Fundraisers scale mountains and sing to raise cash

Some of Cornwall's hero fundraisers have been nominated for this year's BBC Radio Cornwall Make a Difference Awards.

The Fundraiser category is for individuals and groups who go above and beyond to raise money for local causes.

It seems there is no end to the things some people will do from singing in a choir to climbing mountains and running marathons.

The winner will be revealed at a ceremony in Truro on Wednesday.

Noah Jordan was nine months old when he died in 2024 from a rare paediatric mitochondrial disease called Alpers-Huttenlocher Syndrome - for which there is currently no treatment or cure.

His grieving family in Tywardreath vowed they would do what they could to fund research to raise awareness of the condition and support other families affected by such conditions.

The Noah Jordan Foundation has now raised just over £500,000 in two years, which has funded a three-year medical research PhD and helped the hospice where Noah passed away.

His father Ben said: "No parent should have to be told in this modern world that there is nothing that can be done, there are no treatment or cures - that isn't good enough.

"When Noah died I made him a promise, that the impact I would have on these diseases in my lifetime would be his legacy and I will not let him down.

"Whilst I am not a scientist nor a doctor, I want to do my best for other children affected by these diseases."

The Dreckly Boys were created for a one-off Christmas Eve charity gig in 2022 - but are still going strong.

The singing group for men over 40 practices at St Austell Band Club on Tuesday nights and performs all over Cornwall.

Founder Pete Roycroft said: "We have raised a lot of money. I think there are five defibrillators we've put around St Austell town... £3,000 to the cancer care boxes at Treliske Hospital.

"This year our chosen charity is the Merlin Centre - we've just given them £1,500, plus obviously we're only halfway through the year so we'll have a lot more to give to them as well."

Musical director Jamie Rotherham added: "It's really good to get some people together who otherwise might not have many things going on in their lives or perhaps who need to get out and about and do things.

"It's good for their health as well... one or two of our more senior members have also noted that singing and learning to sing properly has helped with their breathing and they're generally in better health."

Kev Riddle plans his fundraising missions with military precision - not surprising as he is a Warrant Officer based at RAF St Mawgan in Newquay.

Riddle and his comrades are determined to tackle food insecurity, working with the food bank movement in Cornwall.

"We just thought, 'How can we make a difference?' and that's when we came up with the idea of a 70 mile (113km) walk over three days, which we've now completed for the last two years," he said.

The team have paid particular attention to ensuring they attract the public's attention during their challenges.

"We have to make it visual, so we are dressed up as food items, pushing a modified shopping trolley," Riddle explained.

"If it just makes people think a little bit about the issue outside the Christmas period, that's amazing.

"We may not realise it but we'll all know somebody who is in desperate need of this service and, given that, we just felt that this is our cause - to try to raise awareness, to try to dispel some of the stigma which unfortunately is still there."

"What we do is help young women build their tribe, build their community, their support network and friendships," said Sophie Alway, who set up Georgia's Voice in memory of her daughter who took her own life in 2020, during the first Covid 19 lockdown.

It aims to support young women aged 18-25 living in Cornwall with mental health concerns.

"We offer a lot of different support and a whole range of wellbeing activities every single month," she said.

"That is free to our young women but it isn't free to us, it does come at a cost.

"Like all charities we are really, really reliant on the continued generosity of our supporters.

"We do a lot of fundraising ourselves and get our young women involved in that.

"We have done some crazy stuff - there was 32 of us that over two days jumped over 13,000 feet out of a plane and managed to raise just over £20,000," Alway recalled.

If you've been affected by any issues in this report, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

The BBC Radio Cornwall Make a Difference Awards are in their fifth year.

The winner of the Fundraiser Award and the winners of the seven other categories will be announced at Wednesday's ceremony.

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