At 91, this selfless man won't stop fundraising

Retired engineer and civil servant, 91-year-old Peter Robinson left work over two decades ago. But one job he didn't give up so easily was his voluntary position at Christian Aid.

Forever a hard worker, Peter rose through the ranks to become a committee secretary and district organiser. More recently, after the pandemic started in 2020, he was inspired by Captain Tom Moore to walk 220 times around his independent living complex for Christian Aid. This took him on a 20-mile journey that raised £1,550 for the charity with the help of other residents and staff.

Buoyed by the success of his efforts, this year’s Christian Aid Week was a similar story, and lockdown didn’t stand in his way.

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“I realised I wouldn’t be able to walk very far so I looked for ideas on the Christian Aid website and discovered the H2Only Challenge. I set up another JustGiving page, emailed all my supporters to thank them for last year’s generosity, and invited them to sponsor me for drinking nothing but water for four weeks.”

This was both tough and fun at the same time. “But,” says Peter, “apart from watching the money mounting up, the most enjoyable part was drinking the cup of tea I made myself at six o’clock on the morning following the challenge!”

Peter has raised nearly £800, plus Gift Aid, so far this year, a total that continues to grow and his fundraising efforts have legendary status at Abbeyfield Court.

Unwavering in his support

Peter’s contribution to the charity dates back decades. “In the early 1970s I was approached just before a Christian Aid Week by a friend, who asked, ‘Are you collecting for Christian Aid?’ ‘No,’ I replied, to which he said, ‘Well you jolly well should be!’ So I collected and soon joined the committee.”

By the mid-1970s, Peter had become the committee secretary and district organiser, responsible for seven local churches. His dedication led him and his wife, Marion, to attend a number of Christian Aid rallies in London and Brighton as well as Edinburgh, during a G7 summit in support of their ‘Drop the Debt’ campaign.

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“I've been a very keen supporter of Christian Aid and its objectives since I first volunteered,” he says. “Most of my volunteering has been administrative, but there was always the annual Christian Aid Week door-to-door collection. This is when you meet all kinds of people, from the chatty and amicable, to the irritable and sometimes downright abusive.

“I remember an amusing incident when, having had an earful of hostility from an elderly man, I accidentally knocked on the same man’s back door. Fortunately, I could run faster than he could!”

“But,” Peter continues, “I have also made many friends over the years, including regional coordinators employed by Christian Aid, and I feel grateful to have been part of such a brilliant and friendly team.”

Donating his time come rain or shine

Such is Peter’s enjoyment of volunteering that he has never missed a Christian Aid Week since he started – even when conditions were not ideal.

“I will never forget the year it poured with rain every day. I clothed myself with waterproofs and started knocking on doors. I must have resembled a drowned rat because people said how sorry they were for me. On the plus side, I collected almost twice as much as I normally get from that road!”

He is not one to shy away from a challenge, either. So when he came across a database programme that even his extensive IT skills couldn’t navigate, he signed up to a learndirect course and quickly overcame the problem.

His efforts have not gone unrewarded by Christian Aid, and he was presented with their prestigious Diamond Award in 2018.

Christian Aid’s church engagement project officer for the region, Laura Mead, says: “Life-long volunteers like Peter are essential to the work of Christian Aid. It’s not just his determination to do these challenges and collections, or the incredible amounts he raises, it’s also the hope and inspiration our staff and those who are supported by Christian Aid get from knowing that people like him are willing to stand up in service of those living in extreme poverty. It warms our hearts and drives us onwards. Thank you, Peter!”

Despite the obvious enjoyment he takes from his volunteering, he appreciates the need to be “realistic” about his role going forward.

“I am in my 92nd year,” he says, “and must bear in mind that I am profoundly deaf, almost blind and fairly lame. Christian Aid is a part of me now and I would love to help their cause for as long as I can. I tend to be an opportunist, so I’ll wait to see what the future holds.”

Support Christian Aid by donating to Peter’s H2Only Challenge here.