Charity fundraiser extraordinaire, Andrew Baker MBE BCAv, who established the Didcot based charity Play2Give over 22 years ago, after he began fundraising at the tender age of 14 whilst a schoolboy, is organising, amongst other activities and campaigns, two fabulous fundraising events for you to be part of this year.
The charity team of dedicated volunteers work tirelessly year after year to raise funds for the Oxford Children’s Hospital and other local good causes. A grand total to date of just over £500,000 has been raised by the charity and it is continually rising for good causes across the county. Their fundraising activities are varied and are an impressive catalogue of fun, diverse, exciting and community-driven events, with Play2Give ending 2023 with its 9th record Christmas toy appeal. Last year's Christmas drive saw the highest number of toys donated by the community, as part of its annual 'Sleigh2Give', the festive arm of the organisation, with the value of gifts totalling around £50,000.
This team are relentless in their year-round non-stop work, and even attend public events to raise awareness dressed as caped crusaders in the annual OX5 Run and walked beyond miles armed with buckets to raise superhero amounts.
Founder Andy’s fundraising story is inspiring. He began raising funds aged just 14 in 2002 when he was a pupil at St Birinus School in Didcot, and his mission to raise funds originally to help make the dream of the Oxford Children’s Hospital, which opened at the JR in 2007, a reality, was the spur of inspiration from treatment he endured from birth, after being born with a brain injury and further brain surgery aged 12. His desire to raise just £500 as a thank you turned into over £100,000 later, a landmark total he reached for the children’s hospital last year, which was celebrated in style with the Oxford Hospitals Charity. As a result of the lifetime total and a tribute to their 2-year-long decade of support for the hospital, the Play2Give group will be funding a specialist piece of equipment to save and change children’s lives undergoing brain surgery, with an extra-ventricular drainage system costing over £17,000.
The long-standing and relentless fundraising also saw a patient room, ‘The Play2Give Room’, formally opened in 2017 on the teenage ward treating teenage patients facing long term hospital stays.
Andrew and the group’s hard work over the past two decades has seen some fantastic recognition and appreciation from the community and even royalty. In 2021 Andy was bestowed with an MBE presented by The Princess Royal at Windsor Castle, and in 2017 he received an esteemed British Citizen Award at Westminster. More recently, as a team Play2Give was nominated for the John Eldridge Award for Voluntary Service in the Didcot Town Council’s Community Awards.
If you eat, live and breathe the beautiful game of football and you would like to be part of a six a side football tournament on Sunday 7 July at Wallingford Sports Park, entries are now open. At time of writing, teams are filling fast and limited spaces remain! The Play2Give 2024 6-a-side Football Tournament is the 13th year this fantastic match of the day has been held. It is always a fantastic day of footballing fever and this year’s event will be no exception. Registration is now open to all teams from businesses to groups to teams of friends, aged 16 years and over but are strictly limited to a maximum of 24 teams. Last year’s contest raised close to £6,000 for both the Oxford Children’s Hospital and the Oxford Head Injury Services as well as other causes. With your help, sponsorship and participation, the charity would like to raise several thousands more for the children’s hospital, health and disability causes.
Along with a fun day of football, there will be fun for the family with soccer darts in the form of an inflatable life sized soccer dart board. Other activities include face painting, and no day would be complete without a BBQ and a bar. To register your interest for a team please contact hello@play2give.org.uk or call 07762614313.
The second event to be part of is Play2Give’s 2024 and fifth Gala Ball which will be held on from 6pm until midnight on Saturday 28 September at Milton Hill House at Steventon near Abingdon. This year’s theme is black and white/007, so be sure to be dressed to impress in your Bond regalia as it will be a licence to thrill. Tickets are available to be reserved, and you can get them by contacting Play2Give through their website form, email or number above. These balls are consistent sell-outs and have limited table numbers.
Last year’s Great Gatsby Ball saw nearly 150 guests come together to enjoy a fantastic night of dining, dancing and fundraising with many people embracing the Gatsby theme, dressed in regalia of the 1920’s. The event brought together a dazzling red carpet drinks reception to entertainment from their magician, singers Sparky & Sprite and a disco who got everyone up and on the dance floor. Dinner was a divine three-course meal, and guests were also able to have fun in the photobooth which this year will be provided by InstaBooth Oxfordshire. This year’s singer will be Berkshire-based Albie J. Along with ticket sales, raffle and auction, the evening raised an impressive profit of over £5,125 for the charity’s two nominated good causes.
To find out more about both events, visit www.play2give.org.uk and Facebook, search Play2Give.
