• Skip to main content
ENTER
  • HOME
  • 2022 SHORTLIST
  • ATTEND
    • Venue & Timings
    • Prices & Booking Form
    • Hosts
  • JUDGES
    • Judging Information
    • ENTRY CRITERIA
    • entry tips
  • SPONSORS
    • SPONSORS & PARTNERS
    • Be A Sponsor
  • HALL OF FAME
    • 2020 WINNERS
    • 2020 CEREMONY
    • 2019 WINNERS
    • 2019 GALLERY
  • MORE
    • about us
    • contact us
    • GCN Blog

Charity Event Awards

Annual Awards for Charity Events

  • HOME
  • 2022 SHORTLIST
  • ATTEND
    • Venue & Timings
    • Prices & Booking Form
    • Hosts
  • JUDGES
    • Judging Information
    • ENTRY CRITERIA
    • entry tips
  • SPONSORS
    • SPONSORS & PARTNERS
    • Be A Sponsor
  • HALL OF FAME
    • 2020 WINNERS
    • 2020 CEREMONY
    • 2019 WINNERS
    • 2019 GALLERY
  • MORE
    • about us
    • contact us
    • GCN Blog

2020

Best Charity Challenge Event

March 6, 2020 by

Above & Beyond – Bristol to Paris Cycle Challenge
The Bristol to Paris Cycle Challenge is Above & Beyond’s flagship event.
Over the last five years, the annual Bristol to Paris Cycle Challenge has seen 336 intrepid cyclists take on the challenge, cycling a total of 146,000 kilometres and raising the incredible sum of more than £746,000 of vital funds for Bristol’s hospitals.

Alzheimer’s Society – Trek26
Launched in 2017, Trek26 is Alzheimer’s Society’s flagship trekking series. The series of six events are all 26 or 13 mile circular treks in beautiful and iconic locations around the UK. Driven by customer insight, innovative marketing and excellent supporter stewardship, Alzheimer’s Society have increased income by over 100% between 2018 and 2019 to £1.6million and are projecting to raise £2.3million from almost 6,000 participants in 2020.

Back Up – The Push
The Push challenges people to gather teams of ten to twenty people, including one member who uses a wheelchair, and work together to climb up either Mount Snowdon or Ben Nevis and back down again, covering miles of steep, mixed surfaced, wheelchair unfriendly terrain. The challenge is all about teamwork – making sure that all members of the team work together to reach the summit and come back down again.

Part of the ethos at Back Up is to challenge perspectives of what is possible after someone sustains a spinal cord injury, both for people coming to terms with an injury and the wider public. The Push seeks to do this in the most extreme way.

Born from someone deeming a mountain climb with a wheelchair user to be impossible, the Snowdon Push has become Back Up’s flagship fundraising challenge event and was joined this year by the first ever Ben Nevis Push. Between the two events, we were able to raise over £100,000 for our vital services to support people affected by spinal cord injury.

Children with Cancer UK – Virgin Money London Marathon
Children with Cancer UK raise and invest money for vital specialist research to save the lives of every child and young person with cancer and keep their family together The Virgin Money London Marathon is an important part of that allowing us to continue to do this What started out as a small project led to one of our largest fundraising events, raising over £3,000,000 in both 2018 and 2019 We received in excess of 32,000 enquiries to join our team and through hard work and dedication from our small team at Children with Cancer UK, we had just over 1,200 runners cross the start line and complete the 26 2miles London Marathon course in 2019 We support our team from the moment they join the team until the day they have completed their fundraising – and long after As soon as we have welcomed someone on to our team, they get to know us and the charity They are offered support from not only us, but also our fitness trainer and our physio Customer service is an integral part of the support we offer and we want our team, who are undertaking such a huge event for us, to

DofE – The DofE Adventure
The DofE Adventure is the chance for everyone aged 18+ to get a taste of an expedition, giving adults the opportunity to tackle the challenges associated with the DofE award programme. It’s an unforgettable weekend hiking, camping and fundraising for the DofE charity.
The two-day Adventure brings together the challenge of a trek combined with uniqueness of a festival. Participants must tackle a challenging 50km off road trek before being able to unwind at base camp and celebrate their achievements.

Mass participation agency massive have delivered the event since 2018 overseeing two DofE Adventures in the Cotswolds and most recently the South Downs.

