Travel Counsellors has raised more than £28,000 for Reuben’s Retreat in a 23-hour live telethon.
TV presenter Vernon Kay and actress Julie Hesmondhalgh took part in the action-packed fundraiser screened globally on Travel Counsellors channel TCTV.
Reuben’s Retreat founders Nicola and Mike Graham, who works for Travel Counsellors, joined charity patron Hesmondhalgh on the TCTV sofa to launch the telethon in memory of their son Reuben, who died aged 23 months following an aggressive brain tumour.
The Comic Relief-style event included everything from a Travel Counsellors version of ‘Carpool Karaoke’ and silent auction to an Australian version of Wish You Were Here…? and a Zumba class.
Kay appeared live on TCTV, which showed his visit to Reuben’s Retreat in Glossop, Derbyshire.
In a special tribute to Reuben, a ‘TC Kids’ episode featured a magician and Reuben’s favourite dish – sausages and mash.
Within the first eight hours, Travel Counsellors was raising about £2,000 each hour. Donations continued after the telethon ended and as Travel Weekly went to press the total had reached £28,107 – smashing the £23,000 target.
Nicola said: “We are dumbfounded, not only by the amount raised, but by the way in which the whole company got involved. We cannot thank them enough.”
Travel Counsellors operations director Karen Morris said the event was “something very special”.
She added: “We laughed, cried and had lots of fun along the way.”
The charity offers bereavement counselling and a retreat for families of children with terminal or life-limiting illnesses. It plans to complete a hydrotherapy pool and sensory, movie, play and chill zones in the coming months.