Chiswick woman in the final for this year’s JustGiving Awards celebrating her charity achievements

An inspirational woman living in Chiswick, London has been named as a finalist in this year’s Endurance Fundraiser of the Year category for the GoCardless JustGiving Awards, after raising more than £9,000 for charity. 

50-year-old Lis van Lynden, cycled for 5000 miles on her own, for just over seven months, along the coastline of Great Britain, to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis (MS Trust) and Multiple Sclerosis Society, after she was sadly diagnosed with the condition in 2013.  

After renting her flat out over one year ago, Lis has been cycling ever since and carried with her, everything she needs to fulfil her challenge including a tent. She’s wild camped for the majority of her mission and spent the occasional night in B&B’s and at friends’ houses. 

On completion of her cycle across the coastline of Great Britain, Lis’ family, friends and members of the public congratulated her on cycling ‘the coast of the UK’. Instead of correcting people on what she’d accomplished, Lis decided to extend her challenge this year and cycle for an extra three weeks along the coast and entire border of Northern Ireland.  

Speaking of the challenge, Lis said; “It’s not over yet. When I finished, everyone mistakenly thought I’d cycled the coast of the UK not the coastline of Great Britain, so I decided to do that. Donations continued to roll in, so once I’d finished that I cycled the coast and border of Northern Ireland. Then I thought that as the Republic of Ireland is just next door, I may as well cycle the border of that too.  

“When cycling the coast of Great Britain I bumped into another woman called Alice. She was cycling clockwise along the coast whereas I was going anticlockwise. We met in Applecross. An incredible meet. We were the only two women to do the coast of Great Britain last year.”  

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 Alba 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 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 Alba with the generosity of the nation, truly amazing things can happen.”