Annual Review 2024

Our 16th year!

Seemingly every two to three years there is a sudden jump in the scale of the foundation. 2024 was one of those years!

There were a number of significant examples in 2024 including: record breaking numbers and the opening of Malcolm’s Retreat.

 

 

The highlights

1. The Dorset Walk participants went from 270 in 2023 to 400 this year (130 increase)!

2. We raised our biggest ever annual amount, a staggering £118,634.95; £37,000 more than last year. Meaning since 2009 the grand total raised is now £620,000

3. There was also the completion of our Lakeside Lodge project which saw Malcolm’s Retreat opening in November. 

 

Reflection

As I sit here writing and preparing these words,  I go back and read previous reviews and the reports following the various events.

One of the most striking reflections is in the sheer volume of people who have come together and got behind this common cause. There are so many of you who care about making a difference and who are ‘taking steps to beat cancer’.

The three bullet points above make a big statement about why the charity is so special. Whilst the fundraising numbers are becoming quite significant, the charity is much more than that!

The Dorset walk started with 30 participants in 2008,  in 2025 it is looking more like 500. The small donations have become medium donations. The Woodlands Garden community project has lead us to Malcolm’s Retreat.

With the ever increasing numbers of people, we will continue to have a bigger and bigger impact.

The year that was 2024

The Dorset Walk

This year we walked in pink, navy and white. We broke all previous records with 400 participants and over £96,000 raised.

We reflected on the juggernaut that we have created as we watch the size of the walk continuing to scale up. There were a couple of tweaks this year – the away team included the Wednesday night minibus crew. The ‘walk rhythm’ changed with checkpoints rather than stopping points. The weather played nice with almost perfect walking conditions. Edward Whales managed his first full 40 miles and Sophie Read sold hundreds of walk bracelets. 

£perperson donations this year (£400): (i) Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust (ii) Myeloma UK (iii) A local family in need (iv) The South West Coastal Path 

Also this year included a random personal addition to the ‘Dorset Walk’. On Saturday the 22nd September James German and myself decided to walk the 40 mile Dorset Walk in a day. Leaving Weymouth seafront just after 4am, 13.5hours later we arrived on Studland beach. A fair achievement!

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Tshirts on Tour – this year the tshirts visited Finland, Denmark, Belgium, The Olympics in France, Melbourne Australia and many other places #tshirtsontour – Google My Maps

Cambridge half was on the 3rd of March with a strong team consisting of: Jack Edge, Sam Ground, Summer Veal,, Matt Durrant, Joe Questier, Tor Hill, Nick Kyndt, Lizzy Cambell, Owen Buxton,  Trevor Lindroos, Holly Browning,  Megan Oakes

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Golf society – This year was a little disappointing on the golf front. The first event on the 21st April took place, the winners on this occasion were Andy Cole and Damien Whales. Unfortunately the other two events didn’t go ahead due to low numbers. It seems the ‘society’ aspect hasn’t been as successful as we had hoped. For 2025 we will run one single event and hope for larger numbers and sponsorship.   

On the 27th July Ely On Par held their 4th annual charity event for TMWF. Their ongoing support is greatly appreciated – this year they managed to raise a really impressive £655.

10 hours of SportOn Friday 26th April we hosted the annual sports marathon. This year the participating schools we Ken Stimpson Academy, Swavesey Village College, Ely College and Vista Academy Littleport. Over 300 students participated and an impressive £6,000 was raised. A massive thank you to the PE departments for supporting the event. https://tmwf.co.uk/12-hours/10-hours-of-sport-2024/

The Richard Marley Netball Tournament on the 14th October – 18 teams, £2000 raised, in another fantastic tournament. The winners were City of Ely Men’s Cricket Team (featuring Buxton!) and not my team, again!

 

 Malcolm’s Retreat

The long awaited Lakeside Lodge opening took place at the end of November. Following a sustained period of fundraising; almost £100,000 has been invested in creating this incredible space. 

