Over £40,000 raised for charity in memory of BBC cameraman

A committee led by author, journalist and BBC broadcaster Pat Murphy has raised over £40,000 for Cure Leukaemia in memory of their friend Andy Payne who died of leukaemia in 2016 aged 55. Payne was a BBC cameraman in the Midlands who worked on popular shows including Gardener’s World. He left a widow and three children. The committee’s aim was to raise enough to fund a specialist research nurse at the Centre for Clinical Haematology at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a goal which they have successfully beaten. As well as former colleagues, the appeal attracted support from the cricketing world: Payne had played for a number of cricket teams around the region. https://twitter.com/BeefyBotham/status/893780482479017985   How they raised the funds Pat Murphy, Anthony Monk, Andy Hickinbottom, Tom Moss, Malcolm Richards and Cure Leukaemia co-founder Graham Silk formed a committee to raise funds through a series of online auctions, raffles and charity events. Drawing on their professional contacts they managed to secure a host of ‘money can’t buy’ items for people to bid for. These included: a Match of the Day studio experience a tour of Monty’s Don’s famous ‘Longmeadow’ garden a coaching session with England cricket star Chris Woakes lunch with Stiliyan Petrov and Martin O’Neill. Murphy said, on behalf of the ‘Andy Payne Fund A Nurse’ committee: “The feeling is bittersweet for us as we would much rather still have our good friend Andy with us but we are so pleased to have surpassed our fundraising target. We wanted to fund something tangible in Andy’s memory and it is heartening to think that patients in similar position to Andy will have access to pioneering treatments for this cruel disease through our funding of a specialist research nurse. “We are eternally grateful to the many people who have helped us source these fantastic auction items, without their generosity we would not have reached our goal. There are too many people to thank and they know who they are! If our efforts save just one life we will feel that this project has made a real difference.”  

from UK Fundraising http://ift.tt/2BuxMp3