Oxfordshire fundraising organisation Est. September 2007 Founded by Andrew Baker MBE BCAv
​Changing, Transforming and Saving Lives across Oxfordshire | Thames Valley Charity of the Year 2020
​Patrons: Dr Winston Ellis & MP David Johnston OBE | hello@play2give.org.uk
Play2Give - Thames Valley Charity of the Year 2020
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Record Breaking Year in sight as we smash '£10k in 10' goal

10/14/2017

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Never would ten years ago Play2Give imagine that it would become the flourishing success story that it is of today - a ‘labour of love’ to local charities. A decade later and we has gone on to change, transform and save thousands of people’s lives – and now new records have been broken!
 
Throughout 2017 we are celebrating our tenth anniversary. Late last year we set about with a £10,000 target throughout 2017 to mark our special milestone year.  After months of tireless work, intense campaigning and a whole mountain of events, as a team we are now cheering hard after surpassing our original ‘£10k in 10’ goal after raising more than £16,000 so far!
 
This year has been Play2Give's most successful year in history – and it’s not over yet with still a few more weeks to go. Our most busiest, biggest and action-packed 10 month appeal so far has seen the likes of fun days, spinathons, football tournaments, skydivers, glitzy balls, raffles, cakes sales and a school It’s a Knockout, to runners and walkers pounding pavements, sweat and tears  roll in funds. However we are not resting on our laurels yet as we hope to bring in even more pounds before the end of the year.
 
Our 10th anniversary year was kicked off in style last December when a £1,000 donation came from the opening of the new Sainsbury’s Local store in Didcot – when Andy cut the ribbon marking the store’s official opening.  The £1,000 donation contributed towards equipment for the Oxford Children's Hospital and helped purchase TV stands for the youngsters staying in, as well as reclining chairs for Tom's Ward by parents. 
 
Over £13,530 (the previous record) was achieved  in 2015, which included a year’s partnership of support from Sainsbury’s Didcot.
Ware ‘chuffed’ to broken new records and with YOUR help we now set our aims in sight to raise at least £17,000 or more by December.   
Funds raised throughout our 10th appeal year benefits the Oxford Children’s Hospital and Headway Oxfordshire. Cash raised for the Children’s Hospital supports a new Ronald McDonald House, which once built, will provide 62-bedrooms in a new purpose-built accommodation for parents, new play areas and medical equipment.  Funds for Headway supports the county’s first neurological physiotherapy gym in the voluntary sector helping to pay for customised specialised equipment.
 
Andy said: “We are absolutely over the moon, we are chuffed beyond words.  This year has just been the most amazing yet and the most successful on record – never before have we raised this much money! It just shows the local community of Didcot and the county really have such love for P2G and taken us to their hearts to support our fundraising objectives so well year-on-year. 
“To have smashed our initial goal but to break it and raise more than ever before is just special for our big special year.  I never dreamt when I set up P2G a whole decade ago (that was just a single event of a football tournament then) that we would still be going strong and raising more and more each year.
"The money we raise makes a massive and long-lasting difference to the lives of so many with a real impact made and we are all about staying local to help local causes and people in need.  Our hard and tireless work all year has really been worth it – and although we are ‘jubilant’ and ‘over the moon’ at our successes so far we still have much more to come.  
"We are not giving up anytime soon, as we still want to raise as much as we can this year. The more we can raise the more the county’s sick children and those with brain injuries like myself will really receive life-changing amounts and lives changed.
“A big thank you to everyone so far who has helped achieve this astounding achievement already – and we are really thankful for the continued support, it is always heartwarming.”
 
We are are busy preparing for our stall at the Didcot Christmas Street Fair on 30th November; our third ‘Sleigh2Give’ campaign (annual toy drive for the children’s hospital) – an end of year festive party on November 24th, our own take on Britain’s Got Talent in conjunction with Willowbrook Leisure Centre on 18th November, and a Santa Run around Milton Park on December 8th organised by The Park Club on Milton Park.
 
Our recent record-breaking successes come after we recently received the news, see below in an earlier article, that we are in line for three prestigious awards.  P2G received an incredible five nominations in this year’s Didcot Business & Community Awards (BACAS). We are thrilled to have been shortlisted in three categories – 'Best Fundraising Innovation/Campaign'; 'Partnerships and Collaborations' and 'Best Established Charity/Community Group'. The ‘Oscars of Didcot’ take place on 10th November at the town’s Cornerstone when the winners in 11 categories will be announced in an exciting gala evening interspersed with musical and talented performances.
 
We are also planning for 2018’s calendar of events of which its annual family fun day will return next summer bigger and better. And, we also have plans for many new events including an It’s a Knockout contest next May in conjunction with the Ronald McDonald House Oxford and Headway, which will raise funds for both charities, as well as many other events and initiatives.
 
Donate Online


  • P2G chuffed to raise £16k and beat the target
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We pay tribute to  Andrew at our tenth anniversary ball

10/14/2017

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Our Community Officer Matthew delivered a heartfelt and inspirational speech at our recent glitzy black-tie anniversary ball. In his speech, he delivered a moving tribute to our founder, the young man who started it all our very own Andy Baker. Here is Matt's speech in typeset. 

Hello all!

If I could just have a moment of your time right now, it would me hugely appreciated!  Although I know many of the faces here already, I'll just introduce myself. I'm Matt, Play2Give's Community Officer; for those who have been following our skydive fundraiser, I was one of the 4 divers on Sunday.

I want to begin by saying that it is fantastic to see you all here tonight to celebrate Play2Give's 10th anniversary! In being here, you are supporting all of the organisations that Play2Give supports, foremost among them being Oxford Children's Hospital and Headway Oxfordshire.

And that's what I want to briefly talk about: what your support really means. I was fortunate enough to visit the children's hospital at Christmas to hand out gifts while dressed as Santa. As I spoke to nurses and the parents of patients, what struck me about the visit was the real impact that the money we raise has had and is having. We can't work miracles. We can't tell a parent that their dying child will be cured. We can't promise them that they'll be home for Christmas. But what we can do - and what we do do - is show them that someone cares, that they're not alone, and that we're doing all we can to ensure the children at Oxford Children's Hospital  have the best facilities available to them. You know, when we gave a sick new born baby a teddy, the teddy didn't really matter. It's just a bit of stretched fabric worth a couple of quid. It wasn't going to make the baby well, but it could nonetheless bring a smile to people who hadn't smiled a long time. Why?
Because that teddy represents what Play2Give has always been about: we're about supporting those whose lives have been impacted by sickness, be it directly or indirectly - and I want to thank everyone here for contributing to our work and, in doing so, being part of the positive changes that our fundraising brings.

And just as Play2Give's mission has never changed, neither has the passion of the man who started it ten years ago. Having experienced his own medical trails as a child, no-one knows better than Andy the importance of our fundraising. Over the past 10 years, Andy has been tireless in raising money for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in need of medical support. He's organised football tournaments, Christmas fair stalls, a fun day, a sky dive, this ball, and much more - I think in total, he's raised over £80,000 (a hugely impressive sum!). It is rare to find genuinely good people in this world, but Andy is one of them. If I were to tell you of every time, a stranger came to tell me about the impact that Andy and Play2Give has had, I'd be here all night. I think I can speak for all in the Play2Give team when we say that he inspires us all. He is a hero. As many will know, Andy was honoured with a British Citizen  Award in July, but let us honour him tonight by giving him a round of applause for all the work he has done and the lives he has impacted. Andy you are our hero and for that we thank you. 

APPLAUSE

Thank you again for coming - I hope to see more of you at future events! If you take one thing away from this, it is that in supporting Play2Give, you are not merely supporting an organisation; you are investing in the future of people who, like Andy, have been dealt a raw hand by nature. I'd encourage all of you to continue to give according to your means, to help us to help others - and I hope you have a wonderful night. 
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Having a ball to mark 10 years

10/4/2017

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By Eva Astriendiou - Oxfordshire Guardian

What better way to celebrate your tenth anniversary than with a big glitzy party - and that's exactly what Play2Give did.

The sold-out evening at Didcot Civic Hall helped raise funds for Oxford Children's Hospital and Headway Oxfordshire as part of the charity's anniversary appeal.

Founder and chief organiser Andy Baker, 29, said there was 'no other better way' to celebrate the busiest and biggest for the charity so far as it surpassed its £10,000 goal.

Read full story from the Oxfordshire Guardian
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Shortlisted in three Didcot BACAs

10/4/2017

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Picture
At Play2Give Towers we have more cause to celebrate harder, after receiving wonderful news about the Oscars of Didcot - otherwise known as the annual Business & Community Awards (BACAs).

After an incredible action-packed, busy and incredibly successful than ever 10th anniversary year, P2G is hugely honoured to announce that we have been shortlisted for not just one but 3 Didcot Business & Community (BACA) Awards 2017!

We was nominated in a record 5 categories!!

We have been shortlisted for an amazing three categories in the following awards:-
  • Best Fundraising Innovation/Campaign
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Best Established Charity/Community Group

The winners in all categories will be announced on 10th November 2017 at the ceremony at the Cornerstone in Didcot!
Please keep your fingers crossed for us.  For the judges, it will be no mean feat as there are so many wonderful contenders in each category, after a record number of nominations of over 200 was received. 

This year in our 10th anniversary year has been P2G's most biggest, busiest and most successful in history so these BACAs nominations are the icing on the cake to an incredible year. 

The love P2G continues to receive from the local community of Didcot and in this way is always humbling lovely and heartwarming.

We are so proud of everyone in the growing P2G team that works so hard all year round to make a difference in changing transforming and saving lives across Oxfordshire. We also just want to say a massive thank you to all our lovely and wonderful supporters in many different ways for always being so amazing to our work as a volunteer fundraising organisation and supporting everything we do and so brilliantly too! 

We would like to wish good luck to all our fellow category contenders and all those shortlisted this year. Didcot has so many amazing businesses, charities, groups and individuals all doing some fantastic work and service.

Full list of all shortlisted nominees
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