This year’s monies will fund 19 charity projects across the world
Industry charity The Light Fund has increased its total fundraising to £2.3million, and this year’s cash will aid 19 charity projects in 2025, helping men, women and children across the world.
“Thanks to the ongoing and brilliant support of the licensing, greeting card, gift and housewares community we are able to donate over £92,000 this year to 19 charities whose projects will make a difference to thousands of people,” said Trevor Jones, chairman of The Light Fund which was co-founded by Max Publishing directors Jakki Brown and Ian Hyder together with likeminded folk from the greeting card and licensing industries back in 2004.
And Jakki added: “What a wonderful way to end The Light Fund’s 20th anniversary year! The impressive sum from this year’s fundraising means that The Light Fund has given well over £2.3million to 174 different charities, since it started.
“All the monies raised by the raffles at The Retas, The Henries, The Gift Awards and the Licensing Awards, along with generous donations from those in the industry as well as many other events over the years, have all added up!”
Funding helplines, support resources and workshops for cancer sufferers; providing equipment in Great Ormond Street Hospital; running a roadshow to raise awareness of prostate cancer; installing a drinking water facility in a school in rural Nepal; providing an incubator for premature babies in a UK hospital; aiding hospice home care; and providing free meals to young people in deprived areas are just some of the ways the charity’s 2024 total will be used.
Submissions were invited from any UK-registered charities, and The Light Fund committee members and other major supporters then voted individually for which charity projects they would most like to see funded.
The organisation’s committee and voters met on Tuesday evening, 3 December, at which it was announced which charity projects are being funded by this year’s donations as a result of the voting.
The charities benefiting from the 2024 funds are Bone Cancer Research Trust, Bowel Cancer UK, The Brain Tumour Charity, Brain Tumour Support, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Child Bereavement UK, Child Rescue Nepal, Crohn’s & Colitis UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, Inspire Youth Zone Chorley, Maggie’s, Motor Neurone Disease Association, New Life Special Care Babies, Orchid Cancer Appeal, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Papyrus, Princess Alice Hospice, ShelterBox and Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.
Plans are already underway for next year’s The Light Fund fundraising with the first event being the Northern Quiz on 20 March at Hotel Football in Manchester, organised by the charity’s northern committee.
And the year’s biggie is the 5-3-1 Challenge, taking place between 24-28 September 2025 and offering the choice of scaling the heights of the UK & Ireland 5 Peaks Challenge, the UK 3 Peaks Challenge, or the singular glory of the Snowdon 1 Peak Challenge.
Specialist industry PR agency Kilogrammedia is on board as the official PR agency to help spread word of the challenge far and wide, while social media strategist Nicola Webster will be bringing the fundraiser to life on platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn.
For more information or to book your space, contact Mark Kingston or Jonathan Baker, and to find out more about The Light Fund click here.
The full details of the charity projects supported by The Light Fund from 2024 monies are as follows:
Bone Cancer Research Trust £5,100 – To fund the provision of Patient Support Boxes, aimed at helping to demystify being diagnosed with bone cancer, treatment and life beyond, each box contains a range of personally-tailored information and resources including a step-by-step patient guide.
Bowel Cancer UK £4,710 – To fund the printing of 15,000 copies of the charity’s health information resource Your Operation: A Guide To Bowel Cancer Surgery to be printed in early 2025.
The Brain Tumour Charity £5,000 – To fund the printing of a further 500 Paediatric Information Packs which help families navigate their way through a difficult and scary time following a child’s brain tumour diagnosis.
Brain Tumour Support – £3,932 – Funding four Early Intervention Project support groups in Bristol and South Gloucester, which are attended by a diverse mix of those with a brain tumour and their loved ones, offering a safe space to speak openly about the impacts of a brain tumour, to discuss and meet others in similar situations.
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) £5,000 – Funding for the charity’s life-saving suicide prevention helpline.
Child Bereavement UK £5,000 – The funding will support training from the education team and training team to allow the organisation to provide a rapid response service to schools and small charities who don’t have the budget to fund any training.
Child Rescue Nepal £3,500 – The donation will help the charity, which works combat child trafficking and end child slavery, fund the installation of a new drinking water facility at 135-pupil Janashram School in the rural district of Makwanpur, and provide hygiene training to children and teachers.
Crohn’s & Colitis UK £5,000 – Funding towards the costs of running the charity’s multi-channel Helpline on phone, email, live chat, and social media, which provides hope and relief to hundreds of people of all ages who live with Crohn’s and Colitis.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity £4,000 – Funding of equipment, such as a treatment chair, as part of the £300m redevelopment of the Children’s Cancer Centre campaign at the London hospital.
Inspire Youth Zone Chorley £5,000 – To help fund and grow the charity’s outreach food offer providing free meals to young people in their most deprived areas who are experiencing deep poverty.
Maggie’s £5,000 – A contribution to the delivery of Eating Well workshops in its West London centre and towards enabling their benefits advisors to support adult men and women with cancer.
Motor Neurone Disease Association £5,000 – The funding will go towards the charity’s children and young people’s Memory Box service, which will benefit more than 200 children and young people affected by MND.
New Life Special Care Babies £5,000 – To provide a Hot Cot neo-natal baby unit for newborn babies that will be installed in a hospital, either in Poole or in Wales.
Orchid Cancer Appeal £5,000 – To help fund the charity’s Male Cancer Information Roadshow in September, in Sunderland or London, during Male Cancer Awareness Week highlighting the risk factors, signs and symptoms of prostate, testicular and penile cancer to help avoid late diagnoses which have fewer treatment options and a poorer prognosis.
Pancreatic Cancer UK £5,075 – To provide specialist expert information, advice, and support to patients and their loved ones recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, through the support line where a team of specialist nurses is only a phone call or email away.
Papyrus £5,500 – To deliver 10 bespoke CPD-accredited SPEAK (Suicide Prevention Explore, Ask, Keep-Safe) training sessions to adults who work with young people, with a particular focus on those statistically at higher risk of suicide due to their lived experience, demographic or geography.
Princess Alice Hospice £5,250 – Funding to provide the Hospice At Home service giving patients the right care by the right person at the right time in the place most want to be at the end of their life.
ShelterBox £5,000 – For work to support the reconstruction of homes for 100 people affected by flooding in eastern Bangladesh where a low-pressure weather system caused devastating floods that affected 5.8m people and damaged 334,434 houses.
Shooting Star Children’s Hospices £5,000 – The donation will allow the charity to support a family with three months’ specialist pre-bereavement support, providing essential guidance on pain management, family and sibling support, and anticipatory grief.
