2020 was certainly not a normal year, however, despite the lack of events and physical awards raffles at The Retas, The Henries, The Greats and The Licensing Awards, our industry charity The Light Fund has still been able to help a number of charities, having raised just under £100,000 during the year. This substantial sum is now being put to very good use, funding several worthwhile causes working with four different charities.
The successful Silent Auction and Prize Draw (as publicised at The Henries and The Licensing Awards), at the end of 2020 contributed over £11,000 to the charity’s coffers, while the ToyAid activities during the summer resulted in almost £70,000 going to Global’s Make Some Noise.
“Like most charities, The Light Fund had to cancel all our fundraising social events in 2020,” commented Trevor Jones, chairman of The Light Fund, the charity that was set up in 2004 by PG’s Jakki Brown and Ian Hyder in conjunction in several likeminded friends from the greeting card and licensing industries. “Thanks to the tenacity of our trustees and the generosity of our supporters, we have been able to raise sufficient funds to support New Life, Maggie’s and The Orchid Trust with important projects in 2021.”
Here are full details of the projects The Light Fund is funding with the monies raised from last year’s fundraising efforts:
Global’s Make Some Noise (Toy Aid) – £69,455
Toy Aid is a charity initiative (set up by WowStuff’s Richard North and KidsKnowBest’s Joel Silverman) to raise money for Global’s Make Some Noise COVID-19 campaign. The funds will be used to provide emergency funding to small charities responding to the coronavirus pandemic. As well as funding additional nurses, carers, counsellors and mental health practitioners, funds will also be directed to address extreme poverty, supply PPE equipment and to mental health projects, including for frontline emergency workers.
Maggie’s – £10,000
Maggie’s runs a number of centres in the UK which offer free support to anyone with cancer and their families. The donation from The Light Fund’s 2020 fundraising will be put to good use by two of the centres – one based in West London, the other in Leeds.
In Maggie’s West London (which has visitors from the capital and south east, including Surrey, Hampshire and Middlesex) the money will be used to fund the 2021 Young Women’s Support Group meetings as well as the Breast Cancer Support Group meetings plus all the Headwrappers workshops (concerned with hair loss) and the ‘Look Good Feel Better’ workshops for the year.
In Maggie’s Leeds, the money will fund the 2021 Where Now course programme, a six-week course for women who have finished their treatment for breast cancer and their friends/family – to help them get through the transition period and back to normal life. It will also fund the Look Good Feel Better programme for the year.
New Life (Special Care Babies) – £10,000
New Life (Special Care Babies) provides much needed equipment for special care baby units to help in the survival of sick and premature babies. The donation from The Light Fund’s 2020 fundraising activities will be put to good use, supplying a hot cot (incubator) to two hospitals – North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple, Devon and Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, Scotland.
Orchid – £10,000
Orchid exists to save men’s lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancer. The donation from The Light Fund’s 2020 fundraising activities will be used to deliver a mix of male cancer education initiatives in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and London in the heart of targeted deprived local communities where men may be even less likely to engage with their health or healthcare professionals than in other areas and where low cancer awareness can lead to late presentation to a health professional with potentially poor outcomes.
Delivery will depend on the external COVID-19 environment but would include a mix of taking information directly to households, virtual awareness sessions using a new male cancer presentation which has just been completed in response to COVID-19, face-to-face interactions if we are able to do so, information via an Orchid nurse, and all supported by a targeted social media activity. The target would be to reach 10,000 people in the identified areas, including both men who are at risk, and women who can play an important part in the health of the men in their lives.
For more details on The Light Fund, visit www.thelightfund.com
