. He was 52. Doddie Aid 2023 organisers are now targeting a record-breaking fundraising total – and hope to attract more than 50,000 fundraisers to help them get there.
Swimming legends encourage Swimathon 2023 participation
People of all ages and abilities seeking a New Year fitness challenge are being encouraged to sign up for Swimathon 2023 by Olympic swimming legends Duncan Goodhew MBE and Mark Foster. Swimathon is inspiring the nation to swim this Spring, and between 12-14 May 2023 over 450 swimming pools across the UK are taking part in what is the world’s largest annual fundraising swim. Everyone is encouraged to head down to their local pool or lido and embark on this journey with family and friends, sign up before 31 January and under 16s can swim free across any challenge. Participants will be raising funds for Swimathon’s charity partners: Marie Curie, and Cancer Research UK. Since its inception in 1986, over 700,000 people have taken part in Swimathon and over £52 million has been raised for a range of charities.
Remembrance garden raises over £200,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
A remembrance garden filled with 20,000 illuminated white roses has raised in excess of £200,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The Ever After Garden once again lit up Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square, opening to the public from 23 November until 20 December. Visitors were invited to dedicate a rose in memory of a loved one and to make a donation. The 2022 Ever After Garden was the most successful to date. The Ever After Garden has now raised over £450,000 since it was first created in 2019. It was named and inspired in tribute to the late Production Designer and Art Director Michael Howells, whose work included the film Ever After and ITV’s Victoria.
2022 Marlow Santa’s Fun Run raised almost £75k for charities
December’s Marlow Santa’s Fun Run, organised by the Rotary Clubs of Marlow, broke records to raise £74,800 in total. Approximately half came from proceeds from the entry fees and commercial sponsors, with the other half raised by participants for the nominated charities/ So far 46 charities have benefitted from the charity event including One Can Trust, and Marlow United Charities. The event took place on 4 December, and has a capacity of 3,000 people.
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.