A loving son from Teesside has raised over £10,000 to help poorly patients in hospital spend more time with their families.
His fundraising has enabled Our Hospitals Charity, which is the fundraising arm of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to build a pergola with wheelchair access in the cancer ward garden.
The pergola also contains comfortable garden furniture to allow poorly patients and their families to spend more time together outside.
After initially raising money for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) for over ten years, the Ray Barclay Foundation was launched in May 2021, initially as a darts mania fundraising event.
He said: “I started with an original goal to raise £10,000 within five years. I’m proud to say we have achieved that goal in four years.
“I wanted one big local showcase event per year to be the biggest and the best.”
Mick has followed in his dad’s footsteps as Ray always raised money for different charities. Being a bricklayer by trade and working in various corporate companies in the North East, Ray always tried to help people.
“The staff on ward 14 staff were absolutely brilliant with my dad. They were so kind, caring and compassionate. Really, we couldn’t fault them at all.”
“However, we noticed at the time, a few things on the ward in the family room that needed updating and that’s where the initial idea came from. We started with a few good will gestures like chocolates and sweets for the ward staff and it progressed from there.”
Mick runs the RBF with the support of his mum Patricia in the role of president, wife Steph who supports the board of trustees, his best friend and a group of his dad’s close friends.
Ray’s love for music and playing darts inspired Mick’s fundraising ideas.
He said: “There has been lots of fun had over the years with the darts exhibition, singers, bands and karaoke. One year I even won my own competition. Last year, I lost my crown to a better player on the day.”
Mick’s long-term goal is to move from local to UK wide fundraising and raise more money for charity.
He explained: “I’ve got a great team behind me, Jeff Tate came onboard and played a vital part of my fundraising journey, along with others, including my 14-month-old son, Sean who’s heir to the throne.
“I have a friend, Tommy Judge who is the founder of First Contact Mental Health and he has provided some great advice. We will be working with him to help both foundations move forward. He is walking from Middlesbrough to Benidorm in August with a 45lb fridge on his back!
“I get emotional when I see what a difference it has made. Seeing smiles on people’s faces when I come to events makes it all worthwhile.
“Perfection isn’t always possible, but I strive for it.”
Our Hospitals Charities manager, Lisa Meehan stated: “Mick has raised a fantastic amount of money in such a short space of time. It’s a massive achievement!
“We sincerely thank him for his effort and dedication. It has and will make a massive difference to so many people.”
Through Mick’s fundraising efforts, Our Hospitals Charity will be able to support the trust with further improvements to the garden area, later this year.