Press release

Inspiring fundraisers and charities recognised at this year’s JustGiving Awards  

26th September 2023

A host of celebrities joined this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards last night (25th September) to celebrate the remarkable feats of the inspiring fundraisers and charities which have used JustGiving in the last 12 months to raise money for good causes.  

Television personality and podcaster, Jamie Laing and radio host, Matt Edmondson hosted the eleventh award ceremony, which saw seven winners, as well as JustGiving’s Charity of the Year announced at the Roundhouse in London.   

The individuals and charities were selected from more than 13,000 nominations 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 president and general manager of JustGiving, Pascale Harvie and put to a public vote.  

The award ceremony was attended by guests including Zoe Hardman, Ellie Simmonds, Rickie Haywood-Williams, Angela Griffin, Dean McCullough, Tillie Amartey, Neil Jones, Aimee Fuller and Faye Winter.  

Also in attendance was ultra-athlete, campaigner and TV personality, Josh Patterson who won a Special Recognition Award. 

The award recognises the outstanding contribution of an individual who has made a real impact on the world around them.  

For more than five-years Josh has been an avid fundraiser for the Samaritans and in his most recent ‘Run for 1 Million’ challenge Josh ran 76 marathons in 76 cities on consecutive days.   

Co-host, Matt Edmondson said: “Getting to co-host the JustGiving Awards with Jamie is like finding a double-word score in Scrabble—brilliant and rewarding! Tonight’s finalists have touched us deeply with their stories, and they’re all champions, as far as I’m concerned.”  

The winners included:  

  • Teen fundraiser of the year – Gabriel Clarke  
  • Young fundraiser of the year – Harry Smith 
  • Celebrity fundraiser of the year – Bill Bailey 
  • Charity Of The Year – My Name5 Doddie Foundation
  • Outstanding Commitment – Richard Benson
  • Creative fundraiser of the Year – Major Mick Stanley
  • Endurance fundraiser of the year – Gary McKee
  • Community Hero – Krista Sharpe  

Since JustGiving began in 2000 more than £6 billion has been raised for good causes across more than 180 countries.   

Pascale Harvie, President and General Manager at JustGiving said: “Last night’s ceremony was amazing, I felt so privileged to be in the company of some of our incredible fundraisers and charities. They don’t do what they do for praise, but they wholeheartedly deserve it.   

“Over the last 12 months, they have quite literally gone above and beyond to do good and make our world a better place and I cannot thank them enough for that.    

“On behalf of everyone at JustGiving, congratulations again to all of our GoCardless JustGiving Award winners. You are truly special.”  

Pat Phelan, MD of UK & Ireland and Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless added: “We’d like to congratulate everyone who was recognised at this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards, from the nominees to the finalists and winners on the night.   

“The incredible stories we’ve heard are testament to the creativity, dedication and generosity of fundraisers and their supporters up and down the country. We’re exceptionally proud to do our part to ensure that fundraisers and charities have a seamless, secure and cost-effective way to continue collecting donations for the causes that are close to their hearts.”  

To read more about all of the GoCardless JustGiving Award winners please visit: https://blog.justgiving.com/2023-justgiving-awards-winners 

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.