Sense – The RidgeWalk
The RidgeWalk started in 2010 when hundreds of hardy trekkers laced up their hiking boots to take on 52 miles along the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire over 24 hours. In the ten years since, it has become Sense’s flagship owned event, raising over £1 million for our work.

Over the years, the RidgeWalk has changed and adapted to a changing market with alternative distances of 13 and 26 miles and a RidgeRun option being introduced. A key element for the RidgeWalk however, has always been the ultra-marathon distance. This has attracted a huge variety of walkers, allowing us to talk to a diverse range of new supporters to Sense. The experience that participants are given from their initial enquiry to the time that they leave the event site is crucial to the event and results in participants achieving on average 177% of their minimum fundraising target.

The RidgeWalk is an event that’s unique in the saturated events market. It may not have thousands of people lined up on the start line, but everyone that did take part felt like they were part of the Sense family, going on to support Sense in many other ways.

SSAFA the Armed Forces Charity – D-Day Landings Ride
The D-Day Cycle Ride commemorated the cycling soldiers and the part they played on 6 June 1944 and the following Battle of Normandy. The Ride included all the beaches used for the landings and headed inland to include the key locations that were the first to liberated, finishing at the iconic British cemetery at Bayeux.
75 riders were accompanied by ride leaders supplied by White Rock Events and a battlefield historian who set the scene at each battlefield and memorial.
This emotional event provided riders with a physical challenge, the chance to pay respects for those who fought for our freedoms, to make friends for life and raise significant funds to support the vital work of SSAFA the Armed Forces charity, who played a key part in supporting the families of those who fought and died during both world wars.

Filed Under: 2020

Best Charity Special Event

March 6, 2020 by

Children with Cancer UK – The Children with Cancer UK Ball
Children with Cancer UK is the UK’s leading children’s charity, dedicated to raising and investing funds for vital specialist research to fight the injustice of cancer in children and young people. The Children with Cancer UK Ball is the flagship event for the charity having run for an astounding 33 years.
This special evening was originally established in memory of Paul O’Gorman, the son of Children with Cancer UK’s founders, and has grown to become a major fundraising event in the charity’s calendar. 2019 saw a refreshed and revitalised event, with a new brand and enhanced guest experience the event was transformed into a dazzling show utilising video footage to bring the event to life. Hosted by Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain and headlined by R&B legend Billy Ocean, the Ball attended by around 800 guests, including reality TV queen Scarlett Moffatt, come together for a wonderful evening of gourmet cuisine, fundraising and entertainment in London’s largest ballroom at the stunning Grosvenor House Hotel.

English National Opera – An Evening of Myths and Magic
English National opera was a vision of lives changed through opera.
Our annual Gala, the pinnacle of our events calendar, has three core objectives: showcase artistic talent and creativity, raise the profile of ENO Baylis, and raise indispensable funds.
Drawing on themes in our 2019/20 season, ‘An Evening of Myths and Magic’ was born. To stand out with potential philanthropists, we sought to create something immersive and interactive, taking guests on a whimsical and magical journey, beyond a simple dinner concert.
Hosted at Guildhall, the performance began quite literally around them; our Chorus, posing as guests, broke in to song while soloists and actors appeared. Under the influence of a magical ‘love potion’ they began to fall in love with each other. And the audience. And our CEO. And even a painting in the gallery!
Guests were mesmerised by performances, with the cast including Dame Sarah Connolly.
The magical evening was rounded off with an edible lit candle for dessert.
Even with a restrictive budget, we were able to achieve a fantastic result, surpassing fundraising goals, while being featuring in various publications.
The creativity of our teams proved that opera is a living and vivacious art form worthy of investment.

/GroceryAid / Wellpleased Events – Waitrose & Partners Garden Party in aid of GroceryAid
The Waitrose & Partners Garden Party 2019 was a new event that spectacularly reinvented the charity fundraiser model last summer.
GroceryAid and Wellpleased Events took the bold move out of London and away from the traditional spaces associated with such events. Using a ‘green site’ they were able to adopt a ‘site from scratch’ approach to perfectly create their vision and every bespoke element. The result was intricate network of 17 structures blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor. Bars made from vintage cabinets, a 7m stately home, an orchard, vegetable floral displays, edible table centres and an elaborate lighting system to mimic the natural light outside left guests stunned.
Insisting on inclusivity, 125 suppliers were represented in the 920 guests. The result was a magical night raising funds and awareness for GroceryAid, uniquely in an arena where every attendee could benefit from their work. Relaxing and reformatting the approach to fundraising was a dramatic success with 100% feedback of planning to return.

