University of Bristol employee shortlisted for the Pride of Britain Fundraiser Award 2024

A University of Bristol employee, Lloyd Kembrey, who took on an epic year of challenges in memory of his cousins has been shortlisted for a Pride of Britain Award.

Lloyd and his school friends, Jake Macmillan, Brad Kislingbury and Joe Humphreys, tackled challenges such as running the London Marathon and bungee jumping dressed as Father Christmas.

Lloyd, his three friends and other supporters at the top of Ben Nevis

Their 15 challenges raised £43,000 for Jessie May, a charity which provides at-home nursing support to children with life-limiting diseases. The money they have raised will fund a nurse for a year.

Lloyd’s first fundraising drive for Jessie May was at the age of just six years old, when he and his mum stood outside Bristol Hippodrome with collection buckets.

The charity cared for Lloyd’s cousins, Josephine and Francesca, who both suffered from a rare degenerative disease.

When speaking about his achievement, Lloyd commented: “I don’t think my auntie’s stopped crying since she found out about the nomination. There’s a sense of pride in the family, and there’s the fact that their daughters’ names are still being spoken about.”

Lloyd and his friends battled sub-zero temperatures in a 31 mile ice skating race, hallucinated due to extreme tiredness during a 24 hour cycle and capsized while canoeing the River Wye.

Lloyd, his three friends and other supporters after their Christmas bungee jump

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He said: “For the 24 hour cycle we started in California, Norfolk, and cycled to Bristol. After 21 hours I hallucinated, I was seeing a boat on the road. The delirium had set in and it was tough. But it’s nice to see how far you can push yourself.”

Lloyd is showing no signs of slowing down now. Next year, the four friends are aiming to fundraise while breaking a world record, by becoming the first people to space hopper across the country.

Lloyd also takes on individual challenges and actually found out about the Pride of Britain nomination just before starting an Ironman event in Sweden. He said he was “taken completely by surprise” by the nomination.

He added: “I just didn’t expect to have that phone call. It made the final sprint to the finish easier!”

Lloyd is one of the four people nominated by ITV West Country for the Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year 2024. One of the fundraisers will be crowned ITV News West Country’s 2024 Regional Fundraiser of the Year Award and will head to the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards ceremony.

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• Bristol student completes 3,000km charity ride across Norway in memory of friend
• Bristol SU launch new gender expression fund for students this academic year
• Bristol Uni Vice-Chancellor ambushed by PETA activists over ‘cruel’ animal testing 

Images via The University of Bristol.