Master Cutler’s Challenge 2025
Get your entrepreneurial flair on! Take part in the Master Cutler’s Challenge 2025
Get involved and help people to live better with dementia
A message from Phil Rodrigo Master Cutler 2024-2025
This year, I aim to make the Master Cutler’s Challenge a special one.
The challenge gives me a significant opportunity to raise awareness about dementia and to support projects across Sheffield and South Yorkshire that will have a lasting impact on dementia care.
I recently spent time with my Aunt in Sri Lanka. Her familiar ways, her zest for life, and her quick wit, was so reminiscent of my mother. Spending time with this wonderful woman made me realise just how much of my mother I had lost to dementia before she died.
Dementia is cruel. Many think of it simply as memory loss but it is so much more. Sadly, an increasing number of us will be affected by the condition – through caring for someone we know, developing it ourselves, or both.
Sheffield Hospitals Charity (SHC) has been supporting dementia work for many years. It has laid the foundations for innovation within the NHS in the dementia space. With our support, the charity is committed to funding further projects that will help to keep people with dementia independent for as long as possible and to receive the best possible care in our hospitals.
As has become a tradition of the challenge, you will be given £50 as a seed fund to kick start your own fundraising. The SHC team will be on hand to support your efforts in any way they can. They are full of ideas and enthusiasm, and I urge you to get in touch and see how they can help you with your plans.
I am looking forward to seeing the creativity and energy that you all bring to the challenge.
Together we can be a force for good, helping people live better with dementia.
From little acorns mighty oaks grow
What can you do to make your £50 seed grow? Get Active, Get Social, Get Creative, Get Going! You’ve got until September to show us your entrepreneurial flair. We can’t wait to see it
Need some inspo?
A comedy challenge to make ‘em laugh,
Get some beans in yer bath,
Jump from a plane if you’re brave,
Or back to the 90’s for a corporate rave.
A bungee jump in the dark,
Take your dog for a jog around the park,
A sponsored silence for the chatterbox,
Glam up Fridays in your poshest frocks.
We’ve got loads of ideas to help you with your fundraising and we’re here to support you along the way.
Living better with dementia
It’s estimated that 16,500* people in South Yorkshire are living with dementia. 12,460* of those are living with a diagnosis. Yet people living with dementia don’t always get the person-centred care that they need to live well.
Too many people are admitted to hospital for things that could be treated in the community. Carers can feel unsupported and overwhelmed. Although the NHS delivers incredible care, people living with dementia often feel overwhelmed and frightened when admitted to hospital.
By taking part in the Master Cutler’s Challenge, you’ll be helping the NHS in South Yorkshire to provide the best possible care, at the right time, for people living with dementia, their carers and loved ones – both in and out of hospital.
*data sources available on request, email charity@shct.nhs.uk
With your support we can help…
People living with dementia to stay independent
25%* of people with dementia living in their own homes are admitted to hospital with a potentially treatable condition. For the majority of people living with dementia, their physical condition and cognitive function decreases during a stay in hospital.
By taking a holistic approach to supporting people with dementia in the community, and their loved ones and carers, more people with dementia will be able to live independently for longer.
We’ve piloted this and we know it works. We saw decreases in hospital admissions and GP appointments. Help us to scale this approach.
Fund specialist dementia training
Sadly, 90%*of people with dementia find admission to hospital frightening and confusing.
Junior doctors to consultants, porters to occupational therapists and hospital volunteers to family carers will receive specialist dementia training, enabling them to provide the most suitable person-centred care.
This training is for NHS staff, volunteers and carers. Because when you are living with dementia, the whole environment and everyone in it matters.
Improve hospital spaces and activities
By funding improvements to physical spaces and the provision of activities for the wards, we can help people living with dementia to feel safe in hospital and optimise retention of their physical and cognitive function.
We will fund Activity Coordinators to support people with dementia in hospital, and specially designed activity boxes to provide distraction and stimulation. Activity boxes will provided to dementia wards across our South Yorkshire hospitals.
