In December 2014, one of our founding trustees Jessica Ma sadly lost her battle with cancer. Jessica was not only a trustee to the Caring Matters Now charity, but also an amazing, courageous and inspirational friend to many in the charity and beyond.
Caring Matters Now established the Jessica Ma Award to publicly acknowledge and remember Jessica’s outstanding and unique contribution to our charity. The prestigious Jessica Ma Award is for an individual or group who have gone above and beyond in raising funds for Caring Matters Now.
All those that completed the Fundraising Event Registration Form on our website throughout 2019 were in with a chance of being selected!
The Caring Matters Now Trustees selected five finalists and from these five finalists Jessica’s husband Peter and two children chose their winner and runner up.
This is what they had to say…
“First, we want to thank all of the fundraisers for their on-going support from the bottom of our hearts. It’s great to see so many different types of fundraisers being done – from bucket collections to bake sales to climbing mountains – raising thousands of pounds.
After much deliberation we are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2019 Jessica Ma Award is Nick Atter.”
Winner – Nick Atter
Peter, Pascale and Jasper said…
“The winner of the 2019 Jessica Ma award has been contributing to raising awareness and funds for many years. He has participated in each of the high-risk CMN Charity Challenges, Mt Kilimanjaro, Avenue of Volcanoes and this year raised over £6,000 in his climb of Stok Kangri. As a family, we are delighted to recognise Nick Atter as the winner of the 2019 Jessica Ma award for his consistent and on-going contribution to fundraising for CMN. It would also be remiss if we did not mention Phil Stevens & Norman Davies who also raised an incredible amount as members of the team attempting the summit of Stok Kangri. Thank you all!”
Nick said…
“Peter, Jasper and Pascale, thank you so much for selecting me to be the 2019 recipient of this fantastic award. I had the great privilege of meeting Jessica a few times and to be the recipient of an award in her name is an absolute honour and will take pride of place in our home.
To even be considered for the award, let alone win it is quite humbling. When I consider the previous winners and runners up, the strength they have shown in the face of sadness and adversity, climbing a few mountains and running a couple of marathons doesn’t seem to measure up. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported me in taking on a variety of different events and challenges.
By taking part in three expeditions (Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Cayambe in Ecuador and Stok Kangri in the Himalayas) I have met and shared life changing experiences with so many wonderful and inspiring people who will remain lifelong friends. I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to do all these crazy things, whilst raising money for such an amazing charity as Caring Matters Now.
My inspiration for doing all this is simple, our son James was born with CMN Syndrome in 2006. He is truly my inspiration as whether he is with me climbing up mountains or skiing down them, swimming, running cross country, playing football and tennis or training to achieve his black belt at Karate, James has never let his CMN stop him doing anything. He has helped me prepare for challenges, raised funds doing events himself and is taking part in the CMN Teen challenge in June. Joanne and I are so very proud of him and the fabulous young man he has become.
A massive thank you also to Jodi, Lucy, Dr Kinsler and everyone else connected to Caring Matters Now for everything you do. Joanne and I will never forget the support provided to us when James was in Hospital in 2009. It was a really difficult time for us, the phone calls from Jodi were wonderful and advice from Dr Kinsler to the medical team invaluable.
Finally a message to anyone thinking about taking on a big challenge in aid of Caring Matters Now…. just do it, you will create memories that will stay with you forever and if there is a summit involved, count me in!!”
Runners Up – Stephen Gordon and the Infinity Bridge Team
This is what Peter, Pascale and Jasper had to say…
“We are delighted to announce the runner up of the 2019 Jessica Ma award is Stephen Gordon and the Infinity Bridge Team. It is great to see such a team effort, with so many participants involved in such a unique event, raising awareness and funds for CMN. They really illustrated how doing something innovative and with a purpose can really be productive for everyone involved. Thank you all!”
Stephen said…
“A big thank you to Caring Matters Now and the family of Jessica Ma for this award. I tried to come up with a challenge with a difference, but that was also fun. I asked family and friends who jumped at the chance to help raise much needed funds for the charity so close to all our hearts.
When we arrived at the Infinity Bridge, all the smiles on the faces turned to shock and fear at the challenge ahead! This fear turned to joy as we took on the challenge – we all had a fantastic time lots of laughs. No one can say they have a fear of heights anymore!
A massive thank you from Lilli, Stephen and the Infinity Bridge Team”
Peter went on to say…
“As a family, we know that Jessica would be humbled by all of your support and ask you to keep up the good work in 2020.”
With heartfelt thanks from all the Caring Matters Now Trustees to all our 2019 fundraisers, you did amazing and we couldn’t do what we do without your continued support.
Why don’t you get involved in 2020? Take a look here to see what you can do to support the work of Caring Matters Now. And don’t forget to register your fundraising here to be in with a chance of winning the 2020 Jessica Ma Award.
