IMH employee raises £13,000 by ‘going blonde’ for NHS charities
We are extremely proud and delighted to share the news that one of our senior welders, Jake McBride, has raised £13,000 for charity during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Whilst IMH has been operational through the lockdown we recognised that we would not be working to our full capacity, and therefore took the difficult decision to furlough some members of staff.
Jake McBride was one of those employees and he decided whilst he had some free time, he’d experiment with some different hairstyles. One drastic style change was going from his natural jet-black hair colour to bleach blonde, which led to him having some fun poked at him by family and friends!
Jake then asked those who had joked about his hair to put their money where their mouths were… and challenged them to dye their hair blonde and donate £20 to NHS charities. Unexpectedly for Jake, the challenge was accepted!
Before long, requests to make donations to the challenge began pouring in from those dying their hair – and even family and friends of those who had ‘gone blonde’. It was at this stage that Jake set up a JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jake-mcbride2
Within a few short weeks of Jake initially taking the plunge on 26th March, he’d encouraged more than 100 other people to go blonde with donations being made to his page by more than 500 people. Jake was even contacted by a man living in Australia who had heard about the challenge from his friend in the UK and was taking part!
Jake McBride, Senior Welder at IMH said: “The support and involvement from individuals has been incredible.
“When over £10,000 was raised in just one week I was lost for words. The NHS does a great job and I’m proud that we have been able to come together and show our appreciation of the work they do.”
James Griffiths, Managing Director at IMH commented: “We couldn’t be prouder of what Jake has achieved and the encouragement he’s given to get other people involved in the challenge is incredible.
“In these difficult times it’s important to remember to look out for each other and supporting the NHS and the work it does is part of that.”
Jake was also contacted by BBC Radio Tees to speak on its breakfast programme with Neil Green and Amy Oakden.
The money raised through the JustGiving page and the individual donations made prior to the page being set up now total more than £13,000.
If you would like to #goblondeforNHS you can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jake-mcbride2 and please also share your pictures if you reach for the bleach!
