Banbury businesses get competitive in support of Katharine House

16 September 2025

The Accumulator Challenge, where participants are given a £50 seed fund to invest and raise as much money as possible in just four months, celebrates its ninth year and has raised over £176,000 for Katharine House Hospice.  

This year, the hospice has had an influx of new businesses taking part for a chance to become the Ultimate Accumulator and win the Best Newcomer Award, including Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance, CPB UK, Brackley Care Home, VPK, Wise Investment and Contact Web. The community challenge will put businesses to the test for their creativity, fundraising, marketing and teamwork skills.  

Nicole Veriato, Marketing Coordinator at Contact Web, said: “We’re excited to take part in this year’s Accumulator Challenge for Katharine House Hospice! It’s a chance for our team to have fun together while supporting a cause that does so much for local families, including some of our own. We’re really looking forward to getting stuck in and hopefully raising a great amount along the way!” 

Over the years, teams have creatively fundraised for the hospice as part of the challenge, with activities such as car washes, cake sales, skydives, Vinted shops and quiz nights. This year’s sponsor, GRAF UK, took part in the challenge last year and raised over £25,000 during the four-month period, which saw the team complete a five-day triathlon from their Glasgow to Banbury office.  

Callum Vallance-Poole, Head of Marketing at GRAF UK, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be sponsoring the Accumulator Challenge this year. Having participated since 2019, we’ve seen firsthand what an incredible fundraising initiative this is and how much it means to our local community. Over the years, we’ve raised over £80,000 working with Katharine House Hospice, and we know how vital their services are. Being able to step up as sponsors feels like a natural progression of our support – the more we can do to help this amazing hospice continue their essential work, the better.” 

As well as local businesses, the challenge is open to schools and community groups with Hanwell Fields Primary School, Kineton High School and Banbury College already signed up. The hospice fundraising team hope to make it a record-breaking year and are aiming to have 20 teams taking part and raise more than £50,000.   

Sue Blank, Corporate Engagement Officer at Katharine House Hospice, said: “All of us at Katharine House are so excited about this year’s Accumulator Challenge and we are delighted to have some new faces taking on the challenge. Last year was the most successful challenge in its history and raised over £50,000 for Katharine House, which blew us away! We are so grateful to all the teams taking part and we hope they have lots of fun along the way.” 

The fundraising challenge starts on 20 October and ends on 20 February 2026. If your business, school or community group would like to take part or find out more, contact [email protected]. The deadline to sign up is 17 October 2025.