Wholesalers urged to join singing fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust

Mike O’Leary, company secretary at Kent-based fruit and veg wholesaler Hars & Hagebauer, is challenging the community to sing their favourite song, share it on Facebook and nominate three friends to do the same, in order to raise money for young people with cancer. 

Mike O’Leary and his partner Pascale.

O’Leary has already raised £15,000 with his ‘Can You Hear The People Sing’ challenge, including £2,000 from Hars & Hagebauer. He is calling on others to sing, share, nominate and donate using the social media platform in a bid to reach his £20,000 fundraising target for Teenage Cancer Trust.

The 73-year-old has raised over £830,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust in the 13 years he has been fundraising for the charity. He commented: “I’m very passionate about the work Teenage Cancer Trust do and I’ve met some of the young people with cancer they support. The youngsters’ courage is incredible and the bond they have with the charity’s nurses and youth support co-ordinators is unbelievable.

“Can You Hear The People Sing is nothing like I’ve ever done before. Ordinarily, I organise a challenging charity walk or music and dinner type of event but this year we couldn’t do that. You can’t bring people together in person so instead I thought I’d bring people together on social media.”

Hars & Hagebauer has supported Teenage Cancer Trust via O’Leary’s fundraising efforts for two decades. This year, Brian Critcher, founder of Cardiff based fruit company Agri SGJ, and his wife Carol, and Mark and Yvonne Tweddle of Jupiter Produce in Newport, Shropshire, joined O’Leary in participating in his ‘Can You Hear The People Sing’ challenge.

Liz Tait, director of fundraising at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “The Coronavirus pandemic has hit us hard. Many of our planned fundraising events have been cancelled, leaving us with half our expected income. However, young people with cancer are feeling more isolated than ever before so the challenge has never been greater.

“Cancer doesn’t stop for anything. We hope to hear the people sing and thank Mike for his continued support.”

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/michael-o-leary3