Paul Newman’s charity marks 20th anniversary with £20k event at BAFTA

Over The Wall, the children's charity set up by the late Hollywood actor Paul Newman, celebrated its 20th anniversary at the BAFTA building in Piccadilly, London. The charity, which provides therapeutic camps for seriously ill children, welcomed special guests, volunteers, staff and many of the children and families which have benefited from the charity to the event. Joe Woods, who co-founded the charity with Paul Newman, was also there. The evening raised £20,000 through an auction, raffle and donations from guests. Thousands of children with serious illnesses have now experienced the camps, enabling them to "raise a little hell", as Paul Newman put it.   In its first year, Over The Wall took just 25 children with cancer to camp. Now the charity caters for over 130 different illnesses, and this year, to celebrate the charity’s 20th anniversary, Over The Wall broke its own records taking over 1,000 children to camp in 2019.     http://bit.ly/2WNmTbd   CEO of the charity, Kevin Mathieson said: “This event has been a wonderful celebration of all the lives that our charity has touched. It has been a great pleasure to look back at the milestones and achievements of the charity, and to hear the voices of those truly impacted by our cause. Since Paul Newman and Joe Woods founded the charity in 1999, we have seen exponential growth, and each year, we aim to grow further and to help more and more children, their siblings and their families cope with serious illness.”    Camper parent Pokuaa Osei-Nyametie was present at the event. She said: “It has been an honour to attend Over The Wall’s 20th anniversary. My daughter attended camp, and as a result became so self-assured - she learnt to love herself. She developed self-value and discovered that, despite her condition, she is alright and that not only can make friends, she can also have a good laugh- she can be a child and she can be silly!”    

from UK Fundraising http://bit.ly/2x00xc7