“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela
18 teams across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have spent the past three months competing to “grow” their £50 stakes.
It has been a very exciting, competitive and sometimes moving time, as teams left their comfort zones and completed some amazing things in order to support their local hospice.
LOROS is extremely pleased to announce that together, the teams have raised a staggering total of £30,698 which could cover the cost of a LOROS nurse looking after our inpatients for almost a year.
Winners of the 'Most Money Raised' were the British Gas team led by Tom Reichert and their key fundraiser, Daniel Chaplin. They raffled their initial £50 and made their first £1000 in a just few days - and that was just the beginning.
Daniel Chaplin said: “I set my personal target high at £5,000 because my wife’s Mum passed away in LOROS in 1994 at the age of 44. In total our team have raised £5,404.75. I am so happy; not only did I achieve my personal target, but I also know this amount of money will make a great difference to this amazing charity.”
Five other teams from British Gas based at Aylestone Road, Leicester were also involved in this year’s Accumulator Challenge.
Dedicated LOROS supporters, Palmers Garden Centre, were runners up for the second year running, smashing last year’s target and raising £5,010 for the Hospice.
The winner of the 'Most Innovative Idea' was Freedom Care. They raised money by organising a Gary Barlow tribute night as well as a Smartie tube challenge. Kat Kinch, Director at Freedom Care challenged herself to put her hands and feet into bowls full of baked beans, despite suffering with a traumatic phobia of them. Kat said: “It was DREADFUL, really, really awful! However, I'm delighted to say it raised a wonderful £340 towards our Accumulator Challenge, so it was worth every horrible moment."
The winner of the 'Most Engaging Idea' was HRG Leicester office. Team Leader, Scott Baird, decided to create a competition within a competition by splitting their initial £50 between 7 team leaders, who then went on to recruit more people to embrace the campaign. Craig Snowball encouraged more than 50 local businesses to donate prizes for his raffle, while Mikesh Chauhan cycled on public roads to his office dressed as his female alter ego Mel B. These are just a couple of examples of their great involvement.
Craig said: “This event has been very close to my heart and when accepting the challenge, I knew that I would have to put 110% into it. The most challenging part of my raffle was finding good prizes but it was soon apparent that all my hard work in finding them paid off and the tickets actually sold themselves. It’s been a great journey and I am extremely pleased with the final amount.”
Coventry Building Society Leicester’s branch worked hard running a tuck shop, selling home made cakes and samosas, books, gifts for Easter and Mother’s Day and producing and selling very special passbook covers to their customers.
Emily Watkins from Caterpillar spent all day at the Caterpillar office dressed up as a penguin while her colleagues ran a charity car washing service.
Spearing Waite LLP team raised their money by running a tuck shop, a champagne raffle and doing a breakfast cob run.
The Taylor Bloxam Group discovered that they are up to sport events like running and cycling, raising cash from their sponsorships.
LOROS Trustee Chris Greenwell, from Gateley, produced his usual yummy cakes once again this year and sold them during the LOROS Ladies Lunch.
This year’s Accumulator Challenge also welcomed young participants from Madani Schools Federation, 33rd/65th Leicester Scout Troop and Lime Tree Day Nursery. The youngest participants from the Nursery were very innovative producing their own special, personalised LOROS keyrings which sold out, raising more than £1000 for LOROS. Almost the same amount was raised by teams of boys and girls from Madani Schools and the scouts increased their stake to £700.
Magdalena Korytkowska, Fundraising Co-ordinator at LOROS said: "I’m amazed how all of the teams went that extra mile to raise funds for our patients and their families.
Working alongside them has been a fantastic experience and I trust they all had a lot of fun being part of this year's campaign. I hope that they all feel rewarded after the Awards Evening, as they were all winners in our eyes.
"On behalf of our patients and their families, I would like to this opportunity to thank each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart, for their hard work and innovative ideas.”
For more information on the Accumulator Challenge, please contact the LOROS Fundraising Department on (0116) 231 8431/2 or email fundraising@loros.co.uk
Photographs courtesy of Ambrose Musiyiwa, CivicLeicester, can be viewed here
