Making change with your change: Dan’s story

What is your chosen charity?

I donate to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. I lost my father-in-law to late stage lung cancer so when I was browsing for a charity to support, it just seemed appropriate to donate to this cause. 

Roy Castle was a big part of my childhood too, and the foundation was set up in his memory when he passed away. For those who are too young to remember him from their own childhoods, Roy Castle OBE, was an all-round entertainer, and a Yorkshireman. Roy was best known for presenting children’s TV series, Record Breakers, for over two decades. The show was themed around breaking Guinness World Records – Roy even broke 9 world records himself!

Have you ever volunteered with any of your charities? 

I’ve fundraised for different charities and I donate to a few on a regular basis. I think it’s important to give something back. 

I’m part of a community martial arts club, and we’ve raised £2.5k as part of Cash 4 Kids matched funding – the most innovative project to raise money wins an extra £500. The funding helps us take kids to tournaments, pay for kit and get the equipment we need. We did a fancy-dress martial arts session once to raise funds – and I’ll tell you now, it’s not often you fight a Peaky Blinder or Guantanamo prisoner! 

We also did a paint-a-thon for our community centre, which needs some looking after. We repainted the hall with donated paint from Wickes. We get donations to sponsor us and we volunteer to paint.

Why should we donate?

I’m big believer in paying it forward. Times are tough and I’m fortunate to have a salary coming in. But other people are struggling right now. If you’ve got the means to be able to give, even just a little bit a month, do it. Whether it’s cancer, mental health, or a young person needing support, you will know someone who needs that help and can’t get it, and that’s where your donation comes in, to make that impact. 

My donation might be personal to me, but it doesn’t have to be. It can just be a cause you’re passionate about, it can be what you do for work, or even just pick a charity at random and go for it. It all helps. Those charities might not write you a thank you note, but somebody somewhere will get the benefit of what you’ve done.

Why does GoodPAYE work for you?

I was donating to other charities before I signed up to GoodPAYE, and I’m still donating to them now. In fact, I’m soon to move my existing donations across to GoodPAYE. I’ve not used payroll giving before, and when BCS signed up to GoodPAYE, I was curious and I wanted to see which charities were involved. I was looking for charities that would be personal to me – and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation stood out for me.