Free Respite and Wellbeing breaks are now available for those impacted by cancer and for those people who treat and support the patients.

The lodge build started in May 2024 and 6 months later opened its doors to its first guests. Fittingly the first guests were friends of the charity who have had to manage some very difficult circumstances.

Further details can we found via our website https://tmwf.co.uk/malcolms-retreat/

There was also some nice additional press coverage via: Peterborough Telegraph, Hunts Post December,  Hunts Post October

Jumping off Peterborough Hospital?

On the 2nd November, 20 willing TMWF volunteers accepted the challenge to abseil down the front of Peterborough hospital. TMWF donated £5000 to the North West Anglia Hospital Charity and the Peterborough Cancer Wellbeing Centre.

Well done and thank you to: Damien Whales, Lucy Gauntlett, Lee Greeves, Peter Monaghan, Zoe Marley, Neil Welsh, Ian Housley, Kathryn Read, Brian Read, Laura Sansby, Todd White, Raja Akhtar, Stuart Patman, Nicki Chalmers, Tan Hussain, Kevin Perry-Thorne, Aimee Sharpe, Angus Brown, Simon Isaac and Amy Dickman.

Team Read were at it again! This year’s challenges included: walking the Pathfinder Walk in a day (46 miles), the 3 peaks challenge completed in under 24 hours, the Dorset Walk and Sophie’s bracelet sales. In total they raised £3600.

The ‘officially recognised’ TMWF team:

There have been some changes this year. Tony McInally, one of our founding Trustees has decided to take a step back after 12 years. Tony has  had a huge impact on the charity, from the very first walk where he helped me shape the walk through his catering skills and support. More recently through his role as a founding trustee; including a key role in the 15 year anniversary ball. Standing down at the opening of Malcolm’s Retreat was very fitting way for Tony to step back and reflect on what he and the the charity has been able to achieve. Thank you so much Tony for all your commitment – we look forward to your ongoing support in your new Patron position.

In the space that has therefore been created, we are delighted to welcome Brian and Kathryn Read who have agreed to join us as Trustees. They have been heavily involved in almost all of the charity events in recent years and as a family have been huge supporters of TMWF they couldn’t be a more perfect addition to help drive the charity forwards. 

Trustees: Damien Whales, Stuart Patman, Neil Welsh, James German, Jack Emery, Jack Edge, Zoe Marley, and Brian and Kathryn Read 

 Patrons: Jason Coe, Verity Fretwell, Tony McInally, Jon and Becky Hutton, Liz Whales, Andy Emery, Ben Gibbs, Charlotte Fretwell,  

Ambassadors: Kelvin German, Elise Ward, Sam Browning, Emma Trotman, Naomi Lomax, Niamh Butler, Dennis Smith, Jemma Thompson, Jack Slater.

We are very keen to recognise those people who continue to make a difference. Additional ambassadors can be nominated here

Recognition and Donations

This year Damien was invited to visit to Downing Street in March 2024 by the Peterborough MP Paul Bristow to be recognised as a ‘Community Champion’

Donations:

Alongside the funds directed towards the completion of the lodge we still managed to donate £22,500 to other worthwhile causes. These include:

  1. Touch of Sparkle annual Birthday present of £1000 
  2. Support to a Brampton family £1000
  3. Sporting Connections £5000
  4. Edgars Gift our annual commitment of £5000
  5. Myeloma UK £400
  6. South West Coast Path £400
  7. Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust£400
  8. Woodlands Garden ongoing maintenance £175
  9. Believe Sport £500
  10. Peterborough Cancer Support Centre £5000
  11. Young Lives v’s Cancer £100
  12. Kie Fewster family support £250
  13. Jamie’s Quest £2000
  14. Other smaller donations £150

Appreciation 

We have received so much support from individuals and their businesses this year. In an attempt to try an appreciate all of them; thank you:

