Breck Stockton, a Red Sea Pedestrians’ trustee, spoke to JLife after the charity group raised over £225,000 at a fundraiser recently.
The Red Sea Pedestrians (RSP) is a philanthropic project that was established in the mid-1980s by a group of Manchester friends. Pledging to ‘do some good in the world’, it has raised money at various events for countless local charities over the years. After a 20-year hiatus, the members were prompted reform when original member Jacky Franks was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After her sad passing, the RSP continued its charity work, and was awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last year.
Congratulations on your latest fundraiser. How was the evening for you?
It was an incredible evening. The Lowry Hotel is such a nice venue and Kate Park Events made sure every detail was perfect. It was such a stunning evening. We had incredible ‘money-can’t-buy’ prizes for the live auction and our guests were on top form. Our chairman, Antony Wagman, stripped to his underpants, raising £30,000! We are completely humbled by our guests’ support and incredible generosity towards such a worthy cause.
The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity was your chosen benefactor for this event. How do you choose who to support?
We always support Manchester-based charities. About six months before the event we ask people to nominate worthy causes, then we have a committee meeting where we decide. As you can imagine, it is a really hard task.
How did you manage to bag superstar comedian Peter Kay for the event?
It was a surprise. We didn’t know he was coming, he literally just showed up! The second series of BBC’s ‘Peter Kay’s Car Share’ starts filming in the summer and he kindly auctioned the chance to be an extra. Four guests were playfully fighting for the prize and he decided to take all four of them for £11,000 each. It was amazing.
What is next on the cards for RSP?
We only do two events a year: the next one is the Philanthropic Lunch on 9th November and the Spring Ball, which will be in March 2017.