At Keble College on Friday 13th December, one hundred representatives of Oxfordshire’s business and charitable communities came together to celebrate months of incredible fundraising efforts and as they all stood at the threshold of the hugely impressive Great Hall, they had already raised well over £20,000. That total has now soared to £37,500 thanks to the generosity of well over 500 donors and the hard work of 33 fundraisers on the day.
Raise’24 was officially opened by Richard Venables who is well versed in the need for the local business community to support local charities and commented. “We need events like Raise to bring the business community together and to reinforce the message that local charities are more reliant than ever on our support to continue the excellent work they all do.” The morning’s events included presentations from all of the beneficiary charities, including Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF), who reminded everyone in attendance why they were there. With a mixture of videos and live accounts of what the charities mean to so many people, this was an exceptionally moving part of the day.
There were also some memorable live performances from the fundraising teams which included Team Elf performing the Macarena dressed as elves! Following the Mills & Reeve sponsored drinks reception in the college bar, guests returned to the Great Hall for a fabulous three course meal and were welcomed by the Oxford Gospel Choir as they took their seats, a truly magical moment. Peter Bennett-Jones, in his capacity as one of Oxfordshire’s Deputy Lieutenants, officially endorsed Raise’24 and said that the event reminded him of the beginnings of Comic Relief, which he co-founded. “This is an amazing event, very well done to everyone involved and I have no doubt that from this exceptional start that the event will continue to grow and support the wonderful charities in Oxfordshire.”
Following Oxford Gospel Choir’s amazing performance, guests were treated to a brilliant show by ‘a cappella’ group Out of the Blue. The live performances were followed by the event awards and announcement of the final total.
For the last nine months B4 have been working in close collaboration with ten local charities to create this event with weekly comms and strategy meetings with the five lead charities – Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF), Homeless Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire Youth, Plunkett UK and Sobell House Hospice. This has been critical to the success of the event but a really powerful experience for all concerned given that charities rarely work together on a common goal. OCF provided the Enthuse platform where all of the funds raised are kept until they are distributed in February 2025 once the last remaining pledges have been paid. Be Free Young Carers, Connection Support, Debra UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK and Survivor Space Oxfordshire completed the list of beneficiary charities.
Raise’24, conceived by B4’s CEO, Richard Rosser, was a massive undertaking made considerably lighter by the collective and collaborative efforts of the beneficiary charities who helped B4 to construct a fundraising event the like of which Oxfordshire has never seen before. Richard commented. “Raise’24 was the product of a number of ideas, wishes, experiences and no doubt a pinch of fairy-tale thinking, but we could never have imagined it would hit the heights it has. Thank you to all of the sponsors, teams, donors, charities, performers and especially Bronwyn at Keble and her magnificent team for hosting everyone so superbly. Thank you all for believing in Raise!”
Raise’25
Plans are already underway with events planned for the Raise’24 Golf Day at Frilford Heath on 28th April and a Raise’25 dinner at The Randolph Hotel on 25th September. To find out more about this and plans for Raise’25, please contact richard@b4-business.com
And finally…
There is still time to donate to Raise’24, every penny raised will be shared between the 10 Oxfordshire-based charities to continue their vital work in the community.