Three weeks separated our two summer fundraisers. One took place on the water, in front of the crowds lining the riverbank. The other came down to one trustee, a pair of trainers and ten kilometres of York pavement. Together they raised £5,218 for the Nikki Waterhouse Trust.
York Rotary Dragon Boat Challenge, Sunday 12 July
The Dragon Boat Challenge is one of the highlights of our fundraising year, and 2026 marked the 24th consecutive running of the event by the Rotary Club of York. Thirty-six teams took to the River Ouse on the stretch between Scarborough Bridge and Lendal Bridge, each crew paddling in time to a drumbeat over a short, brutal sprint that is almost over before it has begun.
Our crew finished 13th out of 36. Against teams who train for it, and several who have been doing this a good deal longer than we have, that is a very respectable day’s work on the water. It also raised £3,773 through the event’s fundraising page.
The racing is only part of it. The day takes months of organising, volunteers on the bank in all weathers, and the generosity of everyone who sponsored a paddler or dropped a note in a bucket. Our thanks go to the Rotary Club of York for running an event that has become part of the city’s summer, and to every single person who backed our crew.
Arla Protein York 10K, Sunday 2 August
On the first Sunday in August, trustee Katy Huscroft lined up on Knavesmire Road alongside thousands of other runners for the York 10K.
For plenty of people a 10K is a Sunday morning. For Katy it was a good deal more than that. She committed to it back in the spring, trained through everything the year threw at her, and got round a course that takes in the city walls, Clifford’s Tower and the Minster before returning to the Knavesmire. Taking on something genuinely difficult, in public, and asking people to sponsor you while you do it takes a particular kind of nerve. Huge thanks to Andy Lightfoot, Sally Mook & Charlotte Smith who were with Katy through every step of the journey, from the first donation through to the last step over the line.
Katy’s run raised £1,445. Every pound of it was hard earned.
Where the money goes
£5,218 is not an abstract figure. The Nikki Waterhouse Trust was set up in February 2015 in memory of Nicole “Nikki” Waterhouse, and the money we raise goes to children under 18 and the families around them. Over the years that has meant sensory equipment for children with complex needs, support for children’s hospices, a sensory room in Nikki’s memory on the children’s ward at York Hospital, and practical help for individual families at the point where other sources of support have run out.
We are open for applications
This is the part we would most like you to read, and to pass on.
The Trust welcomes applications for funding from individuals, from anywhere in the United Kingdom. We support children under the age of 18 who are living with a life-threatening or terminal illness, who have suffered an injury that has had a catastrophic effect on their life and their family’s life, or whose family has been affected by disaster or the loss of their home. We welcome applications from all backgrounds.
We are a small trust and every application is read by the trustees. You can download our funding application form from the What We Do page at thenikkiwaterhousetrust.co.uk, or email us at enquiries@thenikkiwaterhousetrust.org if you are not certain whether your circumstances fit. If you know a child or a family who might qualify, please forward this to them. Reaching the people who need us is the hardest part of what we do.
Thank you
To our paddlers, to Katy, to the volunteers, to the Rotary Club of York, and to everyone who sponsored, shared or turned up on the day: thank you. Two events, £5,218, and a great deal of good it will do.
You can support the Trust at any time at justgiving.com/nikki-waterhouse
