Double joy as two Cumbrian residents make final for JustGiving Awards

Two Cumbrian residents have cause to celebrate after being named as finalists in this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards.

Gabriel Clark and Gary Mckee were selected by a panel of judges including 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.

13 -year-old Gabriel from Kirby Lonsdale was nominated by the public for the Teen category after he raised more than £278,000 for Save the Children. His first fundraiser last year, saw him raise a whopping £254,678 towards the charity’s Ukraine Appeal by carving a wooden bowl which was auctioned off.

After such success the inspiring teenager has decided to carve another “hope bowl” to raise money for all children across the world – it has currently raised £24,000.

He said: “I was really shocked when I saw the war in Ukraine on TV so I decided to use my woodwork skills to try and help the children suffering and was blown away by how much I managed to raise.

After my first bowl, Save the Children arranged a trip out to Poland so I could see first-hand how the money helps the children whose lives have been turned upside down by the war. I was really moved by the difference it makes and struck by the fact that these children were no different to me and my friends, so I decided to do a second fundraiser but this time for children all over the world who need support in an emergency in places like Yemen, Syria and also the Ukraine.

“I am really proud to be a JustGiving finalist and excited about going down to London and meeting all the other finalists who share my interest in fundraising and doing something to make the world a better place.”

54-year-old Gary McKee from Cleator Moor in Cumbria has been named as a finalist in this year’s Endurance Fundraiser of the Year category, after raising more than £1.1m for charity.

After having fundraised for more than 20 years, last year, Gary Mckee aka Marathon Man, took on his biggest challenge yet and completed 365 marathons in 365 days, to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

The father-of-three who ran 26.2 miles every day before starting work as a team leader said: “I feel honoured to be a finalist knowing that there are so many people doing remarkable things for charity. There’s around 1000 people diagnosed with cancer every day. That’s a lot of people and a lot of reasons to fundraise and keep going. If you can help just one person you’ve done a good job.”

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 Gabriel and Gary 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 Gabriel and Gary 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% + 30p to cover card payment charges.