Leeds man celebrates JustGiving Award win in memory of his partner and her son

Richard Benson from Leeds has won the Outstanding Commitment category at this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards for his dedication to undertaking a year of charity challenges.

The 55-year-old is undertaking the feats in memory of his partner, Camille and her son, Ethan, who both tragically died by suicide a few months apart. All money raised from his challenges is going to PAPYRUS, a charity which supports young people at risk of suicide.

So far this year he has completed; Run your age in miles (January), Charity Darts Night (25th March), Yorkshire Three Peaks (6th May), garden party and cake sale (21st May), a Leeds 10k run (18th June), a 10k run (15th July), the National Three Peaks (18th to 20th August), the Great North Run (10th September,) and a parachute jump on the 17th September. Coming up he still has a Christmas Ball and auction to organise for the 2nd December.

Richard was presented his award by actress and JustGiving judge, Angela Griffin last night (September 25th) at the Roundhouse in London. He said:

“It’s a great honour to have received this award, especially given the achievements of the other nominees, and a wonderful way to the honour the memory and Camille and Ethan. I’d like to thank everyone who has voted and donated to Papyrus so that they can continue their vital work in tackling youth suicide. My fundraising efforts are not over yet and this will spur me on to raise even more funds for this important cause.”

Television personality, Jamie Laing and radio host, Matt Edmondson hosted the eleventh year of the awards which saw seven winners as well as JustGiving’s Charity of the Year announced at the ceremony. Since JustGiving started in 2001, more than £6 billion has been raised for good causes in more than 180 countries.

Matt Edmondson said “Getting to co-host the GoCardless 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 finalists 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 President and General Manager of JustGiving, Pascale Harvie and put to a public vote to win.

The award ceremony was attended by guests including Bill Bailey, 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.

Pascale Harvie, President and General Manager at JustGiving said: “Huge congratulations to Richard for winning this year’s Outstanding Commitment Award.

“Since Richard tragically lost his partner, Camile and her son, Ethan, he has dedicated his time to supporting Papyrus and trying to help people in their memory. His work is beyond admirable, and no words can really describe what an amazing person he is.

“Celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of Richard and our other fundraisers and charities at the GoCardless JustGiving Award Ceremony was amazing – they should all be so proud of what they’ve achieved and the impact that they’ve had.”

Pat Phelan, MD of UK & Ireland and Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless added: “I was incredibly moved by Richard’s story and blown away by his dedication to raise awareness of, and funds for, PAPYRUS and suicide prevention. It was an absolute privilege to recognise his achievement at the GoCardless JustGiving Awards Ceremony and I hope it inspires others to start or continue their fundraising journey.”

Additional images can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15EaxlZERGakGBfAZoC0aa2TiyfUaJTBw?usp=drive_link

To read more about all the 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.