The money will help cover some of the £7 million needed to run Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in High Barnet, which helps young people across north London.
The campaign launched in September and donations have been doubled thanks to the charity’s commercial backers.
The target was hit during a 36-hour ‘window’ which ended on October 13.
“We made £1 million with the generosity of our community,” Noah’s Ark chief executive Sophie Andrews said. “These funds will help cover some of our costs for the children and families who need us.”
Leah Evans, a 28-year-old from Borehamwood who was part of the 2016 Team GB Paralympics wheelchair basketball team, has hip dysplasia which led her to be in a wheelchair when she was 16 — until an operation last year.
She had to learned to walk – and strode out for 90 miles with her partner Sophie Evans, 24 as part of Noah’s Ark’s ‘Step-tember’ challenge.
“I couldn’t even stand a year ago, let alone walk,” Leah recalls. “Learning to walk again after 12 years has been an accomplishment.
“To walk 90 miles for Noah’s Ark throughout September has been an achievement I never could have imagined.”
Itohan Evbuomwan, 40, also took on the challenge and cycled 90 miles from London to Brighton “knowing that every donation was doubled with our efforts amplified”.
Another supporter was Elaine Furze from Mill Hill, whose seven-year-old daughter Willow Harris was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy when she was just 18 months old.
Elaine, who completed the Royal Parks half-marathon on October 12, said: “Noah’s Ark has done so much for us. We wanted to give something back, for the children and families they support.”
Elaine and Willow starred in the 2024 campaign film From That Moment, which documents Elaine’s journey through pregnancy to uncertainty that followed when she realised that Willow had a serious condition.
Fundraising events included a ‘Glitz and Giving’ night compared by TV presenter Melvin Odoom and a quiz night hosted by the Reed Recruitment agency in Enfield with prizes donated by businesses in the area.
Spurs football club in Tottenham, the charity’s official partner, backed the appeal with promotion videos from Bethany England, James Maddison and head coach Thomas Frank.
The hospice supports families in the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington as well as neighbouring Hertsmere.
