Play2Give - Blog

Andrew's special date with royalty

9/20/2021

The stunning Windsor Castle where Andy's investiture for his MBE takes place on October 12th

We are absolutely delighted to announce that our Founder Andy Baker has now received the date for his most special day yet, to attend his investiture ceremony to receive his very prestigious MBE.

Andy, who was named in this year's New Year Honours with an MBE honoured for his services to charity, will attend his date with royalty at Windsor Castle on October 12th.

Andy who in February will mark twenty years of tireless fundraising, after beginning his crusade to give back to Oxford medics for treatment throughout his childhood since birth, notably the brain surgery aged 12 in 2001 being the inspiration behind the start of his fundraising in 2003, initially for the building of the Oxford Children's Hospital, and was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, will attend the ceremony with his mum, Ann.

Andy won't find out until the afternoon of his investiture who will be giving the gong, we have heard whispers if it is not Her Majesty The Queen herself, it could be the Princess Royal, Prince of Wales or the Duke of Cambridge themselves.

For Andy attending the luxurious Windsor Castle and receiving his gong after so many months of waiting is very well deserved and we at Play2Give as are all the local community and especially Didcot very proud of Andy for his biggest honour of them all. We look forward to sharing his most special day with you in pictures soon.

Saying thank you to our NHS

7/5/2021

Happy Birthday to our much valued NHS!

Today the NHS is 73 years old.

We pay a special thank you to our national institution, and for everything our healthcare heroes have done over the past 73 years, and even more so during the fight against Coronavirus when they have worked harder than ever in testing times known than ever before.

Supporting our local NHS has been at the heart of our fundraising organisation since we was born in 2007, and in particular the Oxford Children's Hospital which has been our key charity since our inception.

The Oxford Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Sobell House and SSNAP are just amongst some of the local healthcare related causes that we have helped and supported enormously in our 14 years.

All these causes are close to the heart of our Founder Andy Baker. Andy wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the paediatric teams, so for Andy fundraising to give back for his "gift of life" twice over - once upon birth and again at aged 12 - has been his inspiration to give back personally since the age of 14 to our wonderful NHS since 2003.

Andy has not only fundraised to give back but has also been a OUH Volunteer since 2014, working across radiology, Robin's Ward in Chox and more recently in the JR West Wing as a Covid champion volunteer.

As a result as a groups, we haven't half given back in spades to our local NHS, through tirelessly fundraising over the years raising incredible amounts of money, to make real differences to the lives of NHS staff locally at our hospitals and patients as only fundraising pays for the added extras and comforts that help make the hospital environments and stays even brighter.

We have also helped spread cheer joy and smiles to poorly children in hospital and their families through all new toys games and more raised as part of our annual festive "Sleigh2Give" campaign, which was created in 2015 initially as an one off Christmas toy appeal with Sainsbury's Didcot, but since has provided thousands of gifts to children's wards, neonatal care family rooms, siblings of poorly children, the family accommodation at the JR and funds to support the purchase of toys arts and crafts and games all year round for the children's hospital areas.

For example the Children's Hospital that stands today on the JR site wouldn't even exist had nearly £15million raised by the community not been achieved to build the very first specialist paediatric unit, which opened in January 2007.

We at Play2Give and Andy Baker have played an important role in the original campaign to build the hospital funding exercise, and along the way we have also made significant and long lasting impacts to be felt for generations.

In 2017, our very own funded patient room was unveiled within the Children's Hospital. After many years of tirelessly working a £40,000 goal The Play2Give Room was achieved and since being formally opened in 2017 on Melanie's Ward treats teenage patients facing long term hospital stays.

This is just one example of how our dedicated fundraising over so many years has benefited our local NHS for the benefit of young patients and their families but we have done besides so much its hard to put it all into words, but examples include:

£6,000 - cutting edge bedside monitors for every child's bed within the children's hospital, critical care and other children's areas across the hospitals. Raised as part of our 10th year in 2017.
The Play2Give Room, a single patient room for adolescent patients, at £40k on the teenage ward unveiled in 2017.
£564 - 150 thermo cooling mugs to enable parents to stay with their children on the wards while still enjoying a hot drink as respite. 2019.
£900 in 2007 raised from our first football tournament went to Heads Up, a fund at the JR funding research into head and neck cancer treatments in Oxford.
Over £10,000 across 3 years - sponsored a family room (2021) in Play2Give's name within the new Ronald McDonald House Oxford. Enabling families to stay closer to their sick children within a new 62-bed purpose built accommodation wing.
Fundraising partnership with Sainsbury's Didcot in 2016 raised £655 to provide two brand new PS4s with games for the teenage ward at the Children's Hospital
£3,343 raised for the Oxford Paediatric Eye Fund across two years helped fund imaging equipment inc a "RETCAM" used to photograph the retina of infants with a range of eye disorders including cancer of the retina.

Throughout 2020 funds raised for Oxford Hospitals Charity of £356.40 funded their Covid-19 appeal including funding disposable art supplies for the children's hospital, hot meals for ED staff, care packages and cutting edge communications technology for vulnerable patients.

Some of our other ways we have helped....

Funding State of the art equipment for children's critical care

Funding fun & engaging artwork for outpatients

Funded a Pioneering video link for parents with babies in newborn intensive care

Over £600 so far to support the incredible palliative care provided by Sobell House on the Churchill Hospital site for people with life limiting terminal illnesses. Sobell House is another cause close to our organisation as a dedicated supporter Angela Norris passed away last November from terminal stage 4 lung cancer and was so wonderfully cared for at home by Sobell's community palliative care nurses.

£100 - Oxford Cancer Centre Care Fund. Raised via a virtual football card fundraiser, 2020.

Over £1,248 supported the neonatal care areas within the JR Hospital raised for SSNAP (Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents). Andy was a SCBU baby at birth.

And so much more!

Wow, so much achieved and provided to our NHS locally so from everyone at P2G a big thank you to you our community supporters, sponsors and donors, for getting behind our incredible work so that we can help our healthcare heroes in the NHS, as without your help and support and donations we couldn't of given so much of the above and more.

On this day the 73rd birthday of the NHS, a very big thank you and a very Happy Birthday to our NHS, we will continue to do all we can through fundraising to support our local NHS care services in Oxford.

Long live the NHS so a very big Happy 73rd Birthday NHS!

Joining in the love for National Thank You Day

7/4/2021

Today we join in the celebrations for National Thank You Day.

As we prepare to celebrate in 2022 15 years of our amazing fundraising organisation founded in 2007 by Andrew Baker MBE BCAv we extend our hugest of thanks to everyone who has and continues to support us.

To think that P2G was originally meant to be just an one off football tournament for charity set up in 2007, but from that very first 6 a side tournament held at Abingdon's Tilsley Park we have continued to just grow and grow and done so much providing so much and changing transforming and saving tens of thousands of people's lives across Oxfordshire and more wider afield.

Thanks to everyone who has donated the all important pennies and ££s, volunteered their time to help in so many ways, helped to organise events many of which, including our football tournaments, mini festive markets, balls and summer fayres in Didcot have been event institutions in the county, sponsored events, taken on challenges, adopted us as their charity of the years or donated gifts at Christmas as part of our "Sleigh2Give" arm, to much more.

Some of our highlighted and notable aspects of our work:

We have provided over £180k in total value of raised gifts distributed out to many local charities, and less fortunate families and people in need every Christmas, since our festive spin off Sleigh2Give (again meant to be an one off drive with Sainsbury's Didcot) was created in 2015.
Funded at over £40k a single patient room on the teenage ward, treating patients facing long term stays in the Oxford Children's Hospital, unveiled in March 2017.
The Play2Give Superheroes formed in early 2019 to help raise our awareness and funds including their first ever challenge of a 20 plus mile walk from Didcot to the JR in September 2019.
In 2017 we Funded six specialist neuro physiotherapy exercise chairs at the Headway Oxfordshire rehabilitation centre for brain injury service users.
Sponsored a family room in early 2021 in the brand new Ronald McDonald House Oxford after raising over £10k across three years to help fund the new 62-bed House at the JR for families of sick children in hospital.
Our Volunteers of just 3 in 2007 has grown to over 25 to date, ranging in ages from 17 to 70 plus.
Won Thames Valley Charity of the Year at the TVBC Awards, Jan 2020.
Provided £400 in grants to enable struggling families to buy Christmas presents for their children, 2020.
Two Didcot Summer Fayres with the biggest ever turn out in 2018 and 2019.
Sweet treat hamper to thank the amazing staff at Sobell House for working tirelessly to care for the most terminally ill.
Since 2018 Provided year round gifts to SSNAP (Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents) for the family rooms.
Supported over 32 causes in 14 years.
Won the Best Fundraising Innovation & Campaign Award in the Didcot BACAs 2015.
Finalist for Charity of the Year in the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2018.
Sleigh2Give - our annual gift giving appeal - launched in 2015 and has just grown and grown and grown since!
In April 2021 gained our first ever business address and HQ in Abingdon, at The Lambourn. An exciting part of our continued growth and development.
Provided some magical pamper hampers with Marianne Slipper/ELTH to provide some tlc to struggling individuals.
Organised the first Didcot's Got Talent Show in collaboration with the Angels Performing Arts Didcot - a sell out show night at the Cornerstone in 2019.
Since 2020 Providing clothing packages to less privileged families in and around the Didcot area.
Provided over 300 Easter eggs in our first ever Easter appeal with Pure Gym Didcot in 2020 to Didcot foodbank so no child from low income families went without an Easter treat.
Andy opened the new Pure Gym Local in Didcot in November 2019, cutting the ribbon alongside local legend Jack Cummings.
Organised the first and successful Didcot Mini Festive Market in 2020 with the support of Didcot Events.
2 successful sell out black ties in 2017 and 2019, and in March 2021 we hold our third gala Ball.
Andy Baker honoured with a British Citizen Award in 2017 & an MBE for services to charity in the Queen's New Year Honours 2021.
In 2022 we will become 15 years old (in September officially) and 20 years (2 whole decades!) of fundraising for Andy.
And much much more!

These are just a few of our notable achievements in our lifetime, and as we continue all year round to make a very real difference with very huge impacts there are likely to be many more over the years.

From everyone at Play2Give a very BIG THANK YOU and we look forward to your continued support going forward.

We have so much planned for 2022, to mark the two big milestones above, and we hope you will get involved and support wholeheartedly as always!

Just some of the many charities we have helped over the years:

Be Free Young Carers
Didcot Foodbank
Footsteps Foundation
Headway Oxfordshire
Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire & Home-Start Oxford
Markers for Mindfulness
Oxford Hospitals Charity including Oxford Children's Hospital
Paediatric Eye Fund, Oxford
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
Sobell House
Soundabout
SpecialEffect
SSNAP
Style Acre
Angels Apa Off the Streets charity
Viking House, Oxford
£150 towards specialist trike for Jacob Hutchison with cerebral palsy from Didcot.

To all the individuals, volunteers, charities and groups all doing amazing work out there for others with kindness, thank you on this National #Thankyouday.

Volunteers Week 2021: Marvellous Maggie

6/1/2021

Celebrating Our Volunteers as part of Volunteers Week 2021

As part of the week-long nationwide volunteers week celebration programme, we share with you many of our wonderful volunteers and some of our fantastic supporters throughout this month and the first volunteer we shine a spotlight on is Maggie Ingram.

At Play2Give we are so lucky and privileged to have an incredible number of volunteers and Maggie is one of them.

Maggie is also one of our longest serving having first helped in September 2012.

After reading about us in the local Round & About Magazine in which we was asking for volunteers to help with a fundraising evening, Maggie contacted us and after meeting our inspirational Founder Andy Baker she was instantly struck, drawn and instantly enthused and full of awe by Andy's passion and character and back story and she hasn't looked back since.

Come rain or shine whether it be braving the elements in rain, the sweltering heat or the bitter cold Maggie has helped out on more stalls than we can count, be it at the annual Didcot Street Fair or at the Didcot Summer Fayre amongst others.

Maggie also every November without fail (pre-covid) stood in Tesco Didcot Superstore - Community Champions - Becci & Elaine every November to help Andy with our toy and gifts collection for our annual Sleigh2Give Christmas appeal, staying often until 7pm to get the most out of the 3-day sleigh drive

She has also helped to leaflet flyers promoting many of our events through letterboxes on her local estate of Ladygrove in Didcot that she lives, attended many of our events including our Christmas parties on the front desk selling raffle tickets and taking entry money, helped count up money raised and much more. She even let her hair down (and like many of our team deservedly so) at our second charity masquerade ball in September 2019.

Maggie is our oldest volunteer by age (although she is only 50 can you believe 😉) and embodies that no matter what age anyone can volunteer and although Maggie will be modest and not like to be "lime-lighted" like this we felt she deserved a special mention of celebration as part of National Volunteers Week 2021 for her wonderful dedication and support she brings to all that we do.

Maggie remains continually inspired and as she puts it never fails to be amazed by the energy dedication and zest for life that Andy has, and he is the continued reason why Maggie is only too happy to help out his amazing fundraising organisation.

Maggie shows no signs of stopping down, in fact when she is stood for hours on end on her feet on our countless public stalls and we encourage her to take breaks, Maggie will never surrender, and will even eat her packed lunch on duty. What a trooper!

Thank you Maggie you are a P2GHero.

We will continue to celebrate many of our volunteers and many of our fantastic supporters all throughout the week and into June.

We are P2G - changing transforming and saving lives across Oxfordshire.

Volunteers Week 2021: Celebrating our volunteer heroes

6/1/2021

Celebrating our wonderful volunteers

It's Volunteers Week 2021 and today on Day one of this week-long national celebratory campaign we want to say an enormous thank you to all our volunteers who give up their time to support Play2Give and our work in changing transforming and saving lives across Oxfordshire.

Whether it's labelling up and sorting through tombola prizes, dressing as a caped crusader armed with buckets to raise awareness and funds, support with events, helping with supermarket collections and raffles or marketing support, we are so grateful day in day out for everything they do for us!

A big thank you to everyone who has given us their time, and continue to do so, whether its aged 17 to our longest serving of 70 plus to make an enormous difference for the lives of many that our work help and support.

Below is a short video montage from over the years of many of our everyday heroes past and present in action, an enormous joy to share our wonderful volunteers with you.

Throughout this coming week and in June we will be celebrating just some of our exceptional volunteers and supporters:

Maggie Ingram

We think you are all #P2GHeroes and fantastic in every way.

2021 year off to a fantastic flying start

5/15/2021

We are delighted to announce that already this year in our fourteenth year we have raised close to £3,500 to date.

This amount is more than at this time of the year in any of the previous three years.

Once again we extend a very big thank you to everyone who has been involved so far this year in helping to raise such a wonderful amount.

Whether it's individuals taking on sponsored challenges including cycle rides, fun runs and head shaves to digging deep on our raffles to virtual fundraisers and more.

Together your continually helping us in "changing, transforming and saving lives across Oxfordshire" and beyond, helping charities including the Oxford Children's Hospital, Headway Oxfordshire, Sobell House, Be Free Young Carers and many more.

From raising funds through our events, to individuals sponsored endeavours to the value of gifts raised and distributed out, every amount and every donation makes a very real difference, and, in many ways making long lasting impacts. For example the Children's Hospital - our long-term beneficiary since we was founded in 2007 - has this year alone received over £2,030 which will help fund top of the range medical equipment, fund research, provide entertainment and colourful artwork and more, for young patients and their families.

We never fail to be amazed by how supportive, generous and warm hearted the support is from the community and business world for all that we do as a fundraising organisation.

To raise so much already and an incredible start to our fourteenth year already this year is just wonderful, and we still have many more fundraising endeavours and events ahead this year.

We were recently chosen alongside Coeliac UK as the chosen charity of the Didcot Mayor, Cllr Mocky Khan, in his term of office to raise money, support and awareness for during the next twelve months.

We think all of our loyal and wonderful supporters are all P2G Heroes.

Sobell Memory Tree Dedication

5/13/2021

Play2Give's fundraising marked on hospice's memory tree

Our donations of nearly £700 raised that we have raised so far for Sobell House in honour of our late supporter Angela Norris are now reflected with a plaque on their memory tree.

We are proud to support this amazing hospice!

Learn more about the memory tree

"Thank you" to Sobell in tribute to Angela's wonderful care

5/8/2021

Fundraising for Sobell House in memory of Angela Norris

Since late last year we have been proud to support the incredible Sobell House in our fundraising work.

The hospice, in Oxford, is one of our key charities and it is a truly special place with the most wonderful team of doctors, nurses and everyday heroes who go above and beyond to provide such exemplary compassionate care to those at the end of life with terminal illnesses.

To date we are delighted to have donated over £650!

Some of the funds raised came from two of our festive fundraisers in December - a record breaking Christmas raffle and our very first Didcot Mini Festive Market we organised with the support of Didcot Events. Other funds have come from this year's record breaking Easter raffle, virtual fundraising games and other means.

We are proud that, as part of honouring Angela's memory, we will be dedicating a gold leaf on the Memory Tree based within the Hospice. Angela received wonderful care at home from the palliative care nurses in her final three months of life. Sadly, Angela passed away six months ago and we are sure that she would be proud of all that we have given back to the hospice as a "thank you for caring for a wonderful lady" who will forever live on in the heart of our fundraising organisation. As someone who was so passionate over the past few years in her support of all of our work to help others, the Oxford Children's Hospital was particularly a cause close to her heart.

Giving back to Sobell House means so much to us as a group. Angela was the mother of both Matt and Luke who are part of our leadership team and was like a second mother to Andy, who is best friends with Luke.

So many of our causes we support mean something personally to Andy whether it's from the Oxford Children's Hospital to Headway Oxfordshire to Be Free Young Carers to Footsteps Foundation, SSNAP (Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents), Ronald McDonald House Oxford and Style Acre and many more, the list is extensive. We are dedicated to helping as many as we can with a particular focus on children, health and disability causes.

We hope to increase our funds for Sobell to over £1,000 by next year to continue honouring the memory of Angela.

Whether it's helping to provide £100 funding four hours of care from a specialist palliative care nurse to £20 funding an art or music therapy session, the funds you have helped us raise are hugely invaluable to carry on the hospice's truly life affirming work.

We thank everyone who continues to support, donate to and fundraise for our fundraising organisation so that we can continue to "change transform and save lives" across Oxfordshire. Together every day every week all year round your helping us help countless number of individuals and supporting such wonderful healthcare institutions as Sobell House and the amazing hospice heroes in the NHS.

Donate to support our fundraising organisation to help us keep on doing our great work

Play2Give Founder in contention for an Oxfordshire health and care honour

5/7/2021

Last week we was delighted to learn that our Founder and Head Andy Baker is a finalist in this year's Oxford Mail Oxfordshire Health and Care Awards.

Andy is in contention for the "Volunteer of the Year" Award and was nominated by Matthew Norris.

Read all about the 36 finalists

In his nomination, Matt wrote: "Andy, as the head of Play2Give, has been a tireless fundraiser for a range of medical organisations over the years, including Oxford Children's Hospital, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Headway Oxfordshire, and many more. The fundraising that he has done has funded many important projects, such as hospital rooms, and made a real positive difference to people's lives. He's run countless events, including: charity balls, town fayres, stalls at a Christmas fair, cake sales, gift collections for the children's hospital, corporate sponsorships and much more. According to the P2G website, he's raised nearly £300,000 in cash and gifts."

The Oxfordshire Health and Care Awards takes place as a virtual awards ceremony livestreamed on the Oxford Mail's Facebook page from 7pm on May 21st when the winners across 12 categories, including Volunteer of the Year, will be announced.

As well as being the Founder and CEO of Play2Give Andy has been a Volunteer at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for seven years, and continues to do so: firstly in ultrasound radiology at the JR, Robin's Ward in the Children's Hospital and more recently as a Covid champion volunteer in the West Wing. Andy has been a tireless fundraiser for the Oxford Children's Hospital and other healthcare related causes at the John Radcliffe since 2003 after beginning his fundraising crusade aged 14, 19 years ago, to say "thank you" back to the medical teams throughout treated and cared for him throughout his childhood after being born with a brain injury, and brain surgery aged 12 was the inspiration behind his fundraising crusade.

He has attended the Headway activity and rehabilitation centre in Kennington twice weekly since 2012 as part of his recovery and rehabilitation, as a service user. He started out as a marketing and events volunteer aged 23 for the specialist brain injury charity.

Since 2019 Andy is a proud Ambassador for the British Citizen Awards after being honoured as a BCAv Medallist in July 2017. He has also recently become an Ambassador for Includability and continues to be a positive role model advocating for many good causes locally.

Despite living with his brain injury by day including chronic fatigue, Andy never stops giving back in spades to the causes that mean so much to him, and tirelessly works hard all year round with our dedicated team of volunteers to support the local community.

Thank you to Matt for nominating Andy and our good luck to all the healthcare heroes nominated for May 21st.

Didcot Mayor's Charity

5/5/2021

Mayor of Didcot's Charity 2021-22

We are absoutely thrilled and pleased beyond words to announce that the new Didcot Mayor elected last night, councillor Mocky Khan, has chosen us as his local Mayoral charity of the year.

Mocky will be supporting and fundraising for us, and increasing our awareness and profile, throughout the next year, getting involved and one of his which we are particularly excited about will be his Mayoral Ball next February. He will also be supporting Coeliac UK in his term of office.

As the first Asian Mayor for the town, Mocky says: "I am so proud and honoured to be Mayor of Didcot. When it came to choosing my charities for the year, the local one had to be Play2Give. I admire the great work that Play2Give have done over the years. Andy and his team are are visible, help and support the community and raise much needed funds for those in need. I am looking forward to working with the Play2Give team, having fun, and raising as much money as we can so Play2Give can continue with their great work."

We are very grateful for Mocky's support in this way and we look forward to working with him over the coming year, and we cannot wait for the year ahead and what the plans have in store.

We are extremely honoured and excited in equal measure as we have never been a Mayoral charity before in our 14-year history and our full congratulations to Mocky.

It is a well deserved role and we know Mocky will be amazing in his term throughout the next twelve months, as we know from working closely with him on organising the annual Didcot Summer Fayre, which, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, was last held in August 2019.

Read more about Mocky's appointment as Mayor