Our Origins
Fatboys Charity was established in 1999. It was founded in the wake of the passing of Mike ‘Fatboy' Lawless. Mike was a serving Police Officer in Swindon. He died in 1999 aged 31 years from cancer. He had previously worked as a nurse, at a variety of hospitals including Guy’s Hospital in London.
Mike was a keen rugby player who captained the Wiltshire Police Rugby Team. He played a good standard of rugby in the front row at Swindon Rugby Club, as well as for teams in his hometown of Gloucester. Separate to his skills on the field, Mike was also a very proficient musician who played guitar and sang for local rock band Animal House in the years prior to, and even during his illness. Mike was an incredibly popular bloke with a great sense of humour and a social animal.
The Charity raises funds throughout the year in order to purchase Christmas presents for children suffering with cancer and leukaemia. We raise funds through kind donations, people doing sponsored events on our behalf, and through our annual fundraising day the ‘Day of Lawlessness’. The first of these annual events took place in 1999 and has been a highlight ever since.
The Day of Lawlessness consists of a rugby match in the afternoon involving our own charity side, Lawless XV followed by a live music evening which also includes an auction. This event has grown considerably over the past two decades and now features well known acts playing live as well as celebrity rugby players attending the afternoon event.
Since our inception in 1999, we have raised in the region of £200,000 and have helped hundreds of children suffering with serious illness.
We wouldn’t be able to continue to do this without the support of the public and are totally reliant on their charitable efforts through sponsored events as well as our own fundraising day.
Keeping Costs Down
So far, more than 1,000 children have experienced a small amount of joy during their most difficult times thanks to our little charity. Nearly all the money raised goes straight to the children we help as we keep our overheads very low.
Everyone who is directly connected, carries out work for the charity free of charge. We have no offices, no paid staff and no significant overheads. Our incidental costs are on stationery, website hosting and merchandise - all of which pay for themselves many times over in helping the charity to grow.