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Hospice supporters smash fundraising expectations
Local schools, businesses, and community groups stepped up to the challenge and exceeded all expectations in this year’s Katharine House Accumulator Challenge, raising an incredible £50,693 for hospice care!
18 March 2025
The Accumulator Challenge initiative, which launched in October, saw 14 teams start with a £50 or £75 seed fund, using their creativity and determination to generate as much money as possible in four months.
From bake sales and raffles to triathlons and extreme challenges, participants went above and beyond to support their local hospice.
The challenge concluded with an awards ceremony on Thursday 13 March, hosted at Bloxham Mill.
For the second consecutive year, Graf UK secured the coveted Ultimate Accumulator Award, raising an astounding £25,386, the highest amount ever recorded in the challenge’s history!
Other winners included local group Brackley Tangent, which won both the Community Award and the award for Most Funds Raised by a community group or school, for its phenomenal fundraising efforts, which included organising collection days, a Vinted challenge for members to sell of their unwanted items, raffles, craft fairs, a Santa float, bingo night, cake sale, bucket shake and car boot sales.
“Lots of us have been touched by cancer so promoting the hospice was something we were keen to get involved with.”
Brackley Tangent members said they had an amazing time taking part this year. One member commented: “As we’ve got a bit older, we’ve struggled to find the best ways to raise money for charity so when we heard about the challenge, we thought it would be a great initiative to take part in.
“The accumulator challenge really helped bring everyone together. Whole families got involved and we all spent a lot more time together. It’s been so interesting finding out how talented people are and how creative our members are.”
Wide-ranging initiatives
The 2024 challenge saw a diverse range of fundraising projects, with each team putting their own unique spin on the competition. Other initiatives included making and selling honey, organising quiz nights and carrying out male leg waxes! However, the big theme for this year was physical challenges. Together, the teams clocked up thousands of miles with events including a 24-hour spinathon, a virtual bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats and a triathlon spanning Glasgow to Banbury!
Katharine House Hospice’s Sue Blank, who leads the Accumulator Challenge, said: “It has been an absolute privilege to work with the 14 incredible teams on the 2024/25 Accumulator Challenge. Their creativity, determination, and generosity have been truly inspiring. Seeing everyone come together at the awards – people from all walks of life united by a shared goal – was a powerful reminder of the incredible community spirit behind this challenge.
“Myself and the team at Katharine House are overjoyed that this year’s challenge raised over £50,000, and we are immensely proud and grateful to everyone who took part. Thank you for making such a difference to your local hospice.”
The Accumulator Challenge, originally launched by Kärcher in 2014, has now raised over £176,000 for Katharine House Hospice. This year’s event was proudly sponsored by HSBC UK who also took part in the challenge.
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