Local fundraiser Karen Everson has been recognised for her fundraising achievements over the past year by JustGiving, the UK’s most popular online fundraising platform, and has been shortlisted for its highly-respected annual awards.
The winners will be announced at a prestigious red carpet awards ceremony held at Shoreditch Town Hall in London on Thursday, March 1.
Karen, from Newton Aycliffe, has been shortlisted in the ‘Fundraiser of the Year’ category for forming the ‘Banana Army’ (so-called because of their bright yellow t-shirts).
Together, they arranged and took part in numerous events including Bingo, Zumbathons, the Great North Run and a charity ball – Karen even convinced her female friends to strip off for a calendar. To date, Karen and the Banana Army have raised over £15,000 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma research.
Karen said: “I am thrilled to be shortlisted by JustGiving. Fundraising for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research was hard work but utterly worth it. I’d like to say a huge thank you to my family, friends, supporters and, of course, Team Everson/Armitage who helped me achieve my goal.”
The awards celebrate the achievements of over 380,000 fundraisers and 8,000 charities which have used JustGiving to raise over £200 million for good causes over the past year. This year, over 850 nominations were made; approximately 300 more than last year.
This year sees the third annual awards, recognising achievements in 13 categories including Young Fundraiser of the Year, Most Creative Fundraiser of the Year, Charity of the Year and Endurance Fundraiser of the Year. The awards are judged by a panel of leading fundraising, philanthropic and digital figures, as well as winners of previous awards. Panellists include Lastminute.com founder and business woman Martha Lane Fox, philanthropist David Gold, Media Trust’s CEO Caroline Diehl, Rosa Birch from Facebook and Paul Barry Walsh from the Fredericks Foundation.
Simon Moran, Head of Relationship Management from PayPal, sponsor of the ‘Fundraiser of the Year’ Award said: “The lengths that so many people have gone to in order to raise money for charity are quite extraordinary and very humbling. There were so many worthy entrants to the ‘Fundraiser of the Year’ award and they should all be extremely proud of their achievements.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes was previously named JustGiving’s Celebrity Fundraiser of the Year for raising £2.5m for Marie Curie Cancer Care within two years. Challenges faced to raise money included summiting the north face of Everest and the Eiger. He has in all raised a total of £6.2m for the charity. Fiennes said: “Raising money for charity can be extremely difficult and time consuming and it is wonderful that peoples’ achievements are recognised by JustGiving. There are so many worthy causes out there and, particularly in today’s economic climate, it is not easy to ask people to give generously to charity.
“It is so important that we keep raising money for the most vulnerable people in our society and, as a former JustGiving Award winner and fundraiser, I would like to thank JustGiving for their work in making donating to charity easier and for their recognition of fundraisers.”
Anne-Marie Huby, MD at JustGiving, said: “We are overwhelmed by the number of nominations we received this year and also by the enterprising and inspiring ways in which so many people have raised money for their chosen charities. It has been a real joy to read the nominations and learn of fundraisers’ and charities’ endeavours; the judges have tough decisions ahead of them as there are so many worthy winners for each category.
“It is so important that money continues to be raised as, without fundraisers, many charities would be unable to carry out their much needed and highly valued work.”
Categories include: Most Popular Fundraiser; Young Fundraiser of the Year; Most Creative Fundraiser; Endurance Fundraiser of the Year; PayPal Fundraiser of the Year; Charity of the Year (People’s Choice); Most Creative Charity of the Year; Lifetime Achievement Award; Celebrity Fundraiser Award; Vodafone Mobile Fundraiser of the Year; Best New Charity; Workplace Fundraiser of the Year and Best Use of Technology.
For the full shortlist for each of the award categories, further information about the Awards or how to donate through JustGiving, please visit www.justgivingawards.com or call the JustGiving Awards helpline on 0845 123 7588.