Hi, Howard here, Evie’s Dad, with a round up of what has been an amazing 2025.
Evie’s Foundation is a wonderful community of kind and caring individuals, made up of our Heroes and each one of you that takes part in an event or supports the Foundation in any way.
I thank each and every one of you for your involvement – it means such a lot to my family and between us we are making such a difference to children’s health care across the UK.
2025 is drawing to a close and has been another amazing year for Evie’s charity. To the end of October, we have allocated £150K to sponsor 94 kind and caring Heroes, across 43 hospitals.
There have been so many incredible events throughout the year and more recently we have held our annual walk, golf day and a charity lunch at Rocksalt.
Annual Walk
Our annual 16 mile walk in early September, organised by close friends, Matt, Helen & Molly Paxton, Sam Chilvers & Laura Bates saw more than 270 of you gather for bacon butties and tea at Unit 1 in Hythe before heading off to the Harbour Arm in Folkestone, indulge in a lovely BBQ and a beer at The Pilot, before heading back to Unit 1 for pizza, beer and live music from Clumsy Colin.
The weather was kind to us as usual – with Evie shining down on us all. Thanks to Unit 1, The Pilot, the Roger De Haan Foundation, Trophies Plus Medals, and Lidl for their support and sponsorship which allow us to put the event on for free.
This year saw even more walks with my wife and Evie’s mum, Katie, organising a Florida walk with a number of her work team, alongside walks in the Midlands, Portsmouth, Cyprus and Oxford. My thanks to Oli & Patsy, Sarah & Kevin, Ktown, and to two of our Heroes Rachael & Sarah for organising these walks which were supported by more than 150 people.
Overall the six walks raised an incredible £23.5k – mind blowing.
Golf
The majestic links of Princes in Sandwich hosted 20 teams of 4 on our annual golf day in October.
The weather was a little windy (not unusual down there) but the day was amazing, starting with bacon butties, before heading out for 18 holes and a team Stableford competition. After the golf, Princes put on a fabulous meal, to accompany the prize giving for longest drive, nearest the pin and overall top 2 teams.
Huge thanks to Hugo Loudon and Holly Parish for organising the day, supported by Katie, Megan, Helen and Molly Paxton on the day. Thank you also to Neil Relph at Canterbury BMW for offering a brand new BMW for a hole in one on the 7th hole on the Himalayas. Sadly no winners this time round, I did get reasonably close which was rather nice!
The day raised an incredible £12k which will allow us to sponsor up to 5 new Heroes – which we will link to the event on our web site theeviedoevfoundation.org
We plan to hold a similar event again next year at Princes – more details to follow.
Michael Vaughan @ Rocksalt
A massive thank you to Jack and Helen Nimmons and their amazing team at Rocksalt in Folkestone for hosting a fabulous lunch featuring Michael Vaughan in aid of Evie’s Foundation.
Also thank you to Ian Stafford of The Sporting Club for hosting the event and to Wes Ray from the DDS Group as the main sponsor.
Michael Vaughan was wonderful, a true sporting legend who managed to fit in this trip to Folkestone prior to flying to Australia for the Ashes! The day raised a remarkable £6,000 for the Foundation – allowing us to sponsor a further 3 Heroes.
LEJOG car rally
Early December sees a good friend of ours, Tim Lawley, driving 1500 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats over 4 days in a pre 1991 car.
Tim has chosen a Fiat 500 from 1972, which he has kitted out in Evie’s colours – sounds like an amazing adventure – good luck Tim – we’ll report back next time on how he got on and the money raised.
Xmas Party
To round out the year, we are holding our 4th annual Xmas Party and Auction, which this year will be held at the beautiful Chapel House venue in Minster, Kent.
This wonderful celebration raises incredible funds through the generosity of so many donating and bidding on Auction and Raffle items. Again we will report back on the event and the money raised in our next Newsletter.
Lastly I am delighted to announce that we have been joined by 2 amazing new trustees.
Please join me in welcoming Alan Burns, who will look after our finances, and Dan Hulme, who will help oversee our relationship with the Charity Commission.
Both Trustees bring together a huge wealth of experience and energy with them and we are very lucky to have secured their time. With their addition the team is truly complete as we are now a board of 8 Trustees all giving their time and significant skill set free of charge to our Foundation. I am confident this will secure the ongoing growth of TEDF and further enhance the difference we are making in the world of paediatrics.
Alan Burns
‘Alan has been friends with Howard and Katie for more than 20 years, and has a son, Fynn, who is the same age as Evie (he’s also dad to Tom and Rosie).
He’s a qualified Chartered Accountant, and has spent most of his career working in a range of online businesses, most recently as CFO at TodayTix Group. In his spare time, you’ll find him riding his bike or watching live music.’
Dan Hulme
“I joined the Evie Dove Foundation as a trustee after learning about it whilst helping during its initial setup and being deeply moved by its incredible mission. The Foundation’s goal—to support and celebrate kindness while empowering brilliant people to make a lasting difference for future generations—truly resonated with me. It’s both a beautiful and heartbreaking story, and I feel privileged to contribute in any way I can to help carry forward Evie’s inspiring legacy.”
Thank you again for all your support, love and kindness in supporting Evie’s Foundation – without each of you the Foundation would not exist and the hundreds of Heroes we support would struggle to progress their skills, knowledge and experience which in turn allow them to provide excellent care for sick children and their families across the UK.
Lots of love,
Howard
