Capital Appeal celebration
Bodie’s House has been officially opened!
Two years ago, #TeamBodie made a daring decision to buy the building that the charity was temporarily calling its home.
We launched our Capital Appeal, which meant taking on the monstrous challenge of raising £450k in two years, on top of our annual fundraising target. Many people called us crazy!
However, we did it. And we now officially own Bodie’s House!
On Thursday 15th February 2024, we held a celebration event at Bodie’s House, which was a wonderful afternoon celebrating with all the wonderful businesses and grant givers who supported our Capital Appeal.
We felt very lucky to have His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE, in attendance. Mike gave a wonderful speech and was delighted to be able to cut the red ribbon and officially open the building.
The support we received for the Capital Appeal was overwhelming. Our supporters were super creative in their fundraising efforts, and some took on super-human challenges!
Take a look at some amazing fundraising stories that helped The Bodie Hodges Foundation create a home, not only for the team, but also for our bereaved families.
Chris Greenwell, of Gately Legal:
Chris is a member of Bodie’s Business Supper Club. He is a loyal supporter, and a very talented cake baker! Chris decided he would make and sell a few Christmas cakes, donating the profits to the Capital Appeal. Well, ‘a few’ turned into a whopping 44, yes 44 cakes!
Chris raised an astounding £1460!
Helen Whitby and family:
Helen is a Trustee for The Bodie Hodges Foundation, and is a superb fundraiser!
Helen and her family held two fabulous fundraisers to help the Capital Appeal. Firstly, Helen put on a stunning dinner dance at Badgers Mount with a fantastic turnout, which everybody loved.
Secondly, Jacob, Jenson and Max took on a huge inflatable obstacle course in memory of Freddie Orton, the beloved son of Gemma and Dave. Well done boys! They loved getting involved and we are super grateful to the whole family.
In total they raised £8843! Incredible.
Global Marathon Challenge:
What a challenge this was. In 2022, Nick Hodges, founder of The Bodie Hodges Foundation, and Ian Stringer, local sports commentator and event host, took on an immense challenge. Some would say a superhuman challenge. Are you ready for this?
5 marathons, in 5 days, in 5 countries across the globe.
Tuesday – Bangkok, Wednesday – Hawaii, Thursday – Alaska, Friday – New York, Saturday -Leicester. Phew! They ran in the day, and slept on planes at night.
Nick and Ian raised a staggering £72,000!
This was split equally between The Bodie Hodges Foundation and the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation.
Andy Stubbs, of WJ South:
Andy is another of our wonderful trustees at The Bodie Hodges Foundation. He is a great asset to the charity, and an outstanding supporter. Fairly early on in the Capital Appeal, Andy decided he wanted to do something to help. He turned to his passion…cycling, and took on the Old Chalk Way.
For those who don’t know, the Old Chalk Way is a 575km coast to coast bikepacking route along Britain’s oldest road. Lyme Regis to Holme-next-the-Sea.
What an effort! Andy raised a phenomenal £2850!
We are so thankful to every single person who donated to the Capital Appeal. We could not have done it without you. The creativity and commitment that went into the challenges was second to none.
This is just a small selection of fundraising stories that were part of a two year journey to buying Bodie’s House. If you’d like to hear about some of the other fundraising challenges that took place, head over to our social media pages.
If you have been inspired to take on a fundraising challenge, or would like to support the charity but need some ideas, please contact Lucy on lucy@bodiehodgesfoundation.co.uk / 07483409632 for a friendly chat.
