Fundraising roundup: September 2020
Despite the ongoing restrictions implemented in the fight against COVID-19, here at Devon Mind we’ve been treated to a constant stream of generous fundraisers taking on all kinds of challenges to raise money! Today, we’re sharing the stories of our September 2020 fundraisers with you.
We would like to extend a huge thanks to the fundraisers below, and anyone who has donated in any way to Devon Mind in September!
If you want to fundraise for Devon Mind, we’d love to hear from you! Email fundraise@devonmind.com and we’ll help you get started.
Lou’s head shave and more
First up, we have Louise Latham from Exeter, who has raised over £1,700 (and counting!) through a series of incredible gestures.
On 10 September, Lou made her way to The Roots Foundation in Exeter to have her head shaved in exchange for donations. Delivering on her promise to go for a grade 0 cut if she raised £1,000 or more, she smiled all the way through as she live streamed the entire thing on Facebook.
But that wasn’t enough for the street dance teacher and Reiki practitioner! A couple of weeks later, Lou took her campaign even further by getting a tattoo featuring a semicolon — a symbol which represents support for mental illness and victims of suicide. She is also due to release a music video soon filmed in Exeter.
Thank you so much, Lou, for going above and beyond! Help her pass £2,000 in donations by pledging your support below.
Kye treks the Beacons
On 19 September, Kye Yabsley completed TrekFest the Beacons and raised just under £300 for Devon Mind!
TrekFest is a trekking challenge with 25 km and 50 km routes in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park, in South Wales.
Thank you, Kye, for taking on this amazing challenge for Devon Mind!
Dec plays for 24 hours straight
On the final Saturday of the month, we had three amazing fundraisers running. The first was Dec Ord’s gaming marathon.
Streaming on Twitch as Mr_Orddy_Ordidhe, Dec took on the mammoth task of playing video games for 24 hours non-stop, starting at 9 am on Saturday 26 September and finishing at the same time the next day. Titles included Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Fortnite.
But Dec wasn’t alone! He was joined by three friends from the other side of the world, as Australian gamers RangaXO12, intuitive3ll3 and vFrosty all chipped in. Incredibly, Ranga stayed for the full 24 hours! And despite being around 9,000 miles away from our home base, it was all in aid of Devon Mind.
We don’t yet have the full total of money raised, but on Dec’s page alone he’s hit £372!
Thanks so much, Dec and friends, for sacrificing your sleep in order to help Devon Mind!
Rightway runs a sunny 10k
Starting just after Dec’s gaming marathon was a team from the Plymouth office of Rightway Environmental completing a 10k run.
Joined by members of the Plymouth Coasters running club, who helped lead three different running groups, the Rightway runners kicked off from the Royal William Yard at 10am on Saturday 26 September. The sea of blue Devon Mind t-shirts completed 10 km (6.2 miles) in glorious sunshine!
As of publishing, Rightway Environmental have raised £549 on their JustGiving page, surpassing their £500 target!
Thanks to all the runners, and to organiser Louise for the huge effort!
Eva faces her fear of heights
Last but not least, Eva Maria Reichardt completed a daring wingwalk to raise more than £800 for Devon Mind — amazing!
On her JustGiving page, Eva admitted that dealing with heights was not exactly her strongest suit, so climbing atop a biplane flying up to 135 mph, up to 500 ft in the air was certainly a brave challenge to take on!
A big thanks go to Eva for taking on this amazing challenge and raising £842+ for Devon Mind!