Proud Preston: How our city supported charities in 2019

The three pals — The friends have raised £1,600 for charity

As we welcome 2020, we’ve been reflecting and reminiscing about the way proud Prestonians continued to support charitable causes.

We’ve written so many stories about the wonderful people of Preston donating to, supporting, founding or fundraising for amazing causes and charities.

In fact, there have been that many it would have been difficult to include them all, here’s just some of the events we covered…

In April dozens of Preston bikers took Easter Eggs to help a respite centre for children.

Also in April, a Preston dad who developed an app for children in hospital, after his daughter was treated for cancer, geared up for a 500-mile cycle ride.

A Penwortham woman ran the London Marathon on her birthday to raise money for her daughter’s playgroup.

Helen Ormerod-Pateman applied for the marathon after seeing it coincided with her date of birth. When she secured a place, Helen decided to use it as an opportunity to fundraise for Middleforth Playgroup.

In June the Preston community organised a fundraising day for Baby Lils, the money raised was donated to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital

Paula Barrow, right, with daughter Eve and friend and former Ashton Community Science College colleague Lavinia

In July more than 600 people took on the distance which is the equivalent of walking from Preston to Disneyland Florida.

More than £2,000 was raised for Rosemere Cancer Foundation by the event.

In September two Preston friends cycled from London to Brussels and raised thousands of pounds for the Salvation Army food bank.

Also in September, a Preston woman fought child hunger by providing free breakfasts at her Ribbleton cafe.

Helen Ball from Broadgate runs Top Cafe in Ribbleton Lane. After hearing a radio interview with a teaching assistant from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Helen decided to try to help families who are struggling to feed their children before school.

The kindness continued this month as an eight-year-old boy raised almost £1,000 for St Catherine’s Hospice.

James Woodhouse was one of 110 riders to take part in Leyland Truck’s 2019 Factory to Festival cycle challenge.

The Preston Hope for Justice Abolition Group organised the Hair-raiser for Hope for Justice, which included a charity head shave.

Jennifer Tidy from the Preston Abolition Group said: “We’re fundraising in aid of Hope for Justice, which exists to bring an end to modern slavery and human trafficking by preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives and reforming society.

“Modern slavery is a massive issue happening globally, including here in the UK in manual labour and construction firms, car washes, nail bars, massage parlours and hotels, to name a few. It’s estimated that 24.9 million people are in forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude worldwide.”

Kirsty in the foreground with some of the fundraising gang

In October two little boys were a step closer to getting the equipment they need to live well with their disabilities, thanks to a gang of superheroes from Preston.

Kirsty Quigley approached Cash for Kids with the idea of walking 24 miles from Cleveleys to Preston for charity.

Also this month a group of men from Preston who took on a coast to coast cycling challenge have raised over £10,000 for the Baby Beat Appeal.

Read more: How these ‘fat middle-aged blokes’ raised £10,000 for baby charity

A Hoghton mum used her maternity leave to run a baby bank helping struggling families.

Jacqueline Winslow had her second baby in August, and created the Fairy Godmother Preston initiative just a few weeks later.

She said: “It all started when I realised I had a tub of formula I didn’t need, and I thought it would be nice if I could give it to someone who might be struggling to afford it. Then I ended up with a few other items so I set up my Fairy Godmother Preston Facebook page and requested donations.

“The response to my request has been fantastic. There are people who don’t have any children who have gone out and bought items. And there are so many people who don’t have a lot themselves who could have sold items, but who have donated to help others instead.”

Three pals from Preston who completed a tough 26-mile hike across the Lake District have raised £1,600 for Macmillan.

In December we wrote about a Preston man who has planned a fundraising mission just months after his girlfriend died from Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Chris Duddy lost his girlfriend of 16 years, Keli, to the disease in September. Keli was just 44 years old.

The Foxton Centre received a fantastic Christmas present from the people of Preston in December. A final count of money raised from the first ever Big PNE Sleep Out came in at £80,000.

Which charity story has been your favourite this year? Let us know in the comments below.