Caroline Baker, owner of Puddleducks Daycare recently took part in St Barnabas Hospice’s Rudy’s Run fundraiser and is excited to be raising more funds with our Bunny Hop. We caught up with her to find out more:
How many children do you have in your early years setting?
We have 24 children (15 families) that attend our setting at different times throughout the year. Some are here all year around when others are with us school term only.
Why did you take part in Rudy’s Run and will you be taking part in the St Barnabas Bunny Hop?
Everyone has found the pandemic extremely hard and we didn’t think it could get any worse. Then we found out that a parent, Sam, within our setting had terminal cancer. This affected everyone and we wanted to do something to help.
Our duckling mum Sam is a very strong person and would never want self pity so we decided to take on the challenge of Rudy’s Run to give a little back to St Barnabas who have been amazing. Because the Rudy’s Run went so well, we will be taking part in the Bunny Hop and we can’t wait to get started! Our motto will be to ‘hop into a brighter future’ which we feel is perfect with coming out of lockdown too
What happened on the day?
Every under 5 year old did a mile, with some doing even longer, the older ducklings ran 5km after school.
Over the two weeks we would set off in the mornings to our local park to follow a course. We had lots of cheers and donations along the way with people supporting us which really made the children beam with delight. Alongside this, we had set up a Just Giving page where we managed to raise £2,095, which absolutely blew us all away.
Our target was £200 but in the first 24 hours we had smashed this and the total started to rise.
On the day that the children took part in Rudy’s Run, we also had a Christmas Dinner with crackers and all the trimmings and a visit from Santa. We played party games and also sang Christmas songs. Every duckling thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and talked about Rudy’s Run for ages.
Myself and my husband are so lucky that we are in a job that we absolutely love. We have 3 grown up children of our own who also will step up to the challenge whilst working alongside the most amazing families and children ever. When a child joins our setting they are not a number but become a part of our duckling family.
How fun did you find raising money for St Barnabas in this way?
Everyone at Puddleducks thoroughly enjoyed raising the money. The best thing we did was to set up a just giving page. Every parent then shared it on social media. The children were so excited when people sponsored us. Every morning we would see the growing total whilst reading out the amazing messages that every had left us.
How much did Puddleducks raise for Rudy’s Run?
We raised £2090 which was above and beyond what we had set out to raise.
What sort of feedback did you get from children and parents?
The children and parents loved the whole experience. The excitement on the build up to the event was brilliant. Everyone put their heart and soul into the event. The children were particularly excited! This was so important with the daunting things that were happening around us and was a really welcome thing to focus on.
Did Rudy’s Run have a positive impact on the children’s mental health?
Most certainly, and seeing the smiles on each of the children’s little faces said it all.
What are you most looking forward to about the Bunny Hop?
To raise lots of money for St Barnabas, but also for the children to have something positive to look forward to, while having fun along the way.
