Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust’s new fundraising officer, Andrew McCarthy, will be hitting the ground running as he begins his new role on Tuesday 1 September, with a 12k-a-day running challenge in aid of the Trust’s Charity, Better Lives.

Following the Charity’s relaunch in June 2020, the new fundraising officer is a welcome addition to the Care Trust in taking its charity forward. Born in Hull, Andrew McCarthy joins the Trust with a wealth of experience working for local organisations, including head of fundraising at The Cellar Trust in Shipley; museum director at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth; and most recently, income development officer at Bradford Cathedral.

The Better Lives Charity supports activity that enhances care, above and beyond the essential services that the NHS provides for people across Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale, Craven and Wakefield, as well as Trust staff. Examples of how the charitable funds have enriched the experiences of people using the Trust’s services (users) include supporting a monthly tea dance on the Dementia Assessment Unit as part of the patient therapy programme and helping to buy individual Christmas gifts for mental health service users and children in care.

Andrew McCarthy, fundraising officer, shares why he is undertaking the challenge: “I thought this would be a great way to find out a bit more about the important services that the Trust delivers, raise awareness of the Better Lives Charity and do some fundraising to support our fantastic NHS staff and the people they help – which, fundamentally, is what my role will be all about.”

The Care Trust’s headquarters are based at New Mill in Saltaire but, as part of the Trust’s commitment to protect service users, staff, and the wider community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew will be based at his home. Andrew’s challenge will involve running what would be the equivalent distance of his journey from home to his new workplace, each day, during the first week of September. The daily routes also involve taking in one of the Trust’s 60 core locations, including Airedale Centre for Mental Health and Lynfield Mount Hospital.

Catherine Jowitt, charity and volunteer lead, comments: “We are really pleased to be welcoming Andrew to Better Lives, employing a fundraiser is a first for the charity and we are really excited to see his role and the charity develop. Andrew’s challenge is a great way to introduce him to Trust staff, whilst raising vital funds for Better Lives, and to show support, I am going to join him on one of his runs.”

For anyone wishing to donate to support Andrew as he pounds the pavements for the Better Lives Charity, please visit his Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/12k-a-day

You can follow his progress on Twitter at @BDCFT_BLCharity and #NHSRunningToWork

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