JDRF – The Sugarplum Dinner
Raising an incredible £1.5million, The Sugarplum Dinner 2019 was the fourth Sugarplum event for JDRF and the most successful in the charity’s history.
On World Diabetes Day, Thursday 14 November 2019, The Sugarplum Dinner attracted 350 high-profile guests to the V&A Museum for a night of exquisite dining, record-breaking fundraising and private performances. Guests included Mark Ronson, Florence Welch, Lord Julian Fellowes, Dolly Alderton and Jonny Labey.
The special events team assembled and collaborated with an 18 member Event Committee, using their unique strengths and connections to secure exclusive prizes, special guests and Michelin star winning chefs for the evening. The team also built on the back of previous Sugarplum events, innovating to bring a fundraising-focused evening that still inspired guests to believe they could affect real change for those living with type 1 diabetes. The event secured an incredible £1million solo pledge and raised £266,000 from live and silent auctions.
The Dinners are hosted by Jubie Wigan and raise money for JDRF, the type 1 diabetes charity. Jubie founded Sugarplum Children in 2013 after her daughter Aliena was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just two years old. Since 2013, The Sugarplum Dinners have raised over £3million for JDRF.

National Theatre – Up Next Gala 2019
Up Next is the National Theatre’s biennial fundraising gala. In 2019 it raised a record-breaking £1.2million to fund inspiring work in and with communities across the UK.
Funds raised from Up Next enabled the NT to deliver incredible acts of community with partners across the country, specifically targeted to redress the imbalance in access to the arts, to celebrate the positivity of community action and harness the potential of theatre to bring people together.
The extraordinary event featured bespoke performances by some of the nation’s favourite actors, an auction of once-in-a-lifetime experiences and a demonstration of collaborative working with community-based ensembles. But it was far more than a traditional gala and, most importantly, it delivered a compelling message about the joyous power of theatre, of respecting our differences and recognising our similarities and truly represented the work of the NT.

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity – Defence Industry Charitable Dinner
The Defence Industry Charitable Dinner is the annual flagship special event of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. In 2019, SSAFA delivered the dinner and saw the charity raise more than £200,000 which was the highest fundraising total in the event’s fifteen-year history. The key to the event’s fundraising total was primarily down to securing major sponsorships and selling all of the available tables which meant that SSAFA had reached £200,000 before the event itself took place. SSAFA also owes its success to the guestlist including numerous VIPs from within the defence sector and hence provided the dinner’s guests with fantastic networking opportunities. Two of these VIPs were the Chief of Defence Staff, who hosted the event and the Secretary of State for Defence who delivered the keynote speech. SSAFA carefully selected a suitable beneficiary speaker whose open and honest SSAFA story encouraged guests to dig deep on the night and took them over the £200,000 mark.

The Prince’s Trust – Lunch with an Old Bag
Lunch with an Old Bag (LWOB) is one of the most glamorous and glittering events in the Scottish social calendar. It brings together over 400 of Scotland’s most glamorous and stylish ladies, with first class food and entertainment provided by the likes of Lulu, Bryan Ferry and Sister Sledge. It takes place each year in September at the prestigious Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh.

It all started in 2009 with the aim of challenging negative stereotypes. Women over 40 are often inappropriately perceived as “Old Bags”, as “over the hill” or “past it”, in much the same way as disadvantaged young people can be wrongly labelled. To highlight the latter, LWOB was launched to celebrate the glamour and grace of women who aren’t afraid of birthdays, and to shine a light on the issues faced by young people in Scotland.
Over the lifetime of the event, LWOB has raised a phenomenal £5.5 million+ for The Princes Trust in Scotland.

Unicef UK – Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala
Soccer Aid for Unicef is the world’s biggest charity football match, raising over £37 million since 2006, with a star-studded line-up of ex-footballers and celebrities battling it out between England and the Soccer Aid World IX.

In 2019 Unicef UK decided to grow on these successes by moving into the High Value space with the first ever Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala.
The Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala brought together the worlds of Soccer Aid of Sports, Entertainment and celebrity in a way that brought joy to all involved. The event felt fun, fresh and exciting whilst also managing to raise £800,000 for children.
Guests arrived at the Science Museum to walk down the real grass carpet, through a players tunnel to the sounds of cheers to make a splash on arrival. The football theming continued with their football shirt escort cards and match day themed programme bringing elements together.
The star studded evening had speeches from Mark Wright, Roman Kemp, David Harewood and ended with a fantastic performance from Soccer Aid Gala committee chair, Robbie Williams.