MC Refrigeration Ltd, Parallel UK, Hilton Foods, Feversham Free Range Eggs, Dale Parsons, Lattenbury Faming Company, J & A Lyon, JH Buckingham, the Ely Freemasons and Chris Large, Shakespeare kitchens, Peacock plumbing, Nash Electrical, Rob Balchin, Fraser Utton, Jack and Lou Skidmore, Browns fencing and landscapes, James Manning, Travis Perkins, Lee Hartless, Howdens, Parker Rose interiors, GDA Electircal Wholesaler, David Brown, Michael Murray Signs, NFU Mutual, George Munns and I’m sure there are others I have missed.

Community Lend

The community lend option still remains available Community Charity Outreach : The Malcolm Whales Foundation

This year there were the usual destinations plus a couple of new ones:

1. Becky’s Wedding

2. Upwood Primary School x 2

3. Wistow Pub 14th June Beerfest

4. Upwood Cricket Club for their charity day

The fundraising achievements over the passed few years:

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

£40,000

£73,000

£31,5000

59,224

£76,125

£81,000

118,634.95

£182,000

£255,000

£286,500

£344,224

£420,349

£501,252

£619,886.95

2024 My personal reflections

On a personal level my family involvement continues to grow.

All my boys now take part fully in the Walk (and lots of other events): Ethan has now completed 7 walks, Edward completed his first full 40 miles this year and William completed 2.5 days and will do all 40 miles next year.

This now means that Keldy, my wife, is also able to be a join the walk in full; and in doing so walks alongside her brother and sister who are massive TMWF supporters.

With the Lodge opening, Keldy has kindly taken on the management of it. This is such a huge part of what we can offer and means my whole family now plays a full part in the charity. As always I thank her for her ongoing background support. 

This year my perception of the charity has changed. It ‘feels’ different, the scale and the impact has jumped, we are now raising 3 times the £40,000 figure we raised in 2018. The inclusion of the lodge enables us to have impact all year round. It is such a perfect location and design, it is going to have such an incredible ongoing impact and I think makes TMWF feel a bit bigger and more impactful – an incredibly rewarding feeling.

The Year ahead:

The 17th Dorset Walk: The projection is that numbers will be around 500. The new venue at Swanage and Wareham Rugby Club will hopefully enable us to cope with the increased number. Dates 10th to 14th July 2025.

10 hours of Sports goes again on the 9th May. We hope to include a few more schools to this year’s event.

Golf Society the single event this year is likely to be in or around April.

The Richard Marley Netball tournament will again be in October

Pete Monaghan has set himself the challenge of running one half-marathon every month for the year, raising money for TMWF! We wish him all best with that challenge!

The lodge is filling up with bookings with a good mixture of Respite and Wellbeing breaks

The next big project..? Is yet to be decided. With the increasing scale we need to make sure we have something on the horizon. At the same time taking some time to support as many worthy causes and see what opportunities the lodge will generate. 

As ever, one of the challenges we face is not fundraising – we have amazing events and incredible supporters. It’s making sure we maximise our impact through our donations and projects. A tremendous problem to have.

 

 

Thank you!

If you are reading these words, I would imagine you are somebody who is a TMWF supporter. So many of you offer your time, effort and energy to TMWF. We try to make the events as enjoyable as possible, getting involved with charity shouldn’t be a chore.  Your support makes The Malcolm Whales Foundation anything but, it is so rewarding and something very special – thank you.

In life you hear so many reasons for not doing things. A bit of a theme from me is the importance of saying ‘yes’; nothing good ever started with “no, sorry I don’t think I have time”. TMWF is about initially getting outside your comfort zone and realising that’s where the best experiences are found.

So many of you are ‘yes’ supporters, that is the reason we grow and make such a difference.

It is also so important to recognise those people around us that enable us to participate – it is perhaps a ‘team yes’ that makes the difference!

Happy New Year, bring on 2025!