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The October Club raises £660,000 for Back Up

Posted by Taina Slenderbroek on 17th October 2024

London, October 17, 2024 – The October Club's annual charitable gala, held last night at The Savoy, marked a triumphant culmination of this year’s fundraising efforts in aid of Back Up, a charity supporting people with a spinal cord injury and their families. With the tremendous support of our sponsors and other friends, we raised a sum of £660,000 for Back Up. 

Back Up was carefully chosen as The October Club's charity partner for 2024, and the event drew over 360 prominent guests.

During the evening attendees heard from Dr Clair Pollard, a consultant psychologist, about the psychological effects of a sudden spinal cord injury and watched a moving account of Ollie’s recovery from a spinal cord injury after a motorcycle accident. In Ollie’s own words, “Back Up opened my eyes that I could live a life with a spinal cord injury. One of the things that sticks in my mind is the moment of going into the Back Up wheelchair skills training session and seeing someone across the room, and further down the line, living a life. That was powerful.”

Back Up’s award-winning, practical services have helped injured individuals and their families for nearly 40 years. They are designed and delivered by people who have already been affected by spinal cord injury, seeking to enhance skills and confidence, and expand perceptions of what is possible, through activity courses, mentoring and support. Last year, Back Up supported over 2,600 people with life-changing injuries. The funding generously raised at The October Club dinner will enable Back Up to reach beyond the 11 NHS specialist spinal cord injury centres to all 33 of the UK’s major trauma centres.

The evening's fundraising success was achieved in a number of ways, including live and silent auctions. Generous donors provided exceptional auction lots, such as a ‘money-can’t buy’ opportunity to visit Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris, a  James Bond limited edition watch and fine jewellery from Boodles. In addition to the auctions, attendees had the opportunity to make pledges to support the next three years of Back Up’s expansion plans. 

Abigail Lock, Chief Executive of Back Up said; “A massive thank you to the October Club and everyone who has supported Back Up. In the UK someone will sustain a life changing spinal cord injury every two hours. The October Club’s support will mean we are able to reach many more people affected by spinal cord injury.”  

Chair of The October Club, Samantha Huggins added; "What an incredible evening. On behalf of the committee, we are absolutely overwhelmed with the generosity of our October Club community. Thank you all for your commitment to improve the lives of so many that will be supported by Back Up in the years to come.”

The October Club continues its legacy of philanthropy, supporting impactful causes that make a difference.

For media enquiries, please contact enquiries@theoctoberclub.co.uk or emmap@backuptrust.org.uk.