Nige Jenkins Tracey Dunn Nicky Critchley Leon Jenkins

Supporters fundraising stories

Geoff Jenkins Memorial Charity Cup

Read about why Nige and his family started the annual memorial cup event in memory of their father and how it has grown year on year.

Name: Nige Jenkins
Event: Geoff Jenkins Memorial Charity Cup
Venue: Brackley Town Football Club
Amount raised: £4,500 at the last event

Why did you choose to support Katharine House Hospice with your fundraising?

We lost our mum in early 2005 and, later that year, our dad was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer. It was Dad’s wish to be cared for by us at home. I have a twin brother and two sisters, so between us, we were able to take it in turns. A month or so after his diagnosis, Dad passed away. He wanted all donations from his funeral to go to Katharine House because he had lived in Brackley most of his life and so the hospice had supported people he knew and was very much part of his community.

Having cared for Dad and seeing what it entails to look after someone at the end of their life, we have a lot of respect for the team at Katharine House and all that they do to make every moment matter. Katharine House was Dad’s choice of charity and now it’s ours too.

Tell us a bit about your event or activity

We’ve run the Geoff Jenkins Memorial Charity Cup for quite a few years now (with a little break when Covid hit). It all started with a football match with a team that I ran called Brackley Old Boys and we invited another local football team to play us as an end-of-season get-together and a chance to raise some money for Katharine House. We set up a gazebo on the side of the pitch and had a BBQ, some drinks, a tombola and a raffle. That year we raised just over £1,300.

Brackley Town Football Club got wind of our event and asked us if we wanted to hold it again the following year but using their ground as a venue. Of course, we said yes!

So, the second time we held the event it was much bigger, and we were able to host more football games, inviting children’s teams and men’s teams to take part. Everything was bigger and better, including the raffle and tombola, medals and trophies and we raised even more money!

Now we get lots of local businesses involved in the event through sponsorship, raffle prizes and auction prizes. Ladies team are also part of the competition now and we keep introducing new ways to raise more money, like a daytime disco and live acts.

We continue to hold the event at Brackley Town Football Club who have been ever so supportive. They run the bar on the day and keep the money from that, so everyone is happy.

“We’ve seen how much it costs to run Katharine House Hospice and what we raise is small in comparison, but we are so happy to know that we are contributing towards that.”

What tips would you pass onto other fundraisers? What worked well for you?

Fundraising is definitely a team thing – the more the merrier! This is an event that lots of the family get involved in. Me, my twin brother and my two sisters all work together, and my nieces and nephews get involved in setting everything up. In short, we all make the most of the different contacts we have with local businesses and other organisations.

I would suggest that you start talking about the event as early as possible so that people can keep the date free and start planning around it. Social media is great for spreading the word and the more people you have involved in the organising, the more people share things on social media.

Every year, Katharine House send us something called a Letter of Authority [email [email protected] if you would like one of these] so that we have that to share with local businesses when trying to get them to donate raffle prizes. Llocal businesses have now been supporting us for so many years that many of them have upped their support by becoming match sponsors in return for having their company advertised on our event Facebook page.