Yorkshire leads the way with four finalists in this year’s JustGiving Awards.

Yorkshire is leading the way in finalists for one of the UK’s best known fundraising awards with an incredible four people from across the region being nominated for the GoCardless JustGiving Awards.

Ryan Gardiner has been nominated in the Community category, Shay O’Grady has been nominated in the Teen category, Alba Stogden has been nominated in the Young Fundraiser category and Richard Benson has been nominated in the Outstanding Commitment category.

All four finalists were selected by a panel of judges which included Radio DJ Rickie Haywood-Williams, Actress Angela Griffin, longstanding fundraiser, famous for wearing a charity shop outfit every day for one year, Caroline Jones and the general manager of JustGiving, Pascale Harvie.

33-year-old teacher, Ryan Gardiner, from Goole, has raised more than £30,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust through a number of fundraising activities, after his pupil Luke lost his battle with osteosarcoma – a type of bone cancer – in 2021. The activities were organised alongside Luke’s parents Chris and Joanne, sister Cassie and a group of volunteers.

Ryan, who used to teach Luke and coached him with football said: “When I saw the email that said I’d been nominated, and then that I was in the final three, I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. It was one of those, wow, I think this might be a really big deal kind of moment!

“I know there’s thousands of people doing amazing things out of the goodness of their own hearts across the country, and I’ve met a lot of them on my own fundraising journey – so I dedicate this nomination to all of those people that are always out there doing things for the betterment of others over themselves. Since Luke passed away we’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that we provide him with a fitting legacy to remember his shining spirit.”

13-year-old Shay O’Grady, from Sheffield, is also a finalist. He’s taken on five triathlons over the last five years to raise more than £46,000 for local charity, Bluebell Wood which supports his cousin Evie-Mae.

He said: “I love fundraising for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice – it’s an amazing place that supports my cousin and her family. This latest challenge was my toughest one yet, but I was determined to do it and with help from my family and friends I achieved it. When I heard about the GoCardless JustGiving award nomination I was so excited and I am really looking forward to meeting other fundraisers and listening to their inspirational stories.”

55-year-old, Richard Benson, from Leeds is currently undertaking a year of challenges in memory of his late partner Camille and her son Ethan who both died by suicide, to raise money for the charity PAPYRUS which supports young people at risk of suicide. To date, he has already raised more than £9,400.

He said: “I was very surprised to be nominated. It came totally out of the blue for me but it’s a great opportunity to create more awareness of PAPYRUS and the suicide prevention agenda out there so I’m happy about that.

“Camille was a loving and much-loved person. She worked hard, lived life to the full and volunteered for causes she cared about. She had worked as a volunteer for Suicide Awareness and Prevention for many years and following Ethan’s death she was determined to raise as much money as possible for PAPYRUS.

“I wish that Camille could be with me to raise that money as planned but as her family and loved ones we are determined that this cause that she was so committed to will get as much support as we can muster and these awards are a way of recognising this and raising awareness of the charity’s work.”

Nine-year-old Alba Stogden, who has been described by those who nominated her as a young girl with a ‘heart of gold’ has completed 16 fundraising challenges, raising almost £25,000 for mental health related charities by walking hundreds of miles.

Alba hopes that by doing so she’ll be able to help change the way people see and talk about mental health, something that from a very young age she was very aware of.

From just three months old, Alba visited her daddy, in psychiatric hospitals. They did bedtimes via facetime, supervised visits and Christmas in family rooms on the wards of big hospitals. Her daddy has suffered with his mental health from a young age and was sectioned for the first time at just 20 years old.

Speaking about being shortlisted Alba said: “People like my daddy are different from everybody else and they need help. It’s very sad because not everybody is ok. Lots of people suffer with their mental health. I am really happy about being shortlisted in the awards. It will be another adventure.”

This is the eleventh year of the JustGiving Awards and the judges agreed that this year’s event will be an incredibly emotional yet truly inspiring evening. From more than 13,000 nominations, the judges worked hard to shortlist 21 inspiring finalists, three for each of the seven award categories.

Pascale Harvie, President and general manager at JustGiving said: “Our fundraisers and crowdfunders are amazing and whilst they don’t do what they do for praise and recognition, every single person like Ryan, Shay, Alba and Richard deserve it.

“The ceremony is a magical evening but most importantly it’s a moment for us at JustGiving to thank, formally recognise and celebrate the individuals, groups and charities who have done extraordinary things in the interest of others.”

Members of the public now have the opportunity to vote for the fundraisers they want to see crowned for their efforts via: https://page.justgiving.com/awardsvoting2023

Seven winners as well as JustGiving’s Charity of the Year will be announced at the ceremony which takes place at London’s Roundhouse on the evening of September 25th. Winners will be presented with their official trophy by well-known faces from the world of celebrities and sport.

Previous JustGiving Award winners include Max Woosey, who was crowned 2022 Young Fundraiser of the Year for camping outside for hundreds of nights in memory of his neighbour and raising funds for North Devon Hospice.

Three dads walking were awarded Fundraising Team of the Year for raising significant awareness for suicide prevention and funds for Papyrus and the late Dame Deborah James’ family received a special recognition award after she created wide-scale awareness of Bowel cancer and its symptoms and raised millions of pounds for the Bowelbabe Fund.

Pat Phelan, MD of UK & Ireland and Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless said: “We’re proud to recognise the finalists and everyone nominated for this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards. We’re also grateful to all of the donors who support them. By combining the energy and enthusiasm of fundraisers like Ryan, Shay, Alba and Richard with the generosity of the nation, truly amazing things can happen.”

NOTES TO EDITOR

For further information contact  press@justgiving.com

*All figures quoted include GiftAid and are accurate at the time of releasing this press release.

Figures quoted relate to fundraising activity on JustGiving only. JustGiving is one of many fundraising platforms that people can choose from when fundraising for events such as the London Marathon.

About JustGiving
JustGiving is the world’s most trusted platform for online giving. We help people raise money for the charities and people they care about the most. In 2000, JustGiving.com began with one simple goal – to enable charities to receive donations online from anywhere in the world. Fast forward 22 years and over £5 billion has been raised for good causes in almost every single country in the world.

JustGiving became part of Blackbaud, the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good in 2017.

To note – JustGiving does not charge a fee on donations but instead operates a voluntary contribution model, meaning people donating can choose to leave a ‘tip’ if they wish. The only non-optional fee is a 1.9% + 20p to cover card payment charges.