Pride of Britain 2021: Katie Jordan named North East fundraiser of the year

It's the return of Pride of Britain, where we applaud some of those whose fundraising has made a big difference in their community.

We are very proud to announce that this year's regional award has been won by fundraiser extraordinaire Katie Jordan!

Katie will now represent the North East in the national finals.

Katie's story

Last Christmas Eve, Katie Jordan's two-year-old son was diagnosed with leukaemia and there was no suitable bone marrow donor on the register.

This spurred the Teesside mum to raise more awareness, and funds for the Anthony Nolan charity - more than £50,000 so far.

Katie Jordon said: “He was diagnosed on Christmas Eve last year and we were only given around 12 months for him to live.

"We didn’t know if that would be our last Christmas with him or not, so we wanted to make the most of things because, he had quite a rare blood marrow, we didn’t actually know if we would get a donor or not."

A match was found thanks to Katie's tireless efforts  - and Mason went through a life-saving stem cell transplant in March.

The 23-year-old has given her son the round-the-clock medical care, all while raising £50,000 in any free time she could find - by launching a Just Giving page, organising raffles and getting local businesses involved.

Her best friend Katie Dea nominated her for the award.

"I just think there isn't a word out there that describes Katie. She is just phenomenal. I've never known a person to be so strong in such a difficult time in your life when she was told there was no chance for him, and she's done everything she can to find that match for him.

Katie Jordan is among the biggest sole fundraisers in the shortest space of time the Anthony Nolan charity has known.

The money is going towards tests to check whether donors are a suitable bone marrow match for those who so desperately need a transplant.

Hayley Tomkinson, from Anthony Nolan, said: "Katie will have known herself that to hear those words that there isn't a donor for you on the register, you know that that's potentially the only thing that's going to save your life, you can't even imagine how that would feel.

"Her help with the funds she has raised, and the awareness she has raised is going to mean that lots more people will hopefully not be able to hear those words, cause there is a donor for them now ."

Katie's focus now is on her son having the normal life she didn't think he'd be able to have.

Not only has Katie saved Mason's life - but she has given many other families the gift of hope.

She was chosen by a panel of judges, with writer Ann Cleeves saying:

"Once she got what she needed - which was a bone marrow transplant for Mason - she then carried on raising funds for other people for the Anthony Nolan charity. That's what made her particularly special."