A Leeds agency boss who set up a fund-raising campaign to honour his 11-year-old daughter after she died suddenly in her sleep ha ssuccessfully hit his £42,000 target just over a year after his daughter passed away.
Matilda Pritchard, daughter of It Works founder Steve Pritchard, displayed no symptoms before she passed away last April with an undiagnosed heart condition. Her heartbroken parents, Steve Pritchard and wife Anna, later discovered that it was a rare condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), which affects 1 in 1,000 people.
As a way to channel their family grief and to celebrate Matilda’s life, the family began a Just Giving campaign to raise money for Keep Britain Tidy as Matilda was passionate about tackling littering. The target was initially set at £11,213 to mark Matilda’s 11/2/13 birthday, but with that goal smashed in just two weeks the figure was raised, with the money to be used to sponsor the charity’s Eco-Schools environmental education programme over the next five years.
“I’ve been doing digital PR for 20 years, I wanted to put my skills and experience into a channel for my own wellbeing and grief,” Pritchard told Prolific North last year.
READ MORE: “Bullying” probe at BBC Breakfast following complaints about “draconian” editor
Announcing the latest milestone on LinkedIn today, Pritchard said:
“We did it!!! Over £42,000 raised for Keep Britain Tidy
It’s been one of the hardest campaigns I have ever delivered but it wasn’t done alone.
A huge thank you to the 454 supporters not to mention help from Josh Wheeler, Rachael Hesno and Maria Callaghan and the fantastic team at JustGiving and of course the Shanly Foundation for their massive donation which meant we hit our target.”
The aforementioned BeBroadcast chief Wheeler, who helped Pritchard get the broadcast media on board with the campaign, added:
“This is the most wonderful news, and a huge congratulations to Steve and the Pritchard family.
I know how challenging this journey will have been, but what an incredible and meaningful way to honour Matilda.
Matilda Pritchard was just nine years old, but her passion for a cleaner world left a powerful legacy. She regularly picked up litter in her local Pudsey parks and was awarded a BBC Blue Peter green badge in 2023 for her efforts.
Tragically, Matilda passed away in her sleep on 3 April 2024 from an undiagnosed heart condition.
In her memory, her family set out to raise £42,000 to fund the Keep Britain Tidy Eco-Schools litter education topic for five years – the years Matilda would have spent at secondary school.
We supported the campaign with a community clean-up and helped bring broadcast media to the story.
Today, that target has been met.
Matilda’s legacy will now live on, helping children across the country learn how to care for the planet, just as she did.”
