The Winterton and District Branch is a local area branch of Bloodwise that was formed in November 2011, committed to beating blood cancer. Our fundraising team was set up, and is led by young people following the loss of friend James, however the branch has now grown and we have members of all ages who are dedicated to beating blood cancer. 

Our branch's main aims are to raise funds and awareness to help beat blood cancer whilst being an integral part of the community. We want to make the lives of the 38,000 people diagnosed with blood cancer in the UK each year better and we want to help move closer to beating blood cancer. 

Our branch is run on voluntary basis and we understand the importance of volunteers and the tremendous contribution that volunteers can have on society. This is why we work had to create platforms, particularly for the youthful members of our fundraising team, to develop soft skills that are essential to help them in later life whilst rewarding those that go the extra mile; with 13 members of the team holding Princess Diana Awards and 14 with Lions Young Leaders in Service Awards. This has seen the creation of the branch’s Local Youth Development Program which aims to encourage more young people to volunteer and become involved with the branch through the very strong links we have created with local schools. 

We host a wide variety of fundraising events throughout the year to help beat blood cancer. Past events have ranged from bungee jumps, sponsored walks, fashion shows, family fun days, talent shows and the famous Big Copper Count-Up, just to name a few. To fulfil the aim of being an integral part of the community our branch also regularly attends community events which whilst raising money and awareness also allows us to engage with the community. Events of this nature include Christmas light switch on’s, street parties, as well as local shows and fayres.

Awareness is as important as fundraising and to tackle this we do a lot of work with local schools to instil awareness from a young age. We also increase awareness by working closely with local press to spread the word about the charity as well as working with many different groups and organisations to try reach as many people as possible, broadening our extensive network of supporters. We have also held an awareness week, awareness evening, and a £50K Celebration Evening which were all great ways of sharing the story of Bloodwise both locally and nationally.

Our branch aims to hit the £100,000 milestone before the end of 2017. 

w: www.beatbloodcancers.wix.com/winterton

f: www.facebook.com/bloodwisewinterton

t: www.twitter.com/bloodwisenlincs