Although Hannah McHugh's mother couldn't attend her wedding, the bride made sure she wasn't forgotten on her special day. Name Hannah and Leo McHugh Cause fundraised for Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic Method of fundraising Donations from wedding guests as an alternative to gifts Image The happy couple on their wedding day. Why did you decide to fundraise for your chosen cause? My mum was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) when I was a child, and by the time I met Leo she was receiving round-the-clock care in a nursing home. Very sadly she was unable to attend our wedding, although we travelled to Manchester the next day wearing our wedding clothes to visit her! We'd found out a bit about the fantastic research being done at the Anne Rowling Clinic, and thought it would be a great way for our guests to honour my mum, who I really missed having with me on the day. How did you raise money? Kerry at the Anne Rowling Clinic sent us lots of information about how to donate, and we sent it on to our guests in our wedding invitations. We set up a JustGiving page a few months before, which was how we raised most of the money, and also had a collection pot on display at the reception where guests could put cash or cheques. We raised awareness of our cause through Facebook too, and a lot of donations came from friends and colleagues who weren't coming to the wedding but wanted to wish us well. Fundraising wisdom Don't be shy about asking people to donate! We had a very personal reason for wanting to raise money, and our friends and family were happy to donate to our cause. We put a bit of our story on the JustGiving page and updated friends on its progress. We used social media to remind people about our page as the wedding date was getting closer, and without making a bit of noise about it I don't think we'd have raised as much as we did. Related links Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic This article was published on 2024-10-29