Filed Under: 2020

Best Established Charity Event

March 6, 2020 by

Centrepoint – Sleep Out
Sleep Out is Centrepoint’s annual flagship fundraising event. Launched in 2005, the challenge aims to raise awareness of youth homelessness, generate funds for Centrepoint services and strengthen relationships with donors. Participants swap their bed for a sleeping bag for one night and create real change for homeless young people.
Initially, 50 participants from London businesses slept out in Covent Garden Market. The event was an innovative challenge that attracted businesses looking to engage employees. Now the market is booming and Centrepoint face increasing competition each year. However, the event brand continues to attract new sleepers while retaining a loyal following.
Over its 15 year history, Sleep Out event income has increased from £66,000 to over £1million (FY 19/20). Initially a stand-alone challenge in London, Sleep Out is now a national campaign – incorporating events in Yorkshire, the North East and Manchester. Centrepoint also promotes the ‘Hold Your Own Sleep Out’ model for schools and community groups.
To re-establish Centrepoint Sleep Out as the original Sleep Out, 2019 saw Centrepoint invest in digital marketing and agency support to refresh and rebrand as a national campaign with success, experiencing its most successful year to date – generating £70,000 more than 2018/19 (gross).

Help for Heroes – Big Battlefield Bike Ride
The Big Battlefield Bike has seen over 2500 participants take part in a unique experience combining a cycling challenge, fundraising, world war history and seeing the positive impact that sport has on the recovery of our veteran beneficiaries. There is a thread that combines all of this together, camaraderie. You may join the ride as an individual, but you will finish as one team and make lifelong friends.

Macmillan Cancer Support – World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan’s flagship fundraising event and 2020 marks the event’s 30th anniversary! Started in 1990 by a group of local volunteers, it has grown to be the largest and most profitable event of its kind, raising over £275m since it began.

Behind the event’s success is a simple ask. It is about coming together to enjoy good company and delicious food, and raising money to support, celebrate and remember anyone who is, or has been, affected by cancer. It’s why millions of people all over Britain gather. It’s what makes our nationwide event as diverse as the people who host it.
But Coffee Morning has not been without challenges. Since a record-breaking year in 2016, the event has seen fewer hosts taking part each year and income dropping in the face of a difficult fundraising environment. A shift in strategic approach to this long-running event has helped the team to reverse this trend, with participant numbers and income growing in 2019 for the first time in three years.

As the 30th anniversary approaches, there has never been a better time to celebrate everything Coffee Morning hosts have achieved together.

Sense – The RidgeWalk
The RidgeWalk started in 2010 when hundreds of hardy trekkers laced up their hiking boots to take on 52 miles along the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire over 24 hours. In the ten years since, it has become Sense’s flagship owned event, raising over £1 million for our work.
Over the years, the RidgeWalk has changed and adapted to a changing market with alternative distances of 13 and 26 miles and a RidgeRun option being introduced. A key element for the RidgeWalk however, has always been the ultra-marathon distance. This has attracted a huge variety of walkers, allowing us to talk to a diverse range of new supporters to Sense. The experience that participants are given from their initial enquiry to the time that they leave the event site is crucial to the event and results in participants achieving on average 177% of their minimum fundraising target.

The RidgeWalk is an event that’s unique in the saturated events market. It may not have thousands of people lined up on the start line, but everyone that did take part felt like they were part of the Sense family, going on to support Sense in many other ways.

Stroke Association – UK Stroke Assembly
The UK Stroke Assembly is one of the largest gatherings of people affected by stroke in the world. Whether a stroke survivor, carer, family member or volunteer, the Stroke Assembly is a leading community event which is there to support people in rebuilding their lives after stroke.
The event has been running since 2011. Each year we aim to grow the Assembly community. By moving the events to new locations around the UK it enables us to reach out to more people affected by stroke. So far over 1175 people affected by stroke have attended and benefitted from an Assembly event since we began.
The event aims to offer people the chance to meet others affected by stroke and share experiences of hope and determination with likeminded individuals.
The events offers participants a chance to hear the latest developments in stroke care and research and have their say on the things that matter to them. It’s an opportunity for the patient voice to come together to take action on stroke and influence future campaigns and services.

