Dad who rowed across the Atlantic in memory of his daughter in the final for this year’s JustGiving Awards  

A dad who rowed 3,000 miles alone and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean in memory of his daughter 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 £170,000 for screening young adults for undiagnosed heart conditions 

Andrew Osborne, 57 from Rutland rowed for 78 days across the Atlantic and raised more than £170,000 on JustGiving for Cardiac Risk In the Young in memory of his late daughter Amy who tragically passed away in her sleep aged 25.  

Throughout his challenge Andrew dealt with sea sickness, weight loss, sleep deprivation, storms and technical issues with his boat. He managed his way through two turbulent capsizes and even managed to navigate his way around 200 or so dolphins.  

Speaking about being shortlisted Andrew said: “I’m thrilled to be a finalist in the GoCardless JustGiving Awards. It’s been an honour and a real privilege to be able to raise this level of support and awareness in memory of Amy. I can quite honestly say, I was pushed to the limits of my endurance.”  

After being nominated by members of the public, Andrew was selected as a finalist by a panel of judges which included 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. 

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 Andrew 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 Andrew 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.