We Did It!! We Raised $32,978 / £24,627 For Charity! THANK YOU!!

The latest versions of the Captain Hudson and First Mate Rolo Plushies have raised $32,977 /£24,627 for charity! That is amazing, thank you all so much!

When I decided to put Captain Hudson and a First Mate Rolo plushies on sale together for the first time, I was a little nervous.

It was a big ask to see if our wonderful, supportive cruise community would want to support two totally separate charities at the same time.

I was very aware that many people are under significant financial pressures at the moment, and fully understood that many would not able to donate.

Both Mercy Ship’s and Lucky’s Legacy Rescue are charities that are very close to my heart , and I couldn’t resist the chance of raising a little more money for them.

I was delighted – and very grateful – to find that, once again, people wanted to support these wonderful charities and add another Captain Hudson or First Mate Rolo to their collections.

Why Hudson & Rolo?

Hudson

The Hudson and Rolo plushies were based on my own pets.

Hudson was a rescue cat adopted from the Cats Protection League, a UK charity.

He was a five-year-old, big ginger Tom cat – a real character.

He had been in the cat shelter for some time before I adopted him, and it was wonderful to see him settle into his new surroundings, becoming a confident cat and coming out of his shell.

I wanted to raise some money for charity, and my YouTube followers often referred to Hudson as “Captain Hudson” when he decided to pay a visit to my YouTube live streams.

This sparked the idea of designing some Captain Hudson plushes based on Hudson to raise money for charity.

I knew I had a fantastic YouTube/Instagram/Facebook following and had built a cruise community to be proud of.

I was nervous that I wouldn’t sell enough – there was a minimum number of 300 that had to be ordered for the plushies to go into production. It could have been a complete disaster!

The amount sold of Captain Hudson Version 1 surpassed my expectations, with over 1300 sold.

There have been five more versions of Captain Hudson produced since then – all slightly different – and a huge amount of money has been raised for the amazing charity, Mercy Ships.

Unfortunately, I lost Hudson very recently, at the age of twelve, due to an untreatable medical condition.

I miss him terribly, but I am so pleased to know his legacy lives on through the money he has raised for charity.

Rolo

Rolo is my Romanian Rescue dog, rescued from the streets by the charity, Lucky’s Legacy Rescue.

Adopting him was the best decision I have ever made. I have never owned a dog before, but having Rolo in my life has changed both of our lives for the better!

He is a happy boy who loves nothing better than a comfortable lap to sit on (ideally with an electric blanket and a nice pillow for his head!)

It breaks my heart to think of all the other street dogs in Romania, on the street with no one to look out for, or care for them.

Having seen the great success of Captain Hudson, I decided to do the same thing and design a First Mate Rolo plushie.

Even a small amount of money raised for this charity can do great things, and keep street dogs warm, fed and loved.

How Much Was Raised

Captain Hudson Version 6 raised $18,818.54 for Mercy Ships.

First Mate Rolo, Version 2, raised $14,159.88 for Lucky’s Legacy Rescue.

A total of $32,978.42 / £24,616.91 was donated to Mercy Ships and Lucky’s Legacy for these latest versions of the plushies.

In total, the funds raised for these two charities (including plushie sales, direct donations on our behalf) are around:

$187,553 /£140,000 to Mercy Ships and $32,561 / £24,305 to Lucky’s Legacy Rescue.

We even had one person who watched my video of my time spent onboard the Mercy Ship and they donated over $100,000+. It is mind blowing to think about the impact.

Charities Supported:

Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships operate the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ships.

Founded in 1978, the charity provides free, life-changing surgical care and medical training to people in some of the poorest countries.

They use ships because more than 44% of the world’s population lives within 100 miles of a coast.

This allows them to bring state-of-the-art medical facilities to regions with limited healthcare infrastructure.

Mercy Ships currently operates two hospital ships:

• Global Mercy: The world’s first purpose-built civilian hospital ship. It features six operating theatres and can accommodate up to 950 people when docked.
• Africa Mercy: A converted Danish rail ferry that has been in service since 2007. It contains five operating rooms and 80 ward beds.

Mercy Ships provides free surgeries for conditions such as cleft lip, cataracts, bowed legs, burn contractures, and obstetric fistulas.

This amazing organisation is run almost entirely by volunteers from over 60 different nations.

Over 3,000 volunteers serve with Mercy Ships every year. Surgeons, nurses, maritime crew, teachers, cooks, engineers and many, many more.

Most volunteers pay for their own travel and living expenses while serving on board. Some bring their entire families with them for months or even years at a time.

Find out more about their incredible work here: mercyships

Conditions requiring surgical treatment kill more people in low-income countries than HIV/Aids, TB and malaria combined. Globally, five billion people have no access to safe, affordable surgery when they need it.
In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 69% of people live on less than £2 a day. Healthcare in these countries either doesn’t exist or is unaffordable to the vast majority of the population.

Mercy Ships

I was lucky enough to be invited onboard, and it changed my view on life forever. To find out more about this amazing organisation, watch this video next:

Lucky’s Legacy Rescue

Lucky’s Legacy Rescue is a UK-registered charity that rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes stray or mistreated dogs from Romania.

It is a 100% volunteer-run organisation. They focus on finding loving homes, funding shelter care, and carrying out spay/neuter campaigns to reduce the stray dog population in Romania.

It would be impossible to see the way street dogs in Romania live and not feel compelled to do more. The amount of mistreated, starving and unwanted dogs is overwhelming, but it is why we so passionately want to be their voice and to give them hope of a brighter future. 

We are so lucky that in the UK, dogs are seen as family members. But in Romania, this sadly isn’t the case. We believe that the dogs in Romania who are suitable to be a pet, should have that chance. A chance to feel the love of being in a family, to adventure, to learn, to curl up in front of a cosy fire and to know they will always be safe.

Lucky’s Legacy Rescue

Find out more about this great charity here: luckyslegacyrescue

All profits from Captain Hudson were donated to Mercy Ships, and profits from First Mate Rolo were donated to Lucky’s Legacy Dog Rescue.

The Community Behind It

I will be forever grateful to my brilliant supporters and the great cruise community we have created together.

It is wonderful to see pictures posted from all around the world of First Mate Rolo’s and Captain Hudson plushies enjoying cruises and travelling the world.

Friendships have been created, and people have met up after taking their own Hudsons and Rolo’s on their adventures.

None of this would have been possible without your support and I will be forever grateful to every single one of you who bought a Captain Hudson or First Mate Rolo.

Thanks also to those of you who have donated to charities in the name of Hudson/Rolo, even though you didn’t want to buy a plushie.

Another big thank-you to all those who donated to Mercy Ships after my cat, Hudson, passed away. $2,164.00 was raised during my YouTube livestream in his memory.

Not everyone can afford to buy a plushie, or even wants a plushie, I fully understand that.

But I appreciate every single one of you for reading this post, spreading the word, and helping raise public awareness of these great charities. This is vital for their continued good work.

Hopefully, there will be more Captain Hudson and First Mate Rolo’s produced again in future… make sure that I have your email address below so I can let you know when they are ready:

It is really heart-warming to realise what a huge amount of good these small, plushies have actually made! Thank you all, once again.

Before You Go:

Cruise travel insurance is one of the most important things you can buy. Find out why here:

7 Cruise Disasters Travel Insurance Can Save You From (Number 3 Happened to Me)

Find out which of the ships in the Marella fleet is my favourte – and why – here:

I’ve Been On Every Marella Ship — This One Is My Favourite