When Dan Walker met with friends to pitch the Sheffield 1000 18 months ago, he had not been expecting to have the charity grow so much it would be handing out a total of £50,000 a year-and-a-half later.
Today, the Sheffield 1000 team gave out its 51st cheque to the Cavendish Cancer Care charity at an evening event at Westfield House.
The Star's Harry Harrison spoke with Dan and Cat Ross from Baby Basics, the recipient of the charity's first ever £1,000 in 2022, to find out more.
Today, the Sheffield 1000 team gave out its 51st cheque to the Cavendish Cancer Care charity at an evening event at Westfield House.
The Star's Harry Harrison spoke with Dan and Cat Ross from Baby Basics, the recipient of the charity's first ever £1,000 in 2022, to find out more.
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00:00We're very excited today because the Sheffield 1000, which is a charity that we set up a couple of years ago and started fundraising 18 months ago,
00:08somehow we've managed to get to the point where this week we've given away a total of £50,000.
00:14So that's 50 charities in Sheffield who've all had £1,000 from our charity, which is something we are incredibly proud of.
00:21And if you'd have told me 18 months ago we'd be at this point, I would never have believed you.
00:26I listened to a radio show a few years ago and somebody bid a pound on an amazing prize,
00:31and within half an hour it had become a quarter of a million quid.
00:35But I was thinking, what about the person who bid a pound?
00:38What if you've got 250,000 people all giving a pound and they're all involved in that?
00:42And it's almost like a democratisation of charity.
00:45So there's got to be a model in there somewhere.
00:47So we came up with the Sheffield 1000 and met with some friends over dinner one night,
00:51all of whom were in the room upstairs, and we just said, I think we can do this.
00:55It might take an age to get off the ground, but we've just had really good support from people in Sheffield,
01:01and companies like Westfield Health have got involved as well.
01:05And last December they essentially put a rocket up the charity and said,
01:09any business that gives you £1,000 will double it.
01:12So to have a point now where we've given away £50,000, and we've got loads of other money in the bank,
01:17and lots of charities that need it, it's a really exciting time to be involved in the Sheffield 1000.
01:23And I'm just really thankful to everybody who's given their pound.
01:27And I love the fact that it's just a quid.
01:29My kids give to the charity, and I drive around Sheffield and say, we helped Dad,
01:34or we supported Mums in Need, we gave cash to Baby Basics.
01:38That youth club is still running because of some of the money that we gave them as a charity.
01:43You gave them your pound. I think that's lovely.
01:45So for 52 quid a year here, it's a no-brainer.
01:48As soon as you start giving your pound, you can start nominating.
01:51So go to www.thesheffield1000.org and then sign up.
01:56And if you give that £1 a week, the minute that goes into the charity clock,
02:01you can then go on the nomination form and say, I want to nominate this charity.
02:05And my friend who's also joined also wants to nominate that.
02:07And that goes to our nominations panel, so I don't decide where the money goes.
02:11And I think that's really important.
02:13It's all independently verified by business and community leaders in Sheffield
02:18who are part of our nominations panel.
02:20And they go, look at all these nominations for this charity.
02:23Let's give £1,000.
02:25It's lovely that, you know, that room's packed up there and there's loads of people who are going to be involved in it.
02:29So £1 a week, and I think we can make a massive difference in Sheffield.
02:32So I'm Kat Ross. I'm the CEO of Baby Basics UK in Sheffield.
02:36And we were the first charity to receive from The Sheffield 1000 back in October 22.
02:42And it was just amazing.
02:44One to be chosen and nominated to be the first one to receive.
02:47But it came to us at a time when we were really, really struggling to provide enough beds,
02:53cot beds and toddler beds for families in Sheffield.
02:56So we were able to put that £1,000 towards being able to provide those for some of the families
03:01rather than sitting on a waiting list.
03:03And sadly, we're still in that position at the moment.
03:05But we've got new things in progress for changing that picture.
03:09But it just really took away off our minds as a staff team at Baby Basics Sheffield.
03:14But also, most importantly, the referrers from NHS and local council
03:18that they were going to be able to get the items they needed to support the families they're working with.