So folks, we (that's me, you and several railway colleagues to whom I am eternally grateful) have completed this year's donations). These are the donations for the year 2024/25 and already we have made several more in the current year. The main beneficiary as always are The Samaritans with £12245 and then we have made several other "spot donations" totalling £3400. These are specifically;
Peak Rail Association
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Friends of Chapel Station
St Abbs Lifeboat
Carl Evans (EMR Railway Driver for Prostate Cancer)
Blythe House Hospice
Railway Benevolent Fund
Buxton Mountain Rescue
Kents Bank Station Library
I'm not giving individual totals here but the EVR and Peak Rail have had exactly the same as each other.
I'll show you the letter from The Samaritans because it indicates where the money goes;
Morning Don,
It was such a pleasure catching up with you on the phone the other day, I hope that you did manage to get a good view of the eclipse from your garden in the end?
Let me once again say a massive thank you from all of us here at Samaritans for your extraordinary kindness and generosity. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it is something that will absolutely be life changing for so many people out there who might be struggling and feel that they have nowhere else to turn.
Your donation of £12,245 this year could help us to answer another 1224 potentially life-saving calls for help and that is something I hope you, and all of your community of viewers realise is something to be incredibly proud of.
The running total you've now raised, excluding gift aid is standing at £69,433.48 which for context, could help us to keep our helpline open for 102 hours! That really does mean that day and night, our volunteers can be there to provide that all important moment of human connection and a safe, judgement free space to be heard for anyone who needs it. All because of you and the wonderful videos you produce each year.
I've attached the latest certificates to share with your community, though if you would like a physical version popping in the post then please do let me know and I'd be more than happy to arrange this for you.
I'm also currently trying to coordinate with Dave to see when we might be able to arrange a visit to say thank you in person, hopefully we will be able to find a date in September that works so we can catch you but we are both very keen to stop by to say hi sooner rather than later
Thank you once again Don for being such a kind and supportive person, all you do is appreciated by us more than you could possibly know and we're all so grateful for what you do.
I hope to speak with you again soon.
Best Wishes,
Thomas Martin (He/Him)
Events Fundraising Manager – Gaming & Streaming
Notice the certificate from The Samaritans says "Don Coffey and Community" and I repeat that this is down to you guys for following the channel. - thanks to every one of you.
