Team Ted Foundation was set up in memory of Teddy Kelly, a six-year-old who was treated at Sheffield Children’s Hospital before sadly passing away from Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. His family and the trustees who knew him personally now run the foundation, providing grants to children under 18 going through cancer treatment, helping families create special moments together and access essential items such as furniture and equipment for children spending their final days at home.
We rely on the generosity of supporters to do this work, and businesses play a significant part in that. If your company is looking for a cause to fundraise for this year, here are some of the ways you could get involved, along with a few ideas to help you decide what might suit your team.
Why Business Support Matters
Around 1,900 children are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year, according to Cancer Research UK. For many families, this brings financial pressure on top of everything else, from time off work to the ongoing cost of travel to and from hospital appointments.
As a small charity, we depend on donations to keep providing grants to families when they need them most. Support from businesses, whether through a single event or an ongoing partnership, makes a real difference to how many families we’re able to help.
Make Team Ted Foundation Your Charity of the Year
For businesses wanting to do more than a single event, choosing Team Ted Foundation as your Charity of the Year gives us a partner to plan alongside over a longer period, rather than relying on one-off donations.
This usually means agreeing a fundraising target for the year and building a few activities into your calendar rather than trying to do everything at once. We’re happy to provide updates throughout the partnership that you can use for your own communications, and to recognise your support on our website and social channels. If this is something you’d like to explore, please get in touch directly to talk it through. We really appreciate any businesses raising any amount for us, this could be £10, £100 or £10,000, every penny helps us so much!
Office and Team Fundraising Ideas
If a year-long partnership isn’t the right fit for your business, a single fundraising activity will still make a really meaningful contribution.
Fantasy Premier League for Charity
If your workplace already runs a Fantasy Premier League league, you could turn it into a fundraiser by setting a small entry fee and donating a portion of the prize pot to Team Ted Foundation at the end of the season. Its a really fun way to enjoy the season and raise some funds along the way.
Wear It Orange Day
Orange is our charity colour, chosen in memory of Teddy. A Wear It Orange Day is a simple way for staff to get involved, with a small donation to wear orange for the day. Some businesses may choose to pair this with a bake sale or a photo for their social media channels!
Step, Distance or Activity Challenges
A step-count challenge between departments, or a shared distance target the whole office works toward over a set period, can work well for businesses with a focus on health and wellbeing.
Bake Sales, Raffles and Dress-Down Days
Never underestimate the classics. A bake sale, a raffle with a few donated prizes, or a dress-down day for a small donation might not sound like much on their own, but they’re easy to repeat month after month, and they tend to bring out a bit of friendly competition over whose cakes are the best!
Bake Sales, Raffles and Dress-Down Days
For anyone fancying something a bit more daring, with the business behind them as sponsor, here are a few of the more popular options.
Skydiving...
There’s nothing quite like the build-up to a skydive to get a fundraising page moving. Many skydiving centres offer charity rates for participants raising money for a registered cause, and the nerves in the run-up tend to do wonders for sponsorship.
Marathons and Half Marathons
Whether it’s a local 10K or something bigger like the London Marathon, marathon fundraising has stood the test of time for good reason. If a colleague is already training for one, offering to match their total can turn a personal challenge into a team effort everyone gets behind. We are sometimes able to get places for the TCS London Marathon, if you’re interested, please get in touch!
Choose Your Own Challenge
If none of the above quite fits, we’re always happy to hear what you’ve got in mind, the more inventive the better. Setting up a fundraising page takes just a few minutes, and Gift Aid is added automatically to eligible donations, so your total goes a little further than you might expect.
Get in touch
Whatever you choose, we’d love to hear from you. While we’re based in Rotherham and have plenty of support from Sheffield and South Yorkshire, Team Ted Foundation supports families across England and Wales, and we welcome fundraising from businesses anywhere.
Get in touch and let’s see what we can raise together!
