Remember A Charity ambassador Len Goodman dies, & more celebrity news
Melanie May | 26 April 2023 | News
Remember A Charity is among those paying tribute to Len Goodman this week, who has passed away aged 78. More on this and other celebrity-related news below.
Remember A Charity ambassador Len Goodman dies
Len Goodman, former head judge on Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars passed away on 22 April, aged 78. He had cancer. Remember A Charity ambassador and charity supporter, Goodman was a familiar face in the annual Remember A Charity Week campaign, which he backed for a number of years. He was also a keen supporter of a number of charities including Age UK, Demelza Hospice Care for Children, Hospice in the Weald, and Variety The Children’s Charity. A MuchLoved tribute site has been set up where people can donate to these four charities in his memory.
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See more on Len’s support for Remember A Charity Week here, and here.
Michael Ball becomes patron of The Music Man Project
The Music Man Project has announced Michael Ball as its latest celebrity patron. In his new role as patron of The Music Man Project, Ball will support the organisation’s mission to provide inclusive music education and performance opportunities to people with learning disabilities. He will help to raise awareness of the organisation’s work and advocate for the importance of music in the lives of people with disabilities.
Gordon Ramsey matches donations from fundraising drive for SBH Scotland
Gordon Ramsay OBE has matched a £15,000 fundraising drive by diners at his Edinburgh restaurants to donate a total of £31,392 to Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus (SBH) Scotland. In November and December 2022, Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen and Street Burger Edinburgh venues launched the GReat Donate to raise money for the charity, by adding a £1 voluntary donation to diners’ bills and donating the proceeds from the launch day of Street Burger. These diner donations, combined with the proceeds from Gordon Ramsay’s Street Burger’s launch day, raised £15,642. SBH Scotland Honorary Patron and long-standing supporter of the charity, Gordon Ramsay OBE, then matched the funds raised. Gordon Ramsay became SBH Scotland’s first ever Honorary Patron back in 2003 when he met the organisation’s Chairperson, Dr Margo Whiteford CBE, at the Great North Run. For nearly 20 years, he has continued to support SBH Scotland through charitable donations and appearances.
Fleur East supports Cash for Kids Day
Fleur East is encouraging people across the UK to spice up their lives on Thursday 27 April by dressing up as their favourite pop star and raising money for Cash for Kids. The Hits Radio Breakfast Show presenter is launching the fundraiser by dressing up as her favourite ever Spice Girl Mel B. She was joined by her Hits Radio colleague Gemma Atkinson, who threw it back to the 90s as well, by dressing up as Liam Gallagher to inspire others to do the same. The charity has set a target of raising £1million. Cash for Kids is Bauer Media’s UK charity and this year other Bauer Audio UK brands including KISS, Magic and Absolute will come together for the first time to support Cash for Kids Day. All donations will go towards helping families with the cost of living crisis.
Top Chefs Raise £1mn for Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice
Fourteen top chefs raised more than £1mn for Tŷ Hafan on 25 March. The chefs took over the kitchens of Cornerstone in Cardiff and each cooked four course meals for 140 members of South Wales’ business community to raise funds for the charity. It is the seventh time that the event has taken place since the very first Chefs’ Night Out in 2011. This year’s event saw a whopping £265,000 raised on the night, taking the overall total fundraised by Chefs’ Night Out to £1.1mn. The participating chefs included Stephen Terry – The Hardwick, Abergavenny; Roger Jones – The Harrow at Little Bedwin; Richard Davies – Calcot Manor, the Cotswolds; David Kelman – Cowley Manor, Cheltenham; and Hywel Jones – Lucknam Park, near Bath.
Kimberly Hart-Simpson announced as BHF’s first Retail Ambassador
Coronation Street actress and entrepreneur, Kimberly Hart-Simpson, has been announced as the British Heart Foundation’s first Retail Ambassador. She has been a supporter of the BHF for many years, championing shopping preloved, upcycling clothes, as well as volunteering in her local British Heart Foundation shop in Manchester. In 2017 her sister Emma was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a chronic heart condition which affects the size, shape and thickness of the heart. The British Heart Foundation announced Hart-Simpson as the charity’s first Retail Ambassador at an exclusive event in London, hosted by DJ and presenter Yinka Bokinni. The retail ambassador role will see familiar faces, celebrities and influencers help the BHF raise as much money as possible through its shops.
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.