Meet the 2022 JustGiving Awards Finalists: Voting now OPEN!
We’re beyond excited to introduce to you to the incredible finalists of the JustGiving Awards 2022…
Tens of thousands of you got in touch to tell us about the amazing fundraisers you think deserve an award – and with so many inspiring fundraising stories, shortlisting nominees wasn’t an easy task. But we think you’ll agree with us when we say that every single finalist chosen deserves to be recognised for their exceptional work.
Thank you to everybody who took the time to tell us about the people making a real difference to charities close to their hearts – we’re immensely proud of all the amazing things our community is doing on JustGiving.
Now, we’re handing it over to you… who do you think deserves to win? Click here to cast your votes.
Meet our finalists!
Creative Fundraiser of the Year
Michelle Luscombe
Most people would throw a party for their birthday, but Michelle had other ideas. She celebrated her 50th by taking on 50 fundraising challenges, from performing stand-up comedy, broadcasting a radio show live from a boat and learning some seriously cool dance routines to pop songs. All the while, raising over £7,000 (and still rising) for Alzheimer’s Research UK to help fund vital research into dementia.
Craig and Aimee
YouTubers, Craig and Aimee’s fundraising challenge is far from rubbish. In fact, it’s a World Record breaking attempt. They travelled from North to South Wales, in a wheelie bin (known as Bin Diesel). To date, they’ve raised a stinking £20,000 for Big Moose, the mental health charity.
Hercule Van Wolfwinkle
Hercule has been called many things in life, an artist certainly isn’t one of them. But all of that changed one afternoon when he doodled a picture of his dog and stuck it on Facebook. £125,000 later, people as far as California and Belgium are asking him to draw self-confessed ‘rubbish’ pictures of their pets in return for donations.
Young Fundraiser of the Year
Max Woosey
Collecting over £600,000 for would be impressive for anyone – let alone a 12-year-old. When Max’s neighbour, Rick was being given end of life care, he made Max promise him that he’d live the rest of his life having an adventure. Since 29th March 2020, that’s exactly what he’s been doing. Camping outside in a tent, every night to show his gratitude to the hospice that cared for Rick.
Elizabeth Soffe
After an air conditioning unit malfunctioned, Elizabeth (then 6 months old) was lucky to survive. In the 7 years since the fire, she’s had over 70 operations. When she learned about the state-of-the-art laser machine that would help her and other children, this determined youngster set out to raise £130,000 to buy the machine herself. She ran a marathon over the course of July to encourage donations.
Rhys Porter
When football lover, Rhys (13) posted a video on social of media of one of his goal saves at a football match, he was subject to thousands of hateful comments about his disability. Living with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy hasn’t been easy, but as it turns out, his goal-reaching is as good as his goal-saving, with over £20,000 now raised as part of his family fundraising challenge for disability charity, Scope.
Fundraising Team of the Year
3 Dad’s Walking
Suicide is the biggest killer of those under 35 in the UK. Unfortunately, Tim, Mike and Andy know this only too well. Their worlds were turned upside down when their daughters took their own lives. Together, these Dad’s took on a 300-mile walk raising vital awareness for suicide prevention and over £880,000 for Papyrus.
Spennylympics
49 sports, 80 events, 17 days, 2 legends. Stuart and Charlotte completed all events featured in the Tokyo Olympics Games to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of Stuart’s brother, Spencer. They might not have won a gold medal, but their reward was the donations which came rolling in – a staggering £155,000.
Martin’s Mountain
On 22 May 2017, Martin’s life changed forever. He survived the Manchester Arena bombing which tragically took the lives of 22 people, but he was left paralysed below the waist. In June this year, using a specially adapted wheelchair, he reached the summit of Kilimanjaro with the support of an incredible team, including some of the people who saved his life. Not to mention, raising over £500,000 for Spinal Injuries Association.
Celebrity Fundraiser of the Year
Ryan Thomas
We’re used to seeing Corrie star, Ryan Thomas on our TV screens, not walking 10 marathons (in 10 days) from London to Manchester. He raised over £162,000 for the mental health and suicide prevention charity, CALM, which helped fund over 20,000 helpline calls and inspired many people to come forward and ask for help.
Samantha Faiers and Luisa Zissman
TV personalities and close friends, Luisa and Sam know how special it is to be a mother. So, it’s no surprise that when they heard about the vulnerable babies, children and teens at the Outreach Moldova orphanage, they booked a flight and kicked off a fundraising mission to raise as much as they could to help them. Together, they raised over £160,000 to help with much-needed medical care and refurbishments.
Kevin Sinfield
Former England captain, Kevin Sinfield has proved he’ll always go the extra mile for his friend and former rugby teammate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2019. Kevin raised £2.7 million through his first fundraising challenge by running 7 marathons in 7 days but he didn’t stop there. His next challenge saw him run 101 miles in 24 hours.
Endurance Fundraiser of the Year
Josh Quigley
Josh is no stranger to breaking records. Just 3 months after being diagnosed with arthritis and being hospitalised after a 40mph crash, he broke the Guinness World Record for the longest distance cycled in a week. That’s a whopping 2,179 miles (an average of 311 miles a day), and over £10,000 raised for Arthritis Action.
Nick Gardner
Nick would do anything to make his wife, Janet better. But until there is a cure for dementia, he decided to raise as much money as possible to make sure others never have to face such a cruel disease alone. The 82-year-old mountain lover decided he’d climb all 282 Scottish Munros in 1200 days. Despite his ‘grand old age’, he’s confident he’s got the mountaineering skills, experience, and fitness to succeed!
Paula Craig
Police officer, Paula’s life changed in an instant when she was hit by a car whilst riding her bike in 2001. She suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. She’s raised over £33,000 to thank the charity who’ve supported her over the last 20 years, after setting her her sights on becoming the first paraplegic person to swim the English Channel without a wetsuit, as part of a relay team.
Changemaker of the Year
Zoe Cooke
Last year, 235 people were killed as a result of knife crime in England and Wales. One of whom was Zoe’s son, Byron. After his death, she used her pain to spread one important message – lives not knives. Thanks to her dedication, ‘bleed kits’ are now available around Nottingham city centre to help save the lives of future victims of knife crime.
Hayley Kirby-Bulner
It’s well-known that dog bring people a lifetime of happiness. So it’s no wonder Hayley decided to raise over £34,000 to give children with autism a helping paw. The money she raised will help fund dogs for families with a child needing support as well as all the love a dog can give.
Leanne Pero
Cancer affects around 367,000 people in the UK each year, but BAME women with cancer are continually underrepresented in the media and undermined in their treatment. After receiving a life-changing cancer diagnosis of her own at 30-years-old, Leanne used her experiences to create a community for BAME cancer patients and survivors, running monthly peer-to-peer support groups to help tackle the inequalities they face.
Outstanding Commitment
Aimee Wood
Aimee’s daughter Olivia was 5 years old when she died unexpectedly following a routine operation in hospital. Although bereavement support was available for her family, Olivia’s classmates and teachers had nowhere to go for help. That’s why Aimee is making it her mission to introduce better support in schools through her charity, ‘Olivia’s Smile’. Thanks to her, school communities will learn how to deal with grief after experiencing a loss.
Manjinder Kang
It’s people like Manjinder that put the ‘super’ in ‘super-fundraiser’. The life-long Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter has shown unmatched dedication to supporting the work of Dementia UK raising over £100,000. Running and cycling for hundreds of miles, organising sleepouts, raffling signed football shirts and selling thousands of samosas as part of his infamous ‘Samosa Saturday’s’.
John Burkhill
Come rain or shine, 83-year-old John (affectionately known as ‘The Man with the Pram’) can be found almost every day on the streets of Sheffield, wearing his signature green wig, pushing the pram bought when his daughter was born in 1961. Since losing his wife to cancer and his daughter during a routine operation, he’s set his sights on reaching the magic £1million mark for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Over to you…
There are 24 finalists, but only 8 can be crowned winners!
To cast your vote, click here, select on the finalist you think should win in each category, and head down to the bottom of the page to submit your votes. Voting closes on the 11th of September 2022.
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