Paul Hobbs has been a prolific charity fundraiser for over 25 years. Last year, he chose to support his local hospitals charity Above & Beyond.

Here Paul tells us how he’s persevering with his fundraising event despite coming up against a number of obstacles.

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I’ve been a charity fundraiser for over 25 years raising around £750,000 for 20 charities, hospitals, and organisations.

I chose Above & Beyond as the charity for my 25^th anniversary of fundraising. It was an easy decision given that the charity is local, and raises money for an important cause: patients and staff in Bristol city centre hospitals.

Unfortunately, my celebratory fundraising events have now been foiled twice! In September 2019, I’d planned a big fundraising event which I suddenly had to cancel due to life-saving heart surgery at Bristol Heart Institute (BHI).

Treatment at the hospital only made me more determined to fundraise for Above & Beyond so I organised a charity auction at Bristol Manor Farm FC in March. This was then cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Third time lucky: a virtual fundraising auction

I’ve now taken my fundraising online by setting up a virtual auction. Starting on Monday 15 June and running for a couple of months, we’ll auction prizes including a Roger Federer signed shirt, Bristol Rovers tickets and signed Bristol Bears and Bristol City FC shirts, to raise what we can in difficult circumstances.

Staff at the BHI saved my life. Every staff member was fantastic in the way they cared for me. It’s no wonder the unit has such a superb reputation across the UK.

I’m making a great recovery from my operation and I’m using my fundraising auction as an opportunity to say thanks to the BHI staff that looked after me.

Although our original fundraising plans were dashed, we’ll do our best to raise as much as possible to help patients and staff at the hospital.

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Visit Paul's fundraising auction website