Filed Under: 2020

Best Mass Participation Event

March 6, 2020 by

Battersea – Muddy Dog Challenge
The Muddy Dog Challenge is a 2.5k or 5k obstacle course that gives people the opportunity to do something fun and rewarding with their dog, for other dogs. The event has seen significant growth since it started five years ago. In 2019 over 8,000 people tackled obstacles across nine venues around the country and for the first time ever, the event raised over a million pounds for Battersea.
The creation and success of the Muddy Dog Challenge has been incredibly important to Battersea. It has allowed the charity to diversify its fundraising portfolio, attract a new audience profile, in terms of age and location, and really engage the public with Battersea’s work.
The series has provided opportunities to explore new marketing channels as well as introduce new and innovative ways of working across fundraising and the wider organisation. Collaboration across the entire organisation has been key to its success and the genuine eagerness to work as one-team enables Battersea to continue to grow the series.
The Muddy Dog Challenge really is a Mass Participation event like no other, which is proven by its continued success and extremely positive feedback from participants and volunteers year on year.

Centrepoint – Sleep Out
Sleep Out is Centrepoint’s annual flagship fundraising event. Launched in 2005, the challenge aims to raise awareness of youth homelessness, generate funds for Centrepoint services and strengthen relationships with donors. Participants swap their bed for a sleeping bag for one night and create real change for homeless young people.
Initially, 50 participants from London businesses slept out in Covent Garden Market. The event was an innovative challenge that attracted businesses looking to engage employees. Now the market is booming and Centrepoint face increasing competition each year. However, the event brand continues to attract new sleepers while retaining a loyal following.
Over its 15 year history, Sleep Out event income has increased from £66,000 to over £1million (FY 19/20). Initially a stand-alone challenge in London, Sleep Out is now a national campaign – incorporating events in Yorkshire, the North East and Manchester. Centrepoint also promotes the ‘Hold Your Own Sleep Out’ model for schools and community groups.
To re-establish Centrepoint Sleep Out as the original Sleep Out, 2019 saw Centrepoint invest in digital marketing and agency support to refresh and rebrand as a national campaign with success, experiencing its most successful year to date – generating £70,000 more than 2018/19 (gross).

Crohn’s & Colitis UK – WALK IT
Walk It is a series of eight 5 and 10k walking events across the UK raising crucial funds for and boosting vital awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis UK and the thousands of supporters they serve. massive have been working with Crohn’s and Colitis UK since 2017 to deliver their Walk It series. As well as fundraising, it is essential for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, and more importantly its supporters, to be visible and seen in their community, bringing these often hidden diseases into the open and giving supporters the opportunity to feel less alone. All our Walk It events feature city-centre venues and high profile routes to ensure that participants are walking through the centre of their communities. Through innovative event design, from giant inflatable colons to volunteer-led community marketing, these events ensure that raising awareness of both IBD and of Crohn’s and Colitis UK as a charity is embedded in the very nature of the events themselves.

Macmillan Cancer Support – World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan’s flagship fundraising event and 2020 marks the event’s 30th anniversary! Started in 1990 by a group of local volunteers, it has grown to be the largest and most profitable event of its kind, raising over £275m since it began.
Behind the event’s success is a simple ask. It is about coming together to enjoy good company and delicious food, and raising money to support, celebrate and remember anyone who is, or has been, affected by cancer. It’s why millions of people all over Britain gather. It’s what makes our nationwide event as diverse as the people who host it.
But Coffee Morning has not been without challenges. Since a record-breaking year in 2016, the event has seen fewer hosts taking part each year and income dropping in the face of a difficult fundraising environment. A shift in strategic approach to this long-running event has helped the team to reverse this trend, with participant numbers and income growing in 2019 for the first time in three years.
As the 30th anniversary approaches, there has never been a better time to celebrate everything Coffee Morning hosts have achieved together.

Mind – Crafternoon
Back in 2013, Mind joined the race to find the “next big” mass participation event. Since, a strategy that focused on development through audience insight has seen the growth of their mass participation product Crafternoon.
Crafternoon asks supporters to get together with their favourite people in an afternoon of crafting, whilst raising money for Mind and better mental health.
A innovation cycle of testing, adapting and learning has seen this product grow from an MVP offer in 2014, raising £4629, to becoming a firm contender in the over saturated market of charity mass participation products, raising £130,00 in 2019.

