We’re thrilled to share that, together with Off The Record, we’re finalists in The Bath Life Awards! Our joint nomination centres around our collaboration with The Bath 5k Map, and we’re over the moon that our work together over the last year is being recognised and celebrated in this way.
We’ve been proud finalists in The Bath Life Awards before and even had the pleasure of winning in 2022. However, there’s something extra special about being a finalist this year - and that’s first and foremost because of Annie Legge.
Annie is the creator of The Bath 5k Map - a collection of walks in and around Bath. She created it to help people access and benefit from time in nature, and to honour the memory of her niece Cerys, who tragically took her own life at just 24. Annie’s goal was to build a legacy in Cerys’ memory.
We were honoured to be chosen as The Bath 5k Map’s beneficiaries in 2023, along with Off The Record. But what began as an incredible gift quickly evolved into a unique fundraising partnership between The Bath 5k Map and our two charities.
It was Annie’s story and passion that inspired us to create a shared vision for our partnership, and this vision has propelled us forward over the past year - to break down barriers, try new things, and build a partnership greater than the sum of its parts.
By embracing The Bath 5k Map’s ethos of inclusivity and keeping Cerys’ memory close to our hearts, we created new nature-based fundraising events, delivered coordinated PR and marketing, and developed new community connections. By the end of 2024, we had raised over £15,000 for both Mentoring Plus and Off The Record - helping more young people access vital mental health support.
Bringing our community together
One of our proudest achievements was The Big BaNES 100k - a flexible and inclusive fundraising challenge that invited people to “walk, run, cycle, swim, or do it your way” to reach 100 km. We launched the challenge with a community walk to Alexandra Park, hosted in partnership with Bathscape and Bath College during Mental Health Awareness Week. It was wonderful to be joined by some of the young people we support, especially as a few commented that completing the walk had been a real confidence boost for them.
After securing some great press coverage for The Big BaNES 100k and rallying our supporters, more than 30 fundraisers got involved - groups of parents, friends, and even some of our trustees.
We were especially touched by Jemma Bartholomew’s story. Living with chronic fatigue syndrome, Jemma was able to walk 1.5 miles a day and managed to raise an incredible £1,000. Her determination was truly inspiring. By September, over 30 fundraisers had collectively raised £6,500, directly supporting our work with young people.
Celebrating success and looking forward
To celebrate the success of The Big BaNES 100k, we hosted a wellbeing pop-up shop in collaboration with artist Emma Taylor. Emma’s fantastic window mural transformed the space, complemented by shelves displaying her artwork, the brand-new second edition of The Bath 5k Map (sponsored by organisations including Prior Park Schools), and new Bath 5k Map merchandise created by Annie.
Since we don’t have retail spaces of our own, the pop-up shop was a great way to connect directly with our community. It also helped us diversify our income - something that’s becoming more important for charities given today’s tough funding climate. Together, we raised over £500, bringing our total for the year to over £15,000.
We’re so happy to have had such a great start to our partnership, and with our Bath Life nomination, it feels like it’s going from strength to strength.
We’re keeping everything crossed for a win, but until then, we’re committed to building on our strong foundation and honouring Annie’s wish to create lasting change in Cerys’ memory.
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