A Look Back At 2020

Well, it’s officially the end of January, and we are creeping closer to the day that marks a year from when we were plummeted into a place unknown to most. We all did our best to adapt and move forward where we could, learning to live in different ways. Home became the only place safe to us, and for many that resulted in loneliness. As a nation, though, every Thursday for several weeks, we stood together to clap for our NHS and key workers across the UK.

With that in mind, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on 2020 and consider the moments where we felt connected to the community, and highlight the efforts made to move forward, together, month by month.

So, with regard to the above, let’s agree on skipping March? Here we go…

April

Virgin Money launched the 2.6 Challenge in replacement of The London Marathon. The goal was to encourage fundraising with a theme of ‘26’… on the 26^th April. Simon Thomas, our Trustee, grasped the challenge boldly and embarked on ‘The Rupert Road Marathon’… a 26 mile walk up and down his road… wow! On the other side of town, Tina Marsh bravely participated in a debut challenge for The Principle Trust Children’s Charity… and shaved her hair!

May

Last May 2019 at the Ilkley Carnival we launched 3000 plastic ducks down the river Wharfe. It was pretty crazy… so naturally, we looked forward to it this year. However, we did take the event online and likewise our internal Easter Egg raffle. With our online presence becoming familiar, we took the opportunity to remind our supporters of how they can use platforms such as Amazon Smile, Easy Fundraising and Ziffit to fundraise online, for free!

June

I had been taking the time to integrate myself within networking groups, and I was also finding us opportunities to gain media coverage, including radio broadcasts (my personal favourite). And what caught attention in particular was our new initiative. We decided, that for the first time, we would open applications to the public so that key workers could be nominated for free respite. Read a news article covering the initiative in full here!

Simon took on another tremendous challenge and walked from Leeds to Skipton… amazing! His son Matthew and wife Alison joined him on the trek! Well done guys!

July

We received phenomenal support in promoting the key worker holidays initiative, and in total, we received 220 applications! We were thrilled to see the holiday parks reopen and for families to start to enjoy their respite breaks again.

August

The month of The Yorkshire Three Peaks! We were overwhelmed from the support showed by the community. With help from local news outlets, such as Ilkley Gazette, Craven Herald and Keighley News, we were able to rally up a troop of around 20+ to face the mighty challenge which lasted approximately 12 hours. A staggering £7,500 was raised… breaking a record for funds raised for this challenge. It really was inspiring to see that, despite the ongoing pandemic, the community still wanted to help.

September

Well, if The Yorkshire Three Peaks wasn’t crazy enough… check out this… 82 miles, 4 days, Ilkley to Lake Windermere. I personally took part in this challenge, and I can confirm that yes… it was the hardest walk I have done, and likely the same for everyone else, … but the sense of achievement was incomparable. Anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. My favourite part was the comradeship formed over the four days. We raised £6,500 in total and it was an all-round 82-mile success. A more detailed blog diarising the days is soon to follow…

We also developed our Corporate Patron Scheme which so far has been a success! We’ve gained Patron’s we are proud to be associated with. To learn more about our scheme, click here.

October

We launched the Mission 26 Campaign to highlight our network of support surrounding Yorkshire. The number 26 resulted from being inspired by the number of miles to be ran in the rescheduled London Marathon but of course, this date was moved. We wanted to celebrate with everyone who had listened, wrote, read, joined, spoke, challenged, laughed, and cried with us over the year. We marked the end of the campaign by celebrating with Rombalds Radio who presented The Big Yorkshire Quiz! We were fortunate to have received fantastic donations from local Yorkshire companies for prizes. It was great fun and we received some wonderful feedback. We are most certainly looking forward to our next one!

Also, I’d like to take the opportunity to commemorate Dom Hernon and Rhys Jones on completing their 26 mile walk from Leeds to Skipton!

November

We continued working on the Individual Patron’s Scheme, about which more news will follow. On Your Doorstep kindly printed a customised version for their local directory, which was sent to 25,977 households in and around Skipton… twice! Great stuff. To encourage singular donations, we also included our code ‘PRINCIPLE5’ which can be texted to 70085 should you wish to donate £5… (you’re most welcome to use it). Click DONATE for other donation options, and remember, 100% of every £1 raised goes directly towards supporting underprivileged, disadvantaged and disabled children across Yorkshire.

Another highlight of November was most definitely the launch of our new website which you’re now reading of course. Here are some pages that may interest you, Our Journey, What We Do, Fundraising and Volunteering.

December

The season of good will. And great will we saw!

We encouraged Christmas fundraising through the means of Christmas jumpers, sending e-cards etc… read our Christmas fundraising blog here! Huge shout-out and thank you to Penman Cooling Systems who got in touch and raised £310, and Stephen Hallam from Otley Rotary Club for completing a 5k Santa Fun Run Fundraiser, news article here!

Following Airedale Hospital’s Appeal for the donation of gifts for the children’s ward, we joined up with them. From that, we connected with CPOMS, SCAPA and a lovely young lady named Kathryn from the community to help us achieve our wish to deliver toys to vulnerable children, including children cared for by Bradford’s Children’s Services. Read the wonderful Christmas Appeal story here.

I spent the remaining weeks of December nervous yet excited as 2021 approached. The year of our big 1.0…OUR 10^th YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We’re so excited. We’ll be sending out exciting plans very soon…

Thank you for reading our ‘2020 Lookback’ and as always, thank you for your support.

Here’s to 2021 and making more memories that last for our children.

Chloe
xx