Give a Duck

Did you know that we a counterpart across the pond? Give A Duck is a UK-based charity that helps us spread our wings internationally. Give A Duck is the official UK distributor for Gabe’s Chemo Duck Program and delivers chemo ducks to childhood cancer centers in England and Wales. They also work with local charities to spread the word. Since September 2018, Give A Duck has increased support to the UK Principal Treatment Centres by 50%.

Give A Duck was founded by Karen and Andrew Phillips after their son Harry was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012. After seeing the impact that Harry’s chemo duck made on his journey, Harry’s parents made a fated connection with our founder, Lu Sipos. Since Lu was born and raised in the UK, she was eager to help spread the comfort of chemo ducks to England. However, she was having a problem with the international storage and distribution of the ducks. Jenkar Shipping kindly stepped in and since then, the ducks have made their way over to the UK. There’s been no word on if they’ve developed Madonna-like accents yet.

As for Harry, he doesn’t go anywhere without his Chemo Duck. That’s why Give a Duck has continued their efforts and partnered with Candlelighters, a Yorkshire children’s cancer charity, to achieve their goal of making sure that every child that is diagnosed with cancer is provided with a Chemo Duck.

Through Candlelighters, Karen and her husband Andrew met Eve Corry, now charity development director at Give A Duck. Eve recently ran the Leeds Half Marathon (the biggest half marathon in Yorkshire) on behalf of Give a Duck. Eve set up a JustGiving page and posted regular updates on her training on that platform as well as on her social media. She raised more than £680 pounds (that’s more than $850!) by race day. Eve credits her family, friends, as well as locals and visitors for supporting this incredible endeavor!

To keep up to date with Give A Duck’s latest news and help spread the word, follow their charity pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.