JESSICA MA AWARD 2016

In December 2014 one of our founding trustees Jessica Ma 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.

Jessica was passionate about Caring Matters Now and the trustees feel her loss immensely. Jessica left a lasting legacy and we will forever be indebted to her.

The Caring Matters Now trustees wanted to publicly acknowledge and remember Jessica’s outstanding and unique contribution to our charity.

So, with the consent of Jessica’s family we started the search in 2016 for a winner of the prestigious Jessica Ma Award. This award is for an individual or group who have gone above and beyond in raising funds for Caring Matters Now.

So, for all those that completed the fundraising event registration on our website throughout 2016, you were all in with a chance of being selected!

The CMN trustees have been overwhelmed by the number of members and supporters raising funds and awareness for Caring Matters Now.  The support our charity has received made the CMN trustees task of selecting five finalists for this award very difficult.  After much thought five finalists were selected.  From the five finalists selected, Jessica’s husband, Peter, and two children, Jasper and Pascale, chose a winner and two runners up.

Winner – Jon & Donna McCrossan

Peter, Jasper and Pascale decided the winning award very much deserved to be presented to Jon & Donna McCrossan

This is what they said:

“For the outstanding amount of money raised and the ongoing efforts and numerous fundraising opportunities during a very challenging time for their family.  We would like to award the inaugural Jessica Ma Award to Jon and Donna McCrossan”

Jon & Donna

“Thank you so so much, we feel very privileged to not only be considered but to actually win this beautiful award in honour of another inspirational person and we accept it, with pride, on behalf of Team Holly as we cannot do what we do without our fabulous family, friends and supporters.

We are very lucky to be surrounded by such a wonderful supportive community.

We do our fundraising in remembrance of our daughter, Holly, who sadly lost her life to complications of CMN and to help raise much needed awareness of the condition and to support the ongoing research into finding a cure.  Together, we will get there!”

#goteamholly

And the Runners Up Prizes go to…

Isabelle Armstrong

The bravery and effort of someone only 7 years old is an inspiration to all of us. Keep up the good work and thanks to your mom for all the support!

Isabelle

“We started fundraising for Caring Matters Now in 2014 as a way to show our immense appreciation for the information and support we recieved from the charity at a time when we were left feeling helpless.

Isabelle has grown in confidence over the last couple of years and is always thinking up new ideas to raise funds for Dr Kinsler and her team to enable them to continue with their amazing research and to ensure the charity continues to grow so that other families are able to find the support that they need.

Isabelle was super excited when we told her she was a runner up for the 2016 Jessica Ma Award.

This could not have been achieved without the continued support of our family and friends – thank you.”

Hannah Cree

For her ongoing efforts in fundraising and for bringing in an amazing amount of donations by organising & running the Belfast Marathon relay.

Hannah Cree

“I am both overwhelmed and so thankful to have been awarded runner up for the Jessica Ma Award!
Caring Matters Now equipped us with the knowledge and confidence we needed for life with CMN, they lifted our chins up and inspired us with the ground breaking research they are partaking. It is an honour to have been raising awareness and funds for this charity, thank you.”

Huge Congratulations and a very big thank you to you all!