The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation’s 2024 FireWalk proves to be major success

On Sunday March 3, The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation hosted an exhilarating FireWalk, welcoming people to take a risk and walk on burning hot coals, in support of their local community.

In total, the event has raised an impressive £4,883, all of which will be going towards the Northamptonshire Community, supporting people most in need. The charity is celebrating its four year anniversary on Saturday March 30, so they felt this was a 'fantastic opportunity to celebrate'.

The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation was initially established in response to the Covid-19 lockdowns, which saw many households suddenly facing financial hardship and unable to get by. The charity began as a food bank, distributing vital food supplies and household goods to families and individuals across the county who were struggling. Nearly four years on, their food bank now supports more than 70 Northamptonshire schools, as well as other vital organisations including local mental health services, domestic abuse services, the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, and more. On top of their food bank, The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation run three weekly social clubs, a door step buddies programme, gardening service, home renovation services, educational services and other welfare support.

The FireWalk saw participants from all walks of life in Northamptonshire, including some fantastic staff teams from two local schools - Stimpson Avenue Academy and St Lukes Primary School, both of whom The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation supports with their schools support scheme. TMDF provides regular food packages, breakfast boxes, tech items, school shoes and more, to the schools families who are struggling financially.

Stimpson Avenue Academy, who TMDF have been supporting since 2021, said: “Ten of our staff were only too pleased to participate in the FireWalk, fundraising for a charity that has supported so many of our own vulnerable families during the most challenging of times.”

Similarly, St Lukes Primary School, who TMDF have been supporting since March 2020 said: “All seven of us got involved with the event to raise vital funds for this amazing organisation. As staff we were a little anxious about the event but we kept being assured it was safe! This was something we had never done before but we all enjoyed being part of a wonderful atmosphere and having an opportunity to try something different, and support a charity who has done so much for us! All of us completed two walks and some three, and we couldn’t believe how black our feet were at the end!”

Teresa, Founder of The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation said they the charity was ‘extremely overjoyed’ to have seen such a great result from the event. She explained that: “With the rising cost of living, demand for our services has never been higher, so fundraising is more important than ever before.’. She continued, ‘We want to say a huge thanks to everyone who was brave and took part, it was no easy feat! Especially the schools and our main sponsor, Deane Roofing, who were able to raise such amazing funds! We also want to say a huge thank you to Kingsthorpe Golf Club, for letting us host the event at their club.”

The charity has already booked in their next FireWalk for 2025, planned for March 2 that year. You can reach out to them if you’d like to get involved, via [email protected].

If you’d like to support the charity, you can do so by visiting their LocalGiving page here: https://localgiving.org/charity/the-mccarthy-dixon-foundation/

You can find out more about the charity itself and their work here: https://mccarthydixon.org.uk/