Red Nose Day super collector hosts Saltaire party to kick-start her efforts (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Red Nose Day super collector hosts Saltaire party to kick-start her efforts
7:00am Monday 11th March 2013 in News
By Julie Tickner, T&A Reporter
Joanne Ballantyne suitably dressed up on a previous Red Nose Day to collect money for the charity marathon
A woman who has raised £10,000 for Comic Relief hoped people had a laugh at a thank you bash she hosted on Saturday.
Every Red Nose Day since 2005, Joanne Ballantyne has taken a day off work and walked from her home in Baildon to collect in Greengates, Bradford, wearing a wacky outfit to raise cash for the charity.
This year she will be pounding the streets again, but the route is slightly different as she now works at the Cornerstone Centre in Cottingley.
From 6.30am she will be trekking along Baildon Road through Saltaire towards Cottingley, then back to Asda in Shipley, before collecting in Leeds Road in the evening and returning home in time to watch the fundraiser on television.
“This party started out as a thank you to friends and family who have supported me, than I thought I could raise some more money for Red Nose Day. It’s my passion, that’s the charity I support.
“It snowballed. It’s important for me to say thank you to people who have been enough to donate. The people of Saltaire have donated wonderfully,” the 46-year-old said.
Mrs Ballantyne, who was nominated for a Telegraph & Argus and Bradford Council Community Stars award in 2011, started supporting the poverty charity after holidays in Kenya and India.
“I’ve seen the poverty with my own eyes. These people have nothing, but they’ve always got a smile and it make you feel quite humbled. It’s difficult to think you can change this, but it’s about me making at least a small difference,” she said.
The party, held on Saturday at Victoria Hall in Saltaire, included live music, a DJ, a Spice Girls send-up, dance competitions, a raffle and gift tree.
“It was all daft and fun,” Mrs Ballantyne said.
About 150 went to the party. Mrs Ballantyne and the hire of the hall was paid for by Shipley College. Hopkin’s Sandwich Shop supplied pie and peas.
Principal of Shipley College Nav Chohan said: “We were so impressed by how much commitment she has for fundraising, we thought, ‘why not?’ We just thought it was the right thing to do.”
