Hello! I come bearing glad tidings. The time has come to not only disclose the proceeds of our December fundraiser, but to also let you know that the deed has been done and the donation has been made. So the important bit first:

What a proud sum, so elegantly even 😉. How did we do that???? Well, here are the accounts for the fundraiser.

The auctions on eBay made a net profit of €2,103.35. The fixed-price sale on Etsy generated a net profit of €1,042.17. These are all net profits, i.e. the money that was transferred to me by eBay and Etsy. They already deducted their fees at source. (More about that below) We additionally received donations to the tune of €884.91. From the net profits of €4,030.64 we had to cover the postage costs of €575.81. These also include customs fees which I had to pay for receiving shipments containing items that were donated for the fundraiser. So minus the postage we come to the final proceeds of €3,454.83. This converts to ￡2,975.02 or $3,632.38.

As you can see, I rounded up our final donation to that nice even sum. That is not only done for cosmetic purposes, but also to make sure that I am not inadvertently charging the fundraiser with fees that were incurred by the sale of my *own*, private Etsy items. Some of you very kindly also bought items from my Etsy shop that were *not* part of the fundraiser, so those sales went into my own pocket. A big thank you for that! However, I have reimbursed all transaction fees associated with my own items, and erred on the side of caution. So only the various transaction fees incurred by the sale of fundraiser items have been taken from the proceeds.

Speaking of which – just for the sake of transparency, here is a breakdown of the fees incurred by the fundraiser. (These were already deducted when the proceeds were transferred to my bank account!) eBay charged €306.15. (The fee is calculated as 11% of the final item price plus €0.35 per order.) On Etsy we were charged €128,51. (The fees here are 6.5% of the individual item price for the transaction on the platform, as well as 4% of the item price plus €0.30 for each individual payment transaction.) These costs may seem high; however, we are paying for the ease of conducting a sale/auction on established platforms, so personally I am happy with that.

Once again, thank you so much for all your support of this fundraiser – and of all fundraisers this year. Just to remind you, we actually conducted 3 fundraisers this year – starting with a spontaneous charity sale in aid of Ukraine in March, and then the birthday fundraiser as well as this December fundraiser. You have been extraordinarily generous this year. In total we have raised €9562.48 in 2022. That’s ￡8,233.15 or $10,058.84. Amazing numbers, no matter what currency. Our raised total since the very first fundraiser in 2016 stands now at €35,154.07 ($36,975.62 or ￡30,268.73). I feel dizzy when I consider those sums. Thank you very much for all your continued support, no matter whether it is through donated items, bids and purchases, or tweets and cheers. It all counts because I’d like to think that our fundraisers are not about spending money or donating items but an opportunity for us as a community to have some fun together while doing some good. We are putting the FUN into the draiser, if you catch my drift. It still thrills me that a group so far dispersed and diverse can come together as one and create not only a “virtual” Christmas gift for Richard, but also make a difference for the charities we support.

One last time, my thanks go to the donors and creators of items in this year’s December FundRAiser, i.e. Pam K., Graza, Paula, Velvet, Ania, SahRA, Esther, Sassenach Lou, Poppy, NF, Jane B, Lana, Pam R., Mezz, Kate, Ani, Anne and Jane D. My thanks also go to all buyers and auction winners who splashed out on items in the sale and on eBay. Your names are withheld for reasons of discretion, but you know who you are, and of course we couldn’t do without you. Thirdly, a big thank you to all participants who donated money to the fundraiser via Paypal and stepped up their contributions when I asked for the last little push. Once again, for reasons of discretion, I won’t name any names, but rest assured that *I* know who you are, and I am more than grateful. Lastly, a big thank you to our wonderful friends on Social Media who have reblogged, RT’d, shared, commented, cheered, signal-boosted and applauded the fundraiser. I appreciate your support more than you know! And here I’d also like to mention those donors based in the UK, who have very cleverly opted to donate directly to LOROS, in order to also accrue the 25% gift aid. Thank you!

Our Christmas present for RA – and LOROS by extension – is early this year. I think we are getting the biggest bang for our buck this way. Our donation to LOROS will reach further than Richard. It has the power to make a difference for the many families who depend on LOROS’ service, maybe even this particular time of year. If we can make sure that through our donation they will have the funds needed to supply their amazing service even just for one patient, for one day, then that is already a win. And without getting too soppy, may our present come back to Richard as good karma. He is forever credited with bringing many fans together – not just us, but others, too – and has inspired a lot of goodwill and joy. That means something, even if there is no financial number on it. So, good on you, Richard. And good on you, all supporters! Let’s put this baby to bed for this year – we’ve done our bit. Lots of love!

PS: You can find proof of the donation on Mrs Armitage’s tribute site at much-loved. Additionally, this is the automated donation receipt sent to me: