‘Superheroes’ fly in another superb sum for the children’s hospital

Published: 2nd March 2020

We raised an amazing £4,531 for the youngest of hospital patients throughout 2019, thanks to your help.

Thanks to our local community we were recently able to present a grand cheque to the Oxford Children’s Hospital as a result of our fundraising endeavours throughout 2019.

In total across 12 years we have donated close on £65,000 to the Oxford Children’s Hospital. At the end of February, we were delighted to have added to our support when Andy Baker along with Andy Williams (head of our Superheroes) and our youngest volunteer, Chloe, 17, visited the hospital to meet with hospital charity representatives and to hand over our gigantic cheque for proceeds raised last year.

What superheroes! We did it! We raised an amazing £4,531 for the Oxford Childrens Hospital in 2019.

Proceeds were raised through activities such as tombolas and raffles, our caped crusaders taking on a 12-hour walk from Didcot to the Children’s Hospital last September collecting £580 from generous members of the public to getting soaked in the stocks at the Didcot Summer Fayre and Harwell fete, through to donations raised through yoga classes, a charity 6-hour class-athlon at UTC in Didcot, and over £950 was raised through a day of board and table top gaming fun. Andy also assembled his biggest ever OX5 team to take part in the annual five-mile fun run last March, with over £1,500 raised between the heroes.

​Andy, a former children’s hospital patient, set up Play2Give and with his army of volunteers and supporters has raised over £220,000 over 18 years, for charities. He was initially inspired aged 14 to fundraise as a St Birinus School pupil for the Children’s Hospital, before setting up P2G in September 2007, after receiving childhood treatment from birth following a brain injury, and brain surgery aged 12, following a further head injury.

Speaking of our latest donation Joe Baker, spokesperson at the Oxford Hospitals Charity, said: “A great big thank you to all those involved in Play2Give, helping raise an amazing amount for the Oxford Children’s Hospital Charity. Your support means we can help fund the latest medical equipment, make the hospital bright and comfortable and fill the hospital with lots of fun things to do for our young patients.”

Over £480 was raised for the neonatal care areas of the John Radcliffe Hospital last year – Andy and Chloe are pictured presenting Martin, SSNAP charity director, with our grand cheque for the newborn care babies and families

In total last year we raised over £15,000 in funds with the remainder £10k donated out to Headway Oxfordshire, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Footsteps, Soundabout, SSNAP – Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents charity and other good causes locally.

SSNAP received over £480 from endeavours last year, including a ‘Heroes and Villains Party’ at Partyman World in Oxford last October, which raised £175. Andy spent time in SCBU upon birth, and we have helped raise around £800 across the past two years for the neonatal care charity.

Thousands of gifts estimated at £70,000 in value was raised and given out last Christmas, through our fifth ‘Sleigh2Give’ initiative, to young hospital patients, young carers in South Oxfordshire, families supported by Home-Start and others in need.

Thank you to everyone who donated, supported and was involved in our fundraising efforts last year and helping us to continue changing, transforming and saving lives across Oxfordshire, we are looking forward to another fantastic fundraising year this year.