Fundraiser raises over £18,000 for in memory of her son
Since 2019, Michelle Tipper has raised an incredible five-figure sum in memory of her son, Connor Price.
Connor was a young man who had football running through his veins. If he wasn’t playing on the weekend, he’d be stood inside the Amex Stadium cheering on the Seagulls.
Connor was even part of Albion in the Community’s (AITC) Further Education programme and possessed a natural passion for coaching children. But sadly, due to complications with type 1 diabetes, Michelle’s son passed away in April 2019.
It was a truly heartbreaking moment for Michelle and to many of the people connected to Connor, as over 350 people attended his funeral. Nevertheless, he hasn’t been forgotten and Michelle has made it her personal mission to raise money for charity in his memory.
“When he passed it, only felt right to raise money for AITC. We wanted to raise money for something that was close to Connor, and we wanted to raise money for something that was making a difference locally, and AITC was perfect.”
She later added: “We also wanted to raise money for AITC because they put Connor through two years of studying so we wanted to give something back.”
In the two years since Connor’s passing, Michelle and a number of other selfless fundraisers have managed to raise more than £18,000, which is a truly staggering figure. Connor’s fundraising army have managed to gather funds through numerous avenues, which has been largely spearheaded by his mother.
She has hosted several fundraising events, including hiring out a local pub where they held a raffle and auction of Albion shirts. Former Seagulls legend Adam El-Abd, who made over 300 appearances for the Seagulls, showed his support at this event.
More recently, Michelle and 16 others took part in the Brighton Marathon Weekend’s 10K in September of this year to raise money for Connor’s cause.
“It’s totally out of my comfort zone running a 10K,” Michelle admitted with a grin. “I hate running, I absolutely hate running. But I thought to myself when I was running, ‘I bet Connor is laughing so much at us running around right now.’
“I literally had to be dragged across the finish line by my friend. When we got over the line, we both just collapsed into each other’s arms and just started crying.”
This moment signified the end of an extremely testing challenge where she, and 16 others, pushed her body to the limit to raise money for her beloved son. Although, she isn’t quite finished with her fundraising quest just yet.
“My aim is to get to £21,000 because that’s how old he would have been and I want to raise an extra £1,000 each year. I’m in this for the rest of my life and as long as AITC need my help, I’m in it for the long term.”
For AITC, Michelle is a genuine fundraising heroine whose selfless actions will help thousands of people across Sussex.
If you’re interested in fundraising for AITC, please email fundraising@bhafcfoundation.org.uk or visit our website bhafcfoundation.org.uk.