Prostate Cymru recognised the contributions of those who had fundraised for the charity in 2015 at their annual ambassadors lunch on Friday 4th March at The Vale Resort. Host Eddie Butler and Prostate Cymru President David Brace OBE presented the inaugural fundraiser awards during the event. The award categories were Young Fundraiser of the Year, Fundraising Team of the Year and Fundraiser of the Year.
Fundraisers are increasingly choosing Prostate Cymru as their charity for a variety of events and challenges. The shortlist for the awards included a diverse range of events such as skydives, obstacle races, beard growing, golf days, coffee mornings, walking, running and cycling challenges.
Young Fundraiser of the Year was awarded to Joseph Evans and Gwen Morgan, A-level students at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun. As part of their Silver Duke of Edinburgh award, the duo decided to fundraise for Prostate Cymru in support of a teacher whose family had been affected by prostate cancer. Joseph and Gwen held a number of fundraising events throughout the year including raffles, bake sales, hosting a stall at the Christmas Fayre, a school quiz and own clothes days. Their final event was a tandem skydive at Skydive Swansea which helped bring the pair’s fundraising total to £828.80.
Fundraising Team of the Year was won by Kenfig Hill RFC who are long-standing supporters of Prostate Cymru having helped raise funds since the charity’s inception. The club held a number of fundraising events in 2015 including numerous themed evenings, a rugby tournament and a Christmas dinner. Kenfig Hill RFC has also contributed to the charity’s award nominated event ‘The Big Walk’ through members’ participation in the event, organising post-event entertainment, photography and medical assistance.
Fundraiser of the Year was presented to Henry Durrant who organised the ‘Run For Ray’ challenge, a 186 mile run over seven days across the Pembrokeshire coastal path in memory of his girlfriend’s grandfather and founder chairman of the Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru, Ray Williams OBE. The distance and terrain of the coastal path meant that Henry ran the equivalent of a marathon each day. On top of this physically demanding challenge, Henry organised ‘An Evening with Graham Price’ halfway through the week of the run and updated his Facebook page daily with progress reports and photographs. Henry presented a cheque for his fundraising total of £10,600 to Prostate Cymru at the charity’s annual President’s Ball in November.
Pictured: Fundraiser of the Year 2015 Henry Durrant with Prostate Cymru’s Andy Thomas, David Brace OBE and rugby ambassadors Eddie Butler, John Devereux, Bob Norster and Gareth Davies.