Determined Abigail beats Covid barrier to raise hundreds for charity

Abigail decided to start the Duke of Edinburgh but she struggled to find a charity that she could volunteer with due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing restrictions preventing such activity.

Meanwhile the Cober Valley Rotary Club, had been organising an Ebay online auction to raise funds for charity. Despite the pandemic, the club have still been meeting every week online & they had the idea to raise funds virtually, whilst having a good clear out too.

Ian Munday, of Cober Valley Rotary Club, then suggested to Abigail that she could assist with the Ebay online auction - Abi was responsible for photographing the items, writing descriptions and managing the packaging and dispatch of the items that had been bought by the winning bidder.

She participated in regular meetings to update the club on how things were progressing. All of which was conducted via Zoom.

Thanks to Ian and the support of the Rotary club Abi has successfully worked towards her charitable/voluntary aspect of the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award.

Abi said: “I am really grateful for the support that I have been given by the rotary club in contribution to my D of E. I am particularly thankful to Ian Munday who offered the opportunity to me and gave me advice along the way.

"It have really enjoyed being a part of raising this large amount of money for such a worthy cause and would like to thank the rotary for allowing me to get involved.”

The Ebay sales have generated £300 and the Rotary club have also contributed additional funds to raise the total to £500 for Cancer Research UK.

Abigail has now completed the voluntary aspect of the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award.

Cancer Research UK’s Relationship Manager for Cornwall, Sophie Barber, said: “We are absolutely delighted to hear about this lovely story of the Rotary supporting Abigail to achieve her Duke of Edinburgh Award & at the same time, raising vital funds for Cancer Research UK.

“Over the past couple of years, the Cober Valley Rotary Club have been incredibly supportive of Cancer Research UK’s Relay for Life which was going to be a fantastic new event in Helston but was unfortunately postponed due to Covid-19. To hear that the club have continued to raise funds even though the event was cancelled and especially in this difficult time is amazing & we are so grateful for their support.

“Cancer Research UK has made enormous progress in the fight against cancer. However, we have only been able to do this thanks to the dedication and commitment of our volunteers and supporters without whom we would not be able to fund our research.”