Maureen, Maggie and Motorbikes – our marvellous money-raisers raised over £18,000!

Members of the Suffolk Libraries team are being praised for their outstanding fundraising efforts for Suffolk Libraries Day which raised over £18,200 to support the work of the charity in the community.

Libraries across Suffolk recently arranged a kaleidoscope of events and activities as part of Suffolk Libraries Day last month. Suffolk Libraries Day is the charity’s big day of fundraising to support its work nurturing children’s literacy, tackling isolation and promoting wellbeing.

Maureen John and Maggie Lusher were two of many people who went the extra mile (literally!) in their fundraising efforts.

Maureen is the manager of both Debenham and Stradbroke libraries. She raised an amazing £1,700 for Suffolk Libraries by taking on a challenge to read her height in books and organising a book hunt in Stradbroke. This also includes £600 raised by her walking group. Maureen is 5ft 2in, so her height in books worked out at around 18,000 pages!

Maggie Lusher is the manager of Kesgrave Library and successfully completed a walking challenge on Suffolk Libraries Day, starting from her own library and taking in the six Ipswich libraries and back to Kesgrave - a total of 16 and a half miles! Maggie was accompanied by her husband and dog Bertie. and has so far raised over £1,000 from sponsorship for her challenge.

Sue Baker, the manager of Glemsford Library also worked with TTT Motorcycle Village in Sudbury who ran the White Horse Custom & Classic Charity Bike Show on 7 April which raised a further £2k.

Bruce Leeke, CEO of Suffolk Libraries, said:

“Everyone’s efforts for our big fundraising day were amazing so we want to thank those who organised or took part in events or donated money. We wanted to highlight these individuals as their achievements were particularly impressive and their passion and dedication highlights what Suffolk Libraries is all about. We’d like to thank everyone who contributes to our fundraising cause in any way as it really does make a difference and helps us to help others.”

Suffolk Libraries Day events between 2019 and 2024 have now raised nearly £70,000.

There are still many ways to support Suffolk Libraries this year. The Make a Difference With a Daisy campaign offers an opportunity to make a donation and have your very own part of a giant daisy chain installation. Suffolk Libraries is also entering teams for the Ipswich Half Marathon and the Orwell Challenge and is keen to find those willing to be sponsored to take part and raise additional funds.