Charity

SBT CHARITY

SUPPORT CONTINUES FOR ROCKINGHORSE

BY ROCKINGHORSE CHILDRENS CHARITY

ALBION - SAY THANK YOU TO THE NHS

BY BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Support continues for Rockinghorse during COVID-19 crisis

Over the last seven weeks the support for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity has been overwhelming, despite the challenging times facing everyone.

Back in March when the lock-down began, everyone in the charity sector could see the enormous impact that the virus would have on their ability to fundraise. Not only would the sector miss out on around £67m just from the postponement of the London Marathon, but all the other cancelled events and challenges could potentially have a devastating impact.

Charity

It was at this critical time that Rockinghorse made the decision to engage with their supporters and help them understand how important their continued support was to help sick children and young people across Sussex.

The week after the lock-down they launched their ‘Be a Rockinghorse Hero’ campaign with a range of ways to fundraise and since then the level of support has been overwhelming.

Inspirational ideas

You may think that trying to find ways to fundraise with limited time outside is difficult but there have been some amazing supporters who have found a way to help.

Lots of people have been using their daily exercise time to undertake ‘virtual’ sponsored runs in aid of Rockinghorse so their training doesn’t go to waste. And the recent 2.6 Challenge really caught the imagination with sponsored trampoline bounces, jumping jacks and basketball hoops.

Young people have also been more than keen to raise money for other children who are poorly. Two local netball clubs came up with the idea of scoring as many goals as possible within one hour and after managing over 26,000 goals they raised an amazing £3,500. And then there’s Bella, a twelve-year-old who ran 26km around her grandparent’s farm and raised just under £2,000!

Local business support

A group of local businesses in Sussex have also taken up the challenge to support Rockinghorse, bringing their expertise to the table to help.

Freedom Works, who provides flexible office space across the county, brought together a group of companies to design, create, market and distribute a beautiful t-shirt in support of the NHS. Customers can get their own rainbow drawing printed on the back and 100% of the profits are going to Rockinghorse.

Generous donations

Along with all these great activities, local organisations and businesses have also been donating to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and other young people’s health services in Sussex. Over Easter, nearly 1000 Easter Eggs were donated by groups including Sama Karate, Pure Gym, Poundland and the Stoneham Community Group, meaning even those stuck in hospital over the long weekend had a nice treat to enjoy!

The Body Shop also generously donated a large amount of toiletries for staff and families at the children’s hospital, helping staff during their long working hours or families while they are spending time with their children in hospital.

Ryan Heal, Rockinghore CEO, has been blown-away by the fundraising efforst; “The support shown for our much-loved local charity over the last six weeks has been truly wonderful. Both myself and the team started the lock-down feeling very apprehensive about the future, but we have all been amazed at how people have still chosen to support us, despite their own challenging situations.

It means that we are able to continue supporting those in the most need during this critical time and beyond. We all want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us so far and who will continue to support us in the future.”

Keep an eye out on the Rockinghorse website for event news and updates:

rockinghorse.org.uk

Albion - say thank you to the NHS

Albion stars add support to campaign for every home in the UK to display a blue heart to say thank you to the NHS. Support for Blue Hearts 4 Heroes is rising after husband of NHS frontline heroine launches fundraising bid

Brighton & Hove Albion stars Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross are the latest to support a campaign for every home in the UK to display a blue heart to say thank you to the NHS – and potentially raise millions for NHS Charities Together in the process.

Charity

The campaign was launched by a proud husband whose wife is treating patients with Covid-19.

Andy Williams was so moved at seeing the work done by wife Sally in Guildford that he launched the Blue Hearts 4 Heroes campaign after a flash of inspiration during the first national Clap for Carers. His idea was to design a large blue thank you heart on card which could easily be placed in the windows of homes every day of the week, and not just on Thursdays.

Now his dream is becoming reality

with hearts on sale. The hearts cost from £10 with all profits going to NHS Charities Together.

Andy, 49, said: “It’s very emotional to think the campaign is finally underway – and the response we have had already is incredible. I’m so thankful to Brighton & Hove Albion for their support and hopefully fans will get involved, too.

“I got the idea at the first ever Clap for Carers on March 26 when I saw so many famous buildings lit up in blue with a ‘Thank You NHS’ message.

“I thought it would be great if people could buy something to decorate their own home to show support, and to raise money for NHS Charities Together at the same time.

“There are 25 million houses in the UK, so if just 10 per cent bought a heart, we could raise millions.”

The real inspiration behind the heart is Sally Williams, 45, who trained at the Royal Surrey County Hospital and has been a nurse for 15 years. She would normally be working as part of an NHS nursing team at a school for children with profound special needs, but due

to the pandemic is instead deployed to a community hospital treating patients with, or recovering from, Covid-19.

Andy said: “After a long uncomfortable shift wearing PPE Sally comes home exhausted but determined to do her bit again the next day. She’s an absolute inspiration.

“For me, it is a worry that she is exposed to the disease on the frontline, especially as we have three young daughters, and I’m sure this is the same for all families of NHS workers. So, it only seems right that we say thank you to them all. “Sally is so modest and often feels embarrassed when the street starts clapping on a Thursday – she just sees it as doing her job. But for all the people like her, to come home from a shift and see entire rows of houses with a blue heart would be something special.”

Blue Hearts 4 Heroes is raising funds in aid of NHS Charities Together, the same charity that legendary Captain Tom Moore raised funds for.

Chief Executive Ellie Orton said: “Thank you Blue Hearts 4 Heroes for choosing to raise money for NHS Charities Together. We’re all so grateful for the incredible work of our NHS staff and volunteers and I hope this initiative helps show frontline workers just how much their hard work and dedication means to us all.”

The campaign is also supported by NHS Million, a non-profit initiative run by NHS staff to create a super-team of a million people who love and cherish the NHS.

A spokesperson for the NHS Million team said: “Our mission is to get Britain to celebrate the NHS and improve mental wellbeing and morale amongst NHS workers. We can’t wait to see a flood of blue hearts decorating homes across the country in support of every hard-working nurse, porter, doctor and everyone else striving to keep Britain healthy.”

Go to www.bluehearts4heroes.co.uk to buy your blue heart and say thank you to the NHS. A minimum spend of £10 is required with 100% of profits donated in aid of NHS Charities Together.