Tommy’s – London Landmarks Half Marathon 2019
The second year of London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM), organised by Tommy’s, took place on 24 March 2019. Building on the incredible success of the inaugural race in 2018, which raised £4m for charity, the event returned smashing all targets and raised an outstanding £7.03m for charity.
Due to the incredible feedback from all stakeholders involved, the event capacity was increased from 10,000 starters in 2018, to 12,000 starters in 2019. With high demand for places from charity partners, all additional places were granted to charities. Consequently the number of charities benefiting increased from 101 charities in 2018 to 180 charities in 2019.
Due to the continued popularity of the race, a public ballot was introduced for the 2019 race. The ballot was 8.5 times oversubscribed with 43,000 people applying for the 5,000 available public places.
The event is unlike any other half marathon. As well as an iconic, central London course, runners experienced ‘The Grand. The Quirky. The Hidden’ of the capital. In total, 278 activations lined the route, giving runners an experience like no other. Feedback from runners was once again exceptional, with huge praise for the event’s organisation and atmosphere.

Filed Under: 2020

Best New Charity Event

March 6, 2020 by

Alzheimer’s Society – GLOW
GLOW is Alzheimer’s Society’s newest walking event after dark. Having seen huge success with Memory Walk, we wanted to test and diversify our offerings as a Society, providing events that would not only appeal to new audiences, but reengage existing supporters with a different offering.
After an initial cycle of audience research, small scale testing and identifying a gap in the market, GLOW launched in 2019 with three walks in London, Manchester and Bristol.
GLOW’s year one targets included recruiting 2,000 walkers and raising £141,000 gross/£48,000 net income. Alongside this, the goals from the start were to build GLOW into a well-known, well attended awareness and fundraising event, while engaging a new audience to Alzheimer’s Society. Our clear USP was to create a truly family friendly night walk.

Alzheimer’s Society – Trek26
Launched in 2017, Trek26 is Alzheimer’s Society’s flagship trekking series. The series of six events are all 26 or 13 mile circular treks in beautiful and iconic locations around the UK. Driven by customer insight, innovative marketing and excellent supporter stewardship, Alzheimer’s Society have increased income by over 100% between 2018 and 2019 to £1.6million and are projecting to raise £2.3million from almost 6,000 participants in 2020

JDRF – Cycle for a Cure
JDRF set out to revitalise its partnership with Ford by launching a new pilot that could offer something truly different in a crowded market. This required weekly phone calls with Ford to ensure that tasks were being completed, ideas could be generated and conversation could lead to innovation. The dedication to these weekly calls was a strong factor in the success of the event and a catalyst to ensure that both JDRF and Ford could innovate and achieve mutually beneficial results.
The Cycle for a Cure made use of Ford’s Dunton Campus and test track- areas normally sealed off to the public- and created a ride village within the space tailored to informing and entertaining all who attended. The Cycle smashed its targets and raised over £40,000 profit for JDRF, while also cementing itself as an annual event for the future, co-run by JDRF and Ford.

Samaritans – Samarathon
In July 2019 Samaritans launched its first virtual mass participation event, a marathon called Samarathon, which challenged supporters to run, jog or walk 26.2 miles over the course of a month.
Samaritans have taken a new insight led approach to developing their product portfolio, developing ideas with, and in order to reach out to, new audiences, volunteers and warm supporters alike.
Hosted on the fundraising platform Everyday hero, participants were able to register for the event for free, and seamlessly create their fundraising page and link their fitness trackers.
Samarathon recruited over 1,750 participants. 41% of those became active fundraisers, who together raised an incredible £120,000 – four times the initial income target. For more than 80% of those who registered this was their first-time supporting Samaritans too, proving the targeting of new audiences had worked.
This pilot event, developed with the agency Killer Creative, turned out to be a profitable venture achieving outstanding results which beat every KPI set.
With a huge amount of learnings gathered, both from the cross-organisation project delivery group and from the in-depth feedback gathered from participants, Samaritans and Killer are now developing Samarathon 2020 and look forward to building on the success of 2019.

