About Us
The Ryan Castle Foundation is, at this time, an unincorporated association, which means we are not registered with the charity commission. We chose this charity structure as we are at the beginning of this journey. We want to see how best to help people, and we want to keep our costs low, so that apart from essential administrative costs, all donations go to supporting people. The charity is run by volunteers, with no employees, and all money raised comes from public donations.
The foundation has four trustees. The Chair of the Ryan Castle Foundation is Lorraine Whitfield