13 May Three generations of Lancashire family raise over £13,000 for Mercy Ships
Grandmother Toni, mother Nina and daughter Sofia have raised a whopping £13,373 for Mercy Ships through an event at Mawdesley Village Hall in Lancashire on Saturday 29th March.
The evening, complete with dinner by The Bees Country Kitchen team, desserts by Slattery, raffle, silent auction and plenty of games, was a huge success and far exceeded the family’s hope to raise £5,000 for people in sub-Saharan Africa who have no access to safe surgery.
The Lancashire family first heard about Mercy Ships in 2021. However, a visit to the Global Mercy, in 2024, inspired grandmother Toni to host an event and tell her friends and family about Mercy Ships.
“I was completely blown away by seeing the ship firsthand,” explains Toni. “There are six operating rooms onboard and all the medical facilities needed to provide life-saving surgery.
“The ship spends ten months of the year docked in a port in sub-Saharan Africa providing around 1,500 safe, free surgeries. Children come on board to have cleft lips repaired, or adults with large tumours that urgently need removing.
“As we left the ship, I turned to my daughter and told her I wanted to organise an event, to do something to raise money and awareness of Mercy Ships.”
The pair laugh now as they remember this conversation. They certainly did put on an event, but although it was Toni who wanted the event, it was Nina who ploughed hours into all the preparation.
“I volunteer as a Mercy Ships speaker,” explains Nina, who works full-time as Director of Marketing and Sustainability at infection prevention company, PDI International. “It was through my job that I first heard about Mercy Ships. I absolutely love volunteering for the charity and regularly speak at churches, schools and rotary clubs. I just want to do my bit to raise awareness.”
Nina spent hours researching fun ways to raise money and soon the ideas were flooding in. Although some of the family were sceptical that the pair could pull off the event, in the end everyone was amazed by the success of the evening.
“My daughter, Sofia, is 12,” explains Nina. “She made 30 bracelets in all the Mercy Ships colours with ‘Hope’ or ‘Mercy Ships’ written on them. She asked people to give whatever they wanted, but she’d sold out by the second table.
“I love how the event brought us together as a family. It was really special to have three generations of our family working together to raise money for Mercy Ships.”
We love how this family has proved that age is no limit to fundraising. To find out how your family could raise money for Mercy Ships visit our fundraising page packed with ideas: Here.