Shelter – HomeRun
Following on from the success of HomeRun’s pilot in 2019, Shelter’s first ever virtual running and walking challenge is returning this year to give even more supporters the opportunity to raise money and fight homelessness. Our vision was to create something for everyone, regardless of where they live, how fit they are or how busy their life is. HomeRun is truly accessible to everyone. Supporters from across England and Scotland can set their own fundraising and distance targets and in their own time and space, take on their personal challenge throughout April to support Shelter.
In year one HomeRun smashed targets when 1,200 supporters raised an amazing £60,000 against a target of £22,500. This year we are hoping to double that income by focussing on making our HomeRunners feel as supported, valued and a part of the wider Shelter cause as any of our physical event participants. This will be achieved by excellent digital communications, stewardship calls, HomeRun t-shirts, wristbands and a superior digital experience. Last year we had 97% of survey respondents say they would take part again. This year we are hoping to welcome them back and increase that to 100%.

Shelter – Sleep Walk for Shelter
Christmas is an integral time of the year for Shelter, with the public’s heightened awareness of homelessness. In 2018, Shelter identified a gap its event portfolio, launching Sleep Walk for Shelter: a mass participation 10km walk through central London.
This inaugural event exceeded both recruitment and fundraising targets, drawing in new audiences which highlighted the public’s appetite and desire to support Shelter’s mission to defend the right to a safe home.
Building on this success, in 2019, Sleep Walk for Shelter grew extensively: increasing London targets, launching in Manchester and creating a D.I.Y product encouraging people across the UK to organise their own Sleep Walk.
This nationwide campaign enabled Shelter to showcase the breadth of our services as well as give participants the opportunity to support beyond a financial donation. ‘Organise your own Sleep Walk for Shelter’ allowed supporters to personalise their own walks around local needs.
Through an integrated media and marketing strategy, Shelter surpassed fundraising and recruitment targets with over 4,085 supporters raising an outstanding £901,553, drew new audiences to the charity, and most importantly met supporters desire to ‘Take Steps to fight Homelessness’
We are excited to continue growing Sleep Walk for Shelter in 2020 and beyond.

Unicef UK – Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala
Soccer Aid for Unicef is the world’s biggest charity football match, raising over £37 million since 2006, with a star-studded line-up of ex-footballers and celebrities battling it out between England and the Soccer Aid World IX.
In 2019 Unicef UK decided to grow on these successes by moving into the High Value space with the first ever Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala.
The Soccer Aid for Unicef Gala brought together the worlds of Soccer Aid of Sports, Entertainment and celebrity in a way that brought joy to all involved. The event felt fun, fresh and exciting whilst also managing to raise £800,000 for children.
Guests arrived at the Science Museum to walk down the real grass carpet, through a players tunnel to the sounds of cheers to make a splash on arrival. The football theming continued with their football shirt escort cards and match day themed programme bringing elements together.
The star studded evening had speeches from Mark Wright, Roman Kemp, David Harewood and ended with a fantastic performance from Soccer Aid Gala committee chair, Robbie Williams.

Filed Under: 2020

Most Innovative Charity Event

March 6, 2020 by

Alzheimer’s Society – Care Sector Fundraising Ball
When Avnish and Anita Goyal of Hallmark Care Homes and the Hemraj Goyal Foundation realised that the care industry was suffering from an unfair reputation, they wanted to do something about it. In a siloed industry it was rare for people to come together with their peers and shine a light on the fantastic work the sector does to deliver excellent standards of care. They therefore launched the Care Sector Fundraising Ball (CSFB). The ball was designed to unite the industry and put beneficiary charities front and centre to share their messages and inspire guests. The CSFB is crucial to changing perceptions of the industry and demonstrating its commitment to improving areas where there is room for enhancement. The 2019 CSFB raised an incredible £200,000 net – a staggering increase of 38% from the 2018 event – for Alzheimer’s Society and The Care Workers’ Charity.
At Alzheimer’s Society, we treasure our partnerships with committed individuals like the Goyals, and the event has now become a highlight in our calendar. We cannot wait for the 2020 ball to build on the exceptional growth and guest experience of last year’s event, and feel extremely privileged to be a partner.

GroceryAid // Wellpleased Events – Waitrose & Partners Garden Party in aid of GroceryAid
The Waitrose & Partners Garden Party 2019 was a new event that spectacularly reinvented the charity fundraiser model last summer.
GroceryAid and Wellpleased Events took the bold move out of London and away from the traditional spaces associated with such events. Using a ‘green site’ they were able to adopt a ‘site from scratch’ approach to perfectly create their vision and every bespoke element. The result was intricate network of 17 structures blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor. Bars made from vintage cabinets, a 7m stately home, an orchard, vegetable floral displays, edible table centres and an elaborate lighting system to mimic the natural light outside left guests stunned.
Insisting on inclusivity, 125 suppliers were represented in the 920 guests. The result was a magical night raising funds and awareness for GroceryAid, uniquely in an arena where every attendee could benefit from their work. Relaxing and reformatting the approach to fundraising was a dramatic success with 100% feedback of planning to return.

