The Malcolm Whales Foundation was created following the death of Malcolm Whales in 2008.
In 2009 the first ‘Dorset Walk’ was launched with 30 students from Ely College walking 40 miles along the Jurassic Coast. The group managed to raise £6,000. It was, however, the experience and the sense of achievement that set the seed for hundreds more people to follow.
Now in 2023, the 15th annual walk is due to set off in just a few weeks. The total amount raised by the foundation is now in excess of £450,000 with the number of people impacted and involved up into the thousands.
With the organisers being predominantly secondary school teachers and the majority of the fundraisers are secondary students, a powerful aspect of the charity is that healthy young people know they are taking an active role to support those people who are less fortunate and need their support. In addition to this, the foundation is creating opportunities and challenges allowing these young people to push their boundaries and further their ambitions.
The charity is very much about making a difference to people and individuals. The biggest achievements to date include the transformation of the Woodlands Gardens at Hinchingbrooke Hospital Huntingdon and our current project, the Lakeside Retreat in Pidley. The retreat will provide free respite breaks for families and people affected by cancer.
The charity is always keen to support and fund other causes and has donated to support counselling, respite care, bereavement support, health care, wellbeing support, research amidst a whole spectrum of other causes.
In addition to the walk, each year we host a range of different fundraisers including: the 10 hours of sport; golf society fundraisers and netball tournaments. We are always looking to involve more people, more schools and have an even bigger impact.
Fifteen Years is a big milestone for us and to mark the event and celebrate all of our achievements so far as well as look to the future, we are hosting a Celebration Ball in Ely. We are very much looking forward to getting together with the supporters who have given their all to make the charity the success it is today.
Damien the founder said,
“The biggest sense of pride for me is what the charity does to people that take part in our events. Introducing young people to charity and seeing the sense of pride they experience when they realise the difference they are making is a wonderful feeling.”
“There are now so many people involved in what we do. The emotional and physical commitment from each of them is so incredibly rewarding.”
“I am excited to see the charity continue to grow into the future. Most of all, I hope that my children will continue to support me, to drive the charity forward, in memory of their grandfather, who they unfortunately never got to meet.”.
To find out more about the charity or if you would like to get involved/donate all information can be found at: http://tmwf.co.uk
or you can email us at themalcolmwhalesfoundation@gmail.com
Press release from The Malcolm Whales Foundation
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