Founder and Chair of local Bucks & Herts charity receives award on C4 show The Last Leg

On Friday 13th December 2024, Robert Breakwell, the Founder and Chair of local Herts and Bucks charity The Pepper Foundation, was honoured to be the first-ever winner of the ‘Golden Hans Award’ on the Channel 4 comedy talk show The Last Leg.

Comedy legend Adam Hills (well-known for his charity work) presented Robert Breakwell with the award, recognising 35 years of fundraising for children’s hospice care.

This award represents an amazing end to the year that was the 35th anniversary of the Pepper Foundation. Robert founded The Pepper Foundation charity in 1989 to help fund vital hospice at home care for children with life-limiting conditions. Starting with the incredible annual rock show ‘The Pepper Show’ (October 2025 will be its 36th show week) and year-round fundraising, The Pepper Foundation has raised over £8 million to support children’s hospice at home care.

Since 1989, hundreds of children and their families have been supported with clinical care, respite care, specialist play therapy and end-of-life care. 2025 will possibly be the Pepper Foundation’s biggest year to date as we plan to work with even more organisations to help deliver the care so many families in Herts and Bucks have come to rely on.

Robert Breakwell said: “It was a huge honour to be the winner of the first Golden Hans Award on The Last Leg. When I started raising funds for children's hospice at home care in 1989, I couldn’t have imagined it would turn into a life-long project to help fund local care for families supporting children with life-limiting conditions… Or that one day I’d receive an award on a prestigious national television show! But it’s not just me that makes the Pepper Foundation a success; this award is as much for every person who has worked or volunteered for Pepper over the years. Without the hard work and dedication of many people every year we couldn’t fund the children’s hospice care that's relied on by so many families”.

From all of the staff and volunteers at the Pepper Foundation, we would like to thank Robert for his boundless enthusiasm for the cause and for his dedication over the last 35 years.

The episode (Series 31 Episode 8) can be streamed on Channel 4 OD: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-last-leg/on-demand/77068-008

The Instagram post by the official Last Leg account can be found here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDpOmeoSwFj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

About the Pepper Foundation

Our mission is to raise funds to support hospice at home services for children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and their families, across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire and organise social events to bring families together.

The Pepper Foundation is a charity that funds the children’s hospice at home care in Bucks and Herts. We have been funding the Children’s Hospice at Home service at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care for over 30 years, making an annual grant of circa £250,000 to fund the work of the nursing and play teams. We also work with other hospice care charities in Bucks and Herts, with substantial grants made to Helen & Douglas House and Keech Hospice Care in 2024.

By the end end of the 2023/2024 year, Pepper had raised a grand total of £7,937,549 since the first Pepper show back in 1989. And we are delighted to report that our fundraising income to date topped £8 million early in the 2024/25 year.

During the year, even more children receiving care, their siblings, parents and carers were able to meet up informally at events organised and funded by Pepper offering a rare chance for them to enjoy a day out, share their experiences and forge new friendships.

To enable as many children and families as possible to attend, Pepper supports families experiencing financial hardship by providing free transport to our events. This has made it possible for families who were previously unable to attend to join us. One parent with two children, both needing wheelchairs, told us that, because specialist transport is required for both children, our day at Whipsnade Zoo was the first time they had been able to take both children out at the same time.

When parents face the unthinkable reality that their child has a life-limiting or life-threatening illness, the specialist nursing service we fund is there - no matter what time, day or night - to provide care, emotional support, and advice. The service also supports the whole family, so that family time can be about being together, having fun, and smiling - and nothing to do with hospitals. For further information about the Pepper Foundation, please visit: https://www.pepper.org.uk/