Our aim is to fund two garden spaces, which will be connected by a ‘reminiscence corridor’ providing stimulation and conversation. One garden will be an interactive space where people with dementia can take part in coordinated activities, while the other will be a calming environment.
*data sources available on request, email charity@shct.nhs.uk
How your money helps…
£1,519
could pay for 15 family carers to receive specialist training, so they don’t have to navigate the difficulties of caring for a loved one with dementia alone.
£3,825
could pay for specially designed activity boxes across wards, providing stimulation and reducing anxiety in hospital.
£7,542
could pay for specialist teams to work together in the community for one month, helping dementia patients maintain their independence at home.
£20,250
could pay for 200 NHS staff to achieve ‘Gold Star’ dementia training, giving them the skills and confidence to distract patients who have become distressed and provide specialist care in ways which makes patients feel safe and comfortable.
£53,000
could help fund two dementia-friendly garden spaces and a connecting ‘memory corridor’ on the frailty wards at the Northern General Hospital – a calming outdoor space and a place to take part in coordinated outdoor activities.
Meet your new BFF
(Best fundraising friend)
"I’m Chrissy Staniforth, Corporate Relationships Manager at Sheffield Hospitals Charity
For the duration of the Master Cutler’s Challenge this year, I will be here to support you with your fundraising ideas and plans.
This year’s cause is very special to me. Dementia rippled through my family and changed us forever when we lost both of our parents to the condition. We lost a piece of Mum and Dad every day. Looking back, I wish we would have been able to have them both at home and living well for longer.
If I can help you in any way then get in touch. I can’t wait to meet you and talk ideas!"
Chrissy’s fundraising tips:
Plan in advance
Agree your activities, set your dates and location. Give yourself plenty of time to plan and get people excited. Think about who you need to involve and what you need to get started.
Set up a JustGiving
Set up a JustGiving for your organisation (and your team members) in our dedicated Master Cutler’s Challenge campaign area. We can help you with this if you get stuck. Get started here www.justgiving.com/campaign/mcc25
Set a target
People like to have something to aim for. Set an ambitious fundraising target – the sky’s the limit! Smashing your target will feel great.
Spread the word
Task your team members to tell their contacts about your challenge. Promote what you’re doing regularly on social media, get it on your intranet and add your challenge to your email signature.
Celebrate Success
Celebrate milestones and say thank you to people who have donated – a great place to do this is on LinkedIn and remember to tag them in (and SHC!).
Ask us for help
Get in touch with us for collection tins, buckets, pull up banners, we’ve even got a gazebo and a fabulous mascot called Charikitty (she’s a big NHS cat!).
We can even visit your workplace to talk about WHY we’re doing this and suggest fabulous ways to fundraise that work for you.
What to do with your incredible fundraising
Cash
Please don’t send cash through the post.
JustGiving
Donations can be made through our Master Cutler’s Challenge JustGiving campaign at: www.justgiving.com/campaign/mcc25
If you’ve fundraised or donated using JustGiving, it is all sent directly to the Master Cutler’s Challenge fund and you don’t need to worry about anything else!
Donate Online
You can also make your donation here and give Master Cutler’s Challenge as your reason for donating.
Call Us
Call our SHC team on 0114 700 4430 and we can take a secure payment from a credit or debit card over the phone. Alternatively, we can give you details to make a BACs payment.
Cheque
Send a cheque made payable to ‘Sheffield Hospitals Charity’ to:
Sheffield Hospitals Charity,
Office SE6, Leah’s Yard,
20 Cambridge Street,
Sheffield,
S1 4HP
In Person
You are welcome to come and see us in person at our office at Leah’s Yard, or one of the SHC team may be able to come to you to collect.
When to send donations
It will really help us if the funds you raise are sent as soon as possible after your challenge activity and that all funds for this year’s challenge are received no later than 30 September 2025.
Join South Yorkshire’s finest