JDRF – The Sugarplum Dinner
Raising an incredible £1.5million, The Sugarplum Dinner 2019 was the fourth Sugarplum event for JDRF and the most successful in the charity’s history.
On World Diabetes Day, Thursday 14 November 2019, The Sugarplum Dinner attracted 350 high-profile guests to the V&A Museum for a night of exquisite dining, record-breaking fundraising and private performances. Guests included Mark Ronson, Florence Welch, Lord Julian Fellowes, Dolly Alderton and Jonny Labey.
The special events team assembled and collaborated with an 18 member Event Committee, using their unique strengths and connections to secure exclusive prizes, special guests and Michelin star winning chefs for the evening. The team also built on the back of previous Sugarplum events, innovating to bring a fundraising-focused evening that still inspired guests to believe they could affect real change for those living with type 1 diabetes. The event secured an incredible £1million solo pledge and raised £266,000 from live and silent auctions.
The Dinners are hosted by Jubie Wigan and raise money for JDRF, the type 1 diabetes charity. Jubie founded Sugarplum Children in 2013 after her daughter Aliena was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just two years old. Since 2013, The Sugarplum Dinners have raised over £3million for JDRF.

Shine Cancer Support – Shine Connect 2019
Back in 2016, TTA collaborated with Shine Cancer Support to devise and deliver the inaugural Shine Connect – a national conference open to any young adult with a cancer diagnosis and their family or partner. Our challenge was to create a live, life-affirming experience on a shoestring budget.
The unique format gives participants the chance to meet and talk about life, cancer and everything in between, learn from cancer experts through insightful workshops, and enjoy complementary experiences from make-up tutorials to massages and therapy dogs.
In 2017, we delivered the second highly successful Shine Connect, expanding its reach to carers and healthcare professionals, and introduced a marketplace exhibition for relevant organisations. By 2018, the marketplace had burgeoned from five exhibitors to nineteen.
For 2019, we additionally enabled participants to connect and forge new friendships in the event lead-up through a multi-functional mobile app. The 132 participants included 17 carers, and six healthcare professionals who gained a Continuous Professional Development certificate for their attendance. 100% reviewed the event favourably, with 86% rating it as “excellent”. They particularly appreciated the sense of community fostered by the app, and the opportunity to meet other young adults with cancer in a life-affirming context.

Sightsavers – BLINK
Sightsavers’ “End is in Sight” campaign is on a mission to end the blinding eye disease, trachoma, in the countries where the charity works by 2025. We wanted to raise awareness of both our brand, and campaign through an innovative event – seeking to reach audiences and media outlets that might often be resistant to a typical charity message.
Working with an amazing group of agencies, led by MET Studio, we dreamed big and made something amazing happen. As a team we delivered an innovative, interactive photography exhibition – BLINK – where visitors would be able to literally see beautiful images disappearing before their eyes. Each digital image was fitted with tracking technology programmed to detect blinks – each blink then triggering a process within the image that resulted in a little bit of the image being permanently destroyed.
This decaying photography created an artistic representation of irreversible sight-loss from advanced trachoma, and really made people think about the impact of sight loss.
This event also launched our latest Aid Match appeal – where donations received would be matched by the UK government. Raising awareness was vital on so many levels, and through this innovative approach BLINK really delivered.

The Prince’s Trust – Trust Us
Trust Us… a step into the unknown. The Prince’s Trust’s, innovative immersive event.
Using the organisation’s name to create a play on words, the title asked guests to “Trust Us” when accepting their invitation to an unknown experience that is unlike anything they had been to before.
The Prince’s Trust believes that every young person should have the chance to embrace exciting opportunities. Through a series of immersive experiences, including powerful storytelling, role play activities and thoughtful conversation, the fundraising event offered guests a new and unique perspective on the challenges affecting young people today, the complex factors that can influence their lives and how, with The Trust’s support, they can fulfill their potential for a bright future.
The impact of the event was profound…

Filed Under: 2020

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

weeks
0
4
days
0
6
hours
1
1
minutes
4
2
seconds
2
3
BUY A SEAT
gcn logo Privacy Policy

© GCN Events

Subscribe for more information

Subscribe

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in