Honour for Yorkshire Ice Bucket heroes who raised millions for MND

When Paula Maguire saw that Barack Obama had been challenged to the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS she decided it would be a good way to raise a few pounds for the disease which had killed her uncle.

She set up a Just Giving page, videoed her husband Robert having a bucket of iced water poured over his head, came up with the text ICED55 and set a target to raise £500.

“I don’t think many people in the UK realise that ALS is another name for Motor Neurone Disease,” explains the Barnsley midwife from Ryhill, Wakefield.

“My uncle died very quickly from MND in 2009. When I saw the Kennedys had challenged President Obama to do the Ice Bucket Challenge in America I thought it would be a good way of raising awareness off this devastating disease over here.”

Paula could not have imagined what would happen next.

“I’d put a target of £500, but I didn’t think we would reach that as I just thought a few friends and family would do it. But even if it got the message across to a few people it was worth it.

“Within a couple of days it had reached £470. Robert and I spent the next few weeks on Facebook and Twitter trying to get as many people as possible to nominate three friends to do the Ice Bucket Challenge in return for a donation.”

Then one day Paula came home from work to see that actor Benedict Cumberbatch had posted a video doing the Ice Bucket Challenge.

“There next to him was my text number, ICED55. I couldn’t believe. It I knew he was a patron of the MND Association, but it just went mad from there.”

Suddenly the figure on Paula’s Just Giving page jumped to £300,000. “I just couldn’t believe it. I never dreamt we’d raise anything like that.” Two days later Paula returned home to find the video had gone viral and her page had raised a staggering £1m.

“It then went really mad. Within 24 hours it had doubled to £2m and all sorts of celebrities were doing it.”

Paula launched her Ice Bucket Challenge on August 8, 2014, 16 months on and her target stands at an incredible £4m with money still coming in. Direct donation to the MND Association added another £3.5m. “It is still really hard to believe what we achieved. Yes it is a lot of money, but almost more importantly it got people talking about MND.

“I run a lot of 10ks and when people see the MND vest they stop and talk to me. They point and say ‘MND, that’s the Ice Bucket Challenge. That is what is really important to me.”

Later this month Paula and Robert will travel to The Palace of Westminster when there will be bestowed with the British Citizen Award, two of just 33 people to receive the honour.

The awards recognise determined and committed individuals who have done something extraordinary in the community or workplace, effectively impacting the lives of those around them.

Paula and Robert were nominated by their 19 year old daughter Kelsey.

For more information visit justgiving.com/paulamaguiremnd

“I had no idea she’d nominated us until we got a call at the end of last year. It feels amazing. The fact that Kelsey thought about it, took the time to put a nomination together and then a panel of judges thought we were worthy of receiving it. It is such an honour.”

Paula is no stranger to fund-raising, running her first marathon in 2004 the day before her 30th birthday for 30th birthday raising £2,500 for Wakefield hospice. That as followed by other events including a wing walk, abseil and other fund-raising events.

But it was in 2009 when the family returned from holiday that Paula received the devastating news that her uncle, Stuart Hughes, had been diagnosed with MND.

“I had just decided to train as a midwife after being a housewife and mum. But event then I knew very little about MND. By the time we had done some research and found out there was no cure and that he had between two to five years to live he suddenly died, nine weeks later. We hadn’t event really come to terms with the diagnosis.

“I knew then that I wanted to raise money and awareness of MND. There is so little money going into the research of this cruel disease.

“No one knows what causes it and so they can’t even start to find a cure for it. I started fundraising for MND the day after my uncle died. I talked Robert into doing the Great North Run and I’ve been running ever since including a 100k. I’m not a fast runner but it is a great de-stresser. Being a midwife can be quite stressful sometimes and it is great just to be able to go out on a run.”

Paula met Robert when she was 17 and they married when she was 19, and had their two daughters Kelsey and Megan.

“I didn’t have a career, I was bringing up my family. Then in 2009 Robert said it was my time to do something for me as the girls were older. I had always wanted to be a midwife but thought I was too young when I left school.”

Paula enrolled on a course at Huddersfield University and it 2013 started work as a midwife at Barnsley Hospital.

“It was hard work to get qualified as I was travelling, studying and juggling a family – and also fund-raising, but it was worth it.”

Paula and Robert will travel to The House of Lords on January 28 to receive their British Citizen Award, which follows on from Paula’s Pride of Britain Award last year.

“Although we don’t do these things to be awarded, it is lovely to have been recognised for our fundraising.

“I am inspired by the people living with MND and I hope that the Ice Bucket Challenge has highlighted the disease and the impact it has on people globally.”