2024: A Marvelous Year In Review

Farewell 2024, what a year you have been for fundraising. From marathons to mountain climbs, wing walks to wrestling challenges, 2024 was a blockbuster year for fundraising at Manchester Foundation Trust Charity, all thanks to our wonderful supporters.

In the true spirit of end of year lists (think of it as Spotify Wrapped for fundraising), we’d like to take a chance to recap and chart some of the inventive ways our fantastic fundraisers supported us in 2024.

Month by month, here’s some of the magical ways people came together to raise money for our Manchester family of hospitals. A smorgasbord of fundraising inspiration. A massive thank you to everyone that kindly got involved in 2024. Together we really can achieve great things.

January

The year began with a big thanks to Christmas fundraisers from the year before. Lorna and Julie Whalley arranged a raffle over Christmas and raised over £100. Meanwhile, a host of schools including Lacey Green Primary School, Victoria Park Infant School in Stretford and Bolton School Manchester House all raised money for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH) with a host of Christmassy activities.

Gandey’s Circus, whose Snowstorm 3 event based at the Trafford Centre raised over £400 for us in ticket sales, would continue to support RMCH throughout 2024, with further events at Easter and Christmas.

School friends Mila, Elle & Lilia from Prestbury Primary School also kindly supported us, organising a sale held at school selling homemade items such as bookmarks, postcards, biscuits, friendship bracelets and pin badges. They raised over £100 and sent a beautiful hand-decorated card into the office with the donation.

Finishing the month off in style, young fundraisers and best friends Hughie Higginson and Freddie Xavi melted the hearts of TV viewers and football fans alike celebrating their gigantic fundraising challenge.

February

The shortest month of the year began with major milestones and dazzling duos. MFT staff duo Lauren Baybutt and Luke O’Hara capped off their twelve challenges in twelve months, raising more than £10k for our charity. Lauren and Luke’s challenges spanned destinations including Orkney, Marrakesh and Amsterdam, with events ranging from a marathon in -4 to a four-day, 115-mile hike along the Jurassic Coast.

Joy and David Coulbeck combined their passion for music with fundraising, holding a Folk Night fundraiser at their local church in support of the neonatal unit at Wythenshawe Hospital. The event was a sellout, with over 16 performers spanning music, comedy, and poetry. Joy and David raised over £1,000 from the event. Their grandson James was born premature and cared for on the Neonatal Unit at Wythenshawe Hospital and is now a thriving toddler.

March

Looking for inspiration on how to raise money? Look no further. In March, Sadie from Chorlton along with her daughter Eloise, 8, and her friends Ingrid, 8, and Sofia, 7, hosted a stall selling cakes and toys in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Team at RMCH. The event was a huge success with them raising over £500 on their JustGiving page and over £100 in cash on the day.

Meanwhile, Paul Taylor from Preston also used his head for a fundraising idea, shaving it to raise money for RMCH. Paul’s 6-year-old son, Maxx (who also received a handsome buzzcut) was diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma (NLPHL) at the start of the year and has been overwhelmed by the high level of care, support and kindness. Paul raised over £3,000 in less than a week.

April

As far as fundraising months go, April took some beating when it came to fundraising ideas. Oliver Dean from Wakefield held a charity ten-hour endurance indoor karting event ‘Kart4Life – Petit Le Mans’, raising over £1500 for RMCH.

Tom Finkill held his fourth ‘Never Gonna Quiz You Up’ quiz raising over £1,500 (taking his total to over £20,000 since 2021). Long-term supporter Ibrahim ‘Ibby’ Yousef from Oldham held an impressive pie sale raising over £1,200 and doubling his target. Chris Boyles from Wigan hosted an RMCH supporting Musicals Watchathon on Twitch, watching 27 musicals over 3 days and streaming the whole thing live on Twitch, raising over £1,000.

April was also marathon month. Our heroic team of MFT Charity runners completed the London marathon raising over £13,000, whilst a team of 25 dedicated supporters ran the Manchester Marathon and collectively raised over £13,000 for our family of hospitals. A special shout out to Alma Askew, who dressed up as Bob The Builder, the first of many costumed event appearances in 2024 raising money for our Build to Beat Breast Cancer Appeal.

May

May highlighted just how special our relationships are with our corporate supporters. Far Logistics, part of the Cardinal Global Logistics Group, pledged £10,000 to support our Build to Beat Breast Cancer Appeal, a team from Natwest took on a 10km sponsored walk as part of our ‘Walk Your Way’ campaign raising over £200 and the charity committee from CloudM, a tech company based in Manchester, began their challenge to raise £10,000 in 12 months. One colleague even took part in the Great Manchester Run, virtually, from Texas.

The month also saw two senior partners from chartered accountants UHY Hacker Young take on the ROC Ultra Marathon in Wales, combining a 1.5km swim, 50km bike ride, 12km trail run to the summit of Snowdon, 50km bike ride back to the start, complete with a 1km sprint to the finish line. This huge challenge has now raised over £20k.

May of course signalled our annual involvement in the Great Manchester Run, with our fundraisers from this event (including the half marathon, 10k and Mini and Junior Runs) raising over £50,000 for our hospitals. Elsewhere in running Angela De Fouw who supports the Starlight Unit at Wythenshawe Hospital, ran 5km every day in May with her husband raising over £1,000.

June

Calling all cyclists, June was the month for heroes on two wheels. Determined fundraiser Amy Warrener completed the remarkable task of climbing the Three Peaks and cycling between them in her self-coined Peaks & Pedals challenge, raising more than her £10,000 target for RMCH. Meanwhile, over in Ireland, the Blazing Saddles team embarked on the Wild Atlantic Way Bike Ride. Seventeen dedicated riders covered nearly 300KM across the west coast of Ireland, raising over £6,000 which brings their total fundraising efforts to date to over £19,000.

Also in June, Jenny Congdon completed the English Channel Relay swim in support of our charity following the care her daughter Elsie received at RMCH. As well as experiencing some beautiful views of the sun setting over the channel, Jenny completed her swim in just over 12 hours beating her expected time and raising almost £3,000 in the process.

Meanwhile, Year 5 pupils Chloe and her friends at Bollin Primary School in Altrincham were presented with a charity cheque to say thanks for organising a three-week read-a-thon. Their fundraising idea was to encourage children at school to read for one hour a day and they managed to raise over £500 for 200 hours spent reading their favourite books. What a great idea.

July

The cycling didn’t stop in July. Pownall Green School organised a sponsored cycle event, raising funds for RMCH in support of a pupil receiving treatment for cancer. The challenge was a timed 30-minute ride around the school grounds and a further 10km around their local village of Bramhall. In total, they raised over £4,000.

After months of gruelling training through rain and shine, and a host of associated charity challenges, Paul Tierney and his team of cycling avengers, Lottie’s Legends, set off on their Manchester to Blackpool cycle. Paul’s ability to bring a team of fundraisers together is second to none and his total for the year topped £19,000.

In July, Kim Burns organised a charity football match with the Jet2 Allstars at Silverlands Stadium in Buxton, in support of Saint Mary’s. The team consisted of ex-pro footballers and soap stars from Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks and raised over £2,000. Kim and her family have been fundraising for our charity for many years now to show their gratitude for the care her daughter Molly has received at our hospitals since birth.

Elsewhere on the pitch, South Manchester Girls Football League chose to support us as their charity of the season. The girls’ youth committee collected donations over the season and organised a raffle during their presentation, raising over £1,500 in support of RMCH.

Also in July, Daniel Bui, who is a personal trainer, along with his gym clients, took on Tough Mudder for the second year in a row in support of Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI). He raised over £200 for the Haematology Unit where his mum was treated.

August

A is for August and abseil. 70 brave supporters took part this year, abseiling down the 19-story, 170ft Hyatt Regency Hotel. Our team of brave Heroes at The Hyatt abseilers included hospital staff, fundraisers and corporate supporters including teams from Beaverbrooks, NG Bailey, LIFT Financial, Cardinal Global Logistics and Microsoft. Collectively, our fundraisers raised over £13,000 in support of our hospitals.

Back on the ground, Patrick Hanrahan from Nottinghamshire hiked 76 miles from Shirebrook to Skegness, raising over £800 for RMCH. Patrick chose to fundraise for RMCH to show his gratitude for the treatment his grandson, Spencer, received.

September

Residents of Laceby House in Oldham hosted a talent show to raise money in support of RMCH where a resident’s younger brother, Clayton, is receiving treatment for leukaemia. As well as hosting the talent show, a member of the church Clayton attends also asked for donations in lieu of gifts for her 70th birthday. In total, Clayton’s friends and family have raised over £1,000.

Mark Clough embarked on a channel-crossing cycle ride from Manchester to Paris in September to raise funds for our paediatric oncology ward (ward 86) in memory of Gracie Jones, the daughter of his close friends, Caroline and John. Mark completed this remarkable journey in just six days, joined by a dedicated group of supporters who cheered him on every mile, with Mark raising almost £6,000.

Another impressive feat of endurance saw Freya Wilson set herself the challenge of running 100K throughout September to raise money for our charity. This feat was especially challenging for Freya as she was gearing up for brain surgery the following month to remove the remainder of a benign brain tumour and put a stop to her seizures. After her first operation at RMCH, she wanted to give something back to the hospital to show her gratitude, raising over £2,000.

Also in September, a large group of pupils and staff from Loreto Grammar School, organised by head girl Niamh Fitzgerald Fox, ran Altrincham 10km for MFT Charity raising over £3,000.

October

The year’s incredible running achievements continued into October. On the first weekend of the month, Peter Chomczuk took part in the Peak Divide ONEr 76KM challenge, running across the Peak District from Sheffield to Manchester, in a single day. Peter took on the challenge to raise funds for the Neonatal Intensive Care Uint at Saint Mary’s who cared for his twin boys Archie and Wilf. He raised over £1,000. We can only imagine what the weather must’ve been like passing over the top near Edale.

Fundraisers also got creative. Students from Cheadle Hulme School Sixth Form organised two events in support of RMCH. A fundraising fashion show called Arts Fusion, combined fashion, music, dance, and visual arts, with an emphasis on sustainability, featuring pieces made by students. They also organised a Splash of Green Day, charging £2 per student, with stalls offering face painting, cupcakes, and sweet treats.

Ben Cross meanwhile, and his two sons, with the help of Blackpool’s Rascals Wrestling Academy, took part in a fourteen day wrestling challenge in aid of RMCH, with the challenge recorded on video for Youtube. Ben’s total fundraising to date has passed over £21k.

North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) fundraiser Prav Patel saw out the fundraising year in style in October with not one, but two half marathons in two countries, taking on the San Sebastian and Manchester halves. The two races brought his year’s fundraising total to over £6,000 with more events planned for the new year to reach his £10k target.

November

As the wintry months drew in, it was pyjama time. Eight of the Kids Zone Group of nurseries took part in their annual PJ Week in raising over £5,000 in support of Burns Camp at RMCH. The Kids Zone Group was raised over £27,000 in support of our family of hospitals over the years.

In November, Leanne McGrevey celebrated her 50th birthday and very generously asked her friends and family for donations to be made to RMCH in lieu of any presents. Thanks to the support of her loved ones, Leanne raised over £300 which will support Ward 77 where her niece Anya is being treated.

Shorter days also mean perfect Lantern Walk weather. This year’s event was another magical, low-light jaunt through Heaton Park.

Another event that has become somewhat of a tradition also took place. Long-term supporter Peter Behan hosted his annual Twitch Charity Raid Train in support of RMCH. This unique fundraising event brought together multiple streamers who each hosted charity streams in dedicated time slots. With engaging incentives, challenges, and giveaways, the event created a great interactive environment. This year, Peter and his team chose to support RMCH’s Burns Camp, raising over £8,000, which could send approximately 12 young people to the Burns Camp.

December

December ‘twas the season. The Geddes family from Stockport organised their very own festive fundraising event with dad, Mark, dressed as Santa, while his son Hugo dressed as an elf to welcome in the festive season among their neighbours. The family wanted to give something back to RMCH following the care Hugo received for bronchomalacia, a congenital problem that arises from diminished cartilage support of the smaller airways. As well as bringing smiles and joy to their community, they have raised over £1,500.

St. Augustine’s CE Primary School in Monsall meanwhile quietly raised over £600 for RMCH. The funds were raised through a sponsored silence, with students showing incredible dedication to the cause, holding back their Christmas excitement, raising money in support of a pupil who is receiving treatment at RMCH.

In other news, a spot of sponsored chest waxing to cap the year off. Lydia Moffatt and her boyfriend, Jake Eadsforth, hosted a family fun day at their local community hut in Moston at the start of December. Joined by family and friends, the event was organised to raise funds for RMCH, specifically Ward 86, where their daughter, Renee, recently received care. Despite facing a challenging time, Lydia and Jake were very grateful for the hospital’s care and wanted to give something back to show their appreciation.

The couple raised over £2,000 from the day’s activities which included on the day donations and the sponsored chest wax. Lydia’s brother also took on the challenge of running 5km every day in November to help boost the fundraising total.

Adding further Christmas cheer, Elswick United Reformed Church in Preston donated £270 to MRI. They chose to support MRI as the resident organist’s mum received a transplant there, and they wanted to express their gratitude. The funds were raised through a Christmas concert featuring songs performed by children and professional musicians, as well as a raffle and a bake sale.

Our very Christmas Carols in the City concert meanwhile raised essential funds for our Youth Service Christmas Appeal, bolstered further by a fantastic effort by MFT staff taking part in Christmas Jumper Day.