Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes 2023!
This year, we have already raised a staggering £1,580, following my epic walk along the South Downs Way of 100 miles in August! This year, I am also running The Great South Run in October and we hope to do something else in the latter months of the year if time permits!
We are hoping very much to become a charity in the coming months and are currently working on a dedicated website to that end, outside of the Ben’s Epic Journey blog, which can be found at www.bensepicjourney.org.
Here is the current fundraiser, which we’ve left open this year and if you feel you. would like to make a donation, however small, you can do here: https://gogetfunding.com/bens-epic-christmas-boxes-2023-season-5/
If you are interested in getting involved and would like to know more about our ideas for a charity moving forward, please get in touch at contactus@bensepicjourney.org Thank you.
Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes - Season 4 - The Return of the Lego!
In December 2022, it was LEGO a go-go!
In 2019 after we lost our beautiful son, Ben to acute myeloid leukaemia, my husband, my sister and I sat down and put our heads together to devise a campaign that would emanate the essence of our son ( brother and nephew) and bring joy to children in the hospitals where he was treated, at Christmas time. And so, Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes was born!
Last year, our fourth year of fundraising for Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes, we raised a whopping £3,850 for Lego again and received great feedback from the wards again for our efforts.
I remember driving to drop off the boxes of Lego and it was cold and fresh as we were approaching Christmas, but the smiles on the faces of those we delivered to, made up for any cold hands at the steering wheel!
Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes - Season 3 - The Lego Strikes Back
This Year, it’s LEGO a go-go!
In 2019 after we lost our beautiful son, Ben to acute myeloid leukaemia, my husband, my sister and I sat down and put our heads together to devise a campaign that would emanate the essence of our son ( brother and nephew) and bring joy to children in the hospitals where he was treated, at Christmas time. And so, Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes was born!
In the first year, albeit incredibly emotional, we raised £6,000 and were able to use £5,000 (which was our original target) to create approx 70 boxes for children in those hospitals and fifty Christmas stockings for the Day Wards in two of those hospitals.
In 2020, the pandemic was ongoing and restrictions meant that we would have to come up with a different solution. While we weren’t able to reach our target of £5,000 last year, we did manage over £2,000 and that money was divided up to create Ben’s Epic Christmas Gift Cards.
This year, sadly we are facing restrictions again, but have suggested Lego for the children, with the younger ones (babies) being gifted a voucher in some cases, so the families can again spend it on something their little one can enjoy.
This campaign is very close to our hearts and is incredibly important to us. We are currently at £1,778 and would dearly love to hit our target in the next four weeks. We fully appreciate the difficult times we are all in at the moment and we sincerely hope to raise closer to our target in the time we have left in our fundraiser.
To that end, we are looking to create an online Auction of Promises and Gifts … if you or anyone you know has any ideas, we’d love to hear them! We already have some more funds coming in from a book auction and a very special gent has offered us a Zildjian cymbal to auction, too. If you would like to make a suggestion for us, please do so in the comment boxes below or you can email me directly at ginnywalkerauthor@gmail.com
Please see our 2021 fundraiser below and donate if you can or share this page! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts xxx
https://gogetfunding.com/bens-epic-christmas-boxes-season-3-lego-strikes-back/
Back in the days of life before …
Ben’s Epic Christmas Gift Cards.
Our son loved Christmas and Birthdays; in fact, all celebrations, for everyone. Just a few days before he died, he said ‘I’ll look down on all the statues you build for me.’
Last year, we raised £6,000 for Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes. £5,000, our target went to the boxes and £1,000 went to The Rainbow Trust, who support children and their families, through difficult times with long-term illness.
Please see our slightly adjusted fundraiser this year. We have a target of £6,500 for Christmas Gift Cards for the children and hopefully we may stretch to their siblings, too, for Christmas Gift Cards.
The details are below. Please support and donate if you can.
Fifty stockings for Portsmouth and Bristol Hospital Out Patients