Press release
Double joy as two Worcester residents make the final for this year’s JustGiving Awards
10 July 2023
Two Worcester residents have cause to celebrate after being named as finalists in this year’s Outstanding Commitment category for the GoCardless JustGiving Awards.
John Adams and Anthony Frobisher who will go head-to-head alongside one other nominee from Leeds, were selected by a panel of judges. 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 agreed on the three finalists from more than 13,000 nominations from across the UK.
John, 79, from Droitwich Spa was nominated by the public after he raised more than £24,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND), a condition he was diagnosed with himself six years ago. His most recent challenge was to complete seven miles in seven days on his scooter around the local area, collecting donations.
He said: “In 2014 I took part in the ice bucket challenge as we all did and donated money to MND, something I had never heard of before. Yet just three years I was diagnosed with MND and given a prognosis of just 12-18 months to live.
“After getting that devastating diagnosis I decided to dedicate every day I was blessed with to work hard to promote awareness and raise money to find a cure for this horrendous disease, to ensure no one else suffers in the future. I feel very honoured to be nominated as a finalist as there are so many amazing people working so hard to raise money for their chosen charities.”
Anthony, 54 from Blackpole cycled 100 miles then walked the distance of a marathon (26.2 miles) on May 14th last year to raise money for Acorn’s Children’s Hospice in Worcester, which provided respite care for his daughter, Milla when she was born prematurely in 2006.
He said: “My daughter Milla was one of triplets with her sister Jewel and Louisa. They were born 16 weeks prematurely and Jewel sadly passed away after only 17 days. Milla and Louisa battled against the odds and spent six months in hospital and had numerous operations and setbacks. Milla was diagnosed with severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and was unable to walk or talk and needed 24-hour care.
In 2016 Milla passed away suddenly from a sepsis infection. Acorn’s Children’s Hospice provided respite care for Milla and provided bereavement support for us, so I continue to fundraise for them as my way of saying thank you.
“It was very unexpected to find out I was nominated for a JustGiving Award but I am delighted and honoured that my fundraising activities have been recognised and considered in this way. I fundraise to help the charities that supported and us as a family. I promised
Milla when she passed away I would continue to fundraise in her memory and to increase awareness of the charities and the work they do – this nomination will help to do that.
“If I can inspire one person to do one good thing for charity, that is satisfaction for me. Any nomination or award is fantastic, but to see the recognition of the charities, their staff, volunteers and fundraisers is why I do these challenges.”
Anthony’s cycle route covered Worcester to Hereford, then Gloucester and back to Worcester – the three counties region that the hospice provides respite care for life limited children. He finished off by walking a route around south Worcester to cover the marathon distance straight afterwards. In total it took 16 hours.
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 awards 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 Anthony and John deserves 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 added: “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 John and Anthony 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.