My mother has always been an organiser — she thrives on a project

Most of her life has been spent raising money for charity

When I was at playgroup, she raised money for that

When I was at school, she raised money for that too

When my brother and I left school, she didn’t stop, she just moved on to raising money for other local charities

But those are stories for another day

What stands out most is how she was always looking for new ideas

Like anything in life, you have to innovate if you want to keep people engaged

That’s when she came up with the idea of a 24-hour mower marathon

She contacted all the local charities and invited them to take part

The plan was simple but brilliant: create a public event that drew footfall, and give the charities free stands so they could engage directly with the community

Now, when I first heard "mower marathon," I imagined an old lawnmower with a seat welded on and apparently so did most other people

But my mum had bigger plans

She called an agricultural tools company, and they donated a professional mower for the event

There were a few grumbles, some people complained that this was “basically a tractor"

But Mum made the rules, so she overruled them

From my point of view, it was fantastic, I got to stay up late and watch the event unfold

More importantly, it raised a lot of money for charity

And my mum won, she photo

And for those with eagle eyes, you can even spot me in the photo… with long hair!

Conclusion

This memory always reminds me that innovation isn’t about fancy technology, it’s about seeing an opportunity, rallying people together, and having the courage to make it happen

My mum taught me that if you want to create impact, sometimes you just have to pick up the phone, make the ask, and keep going until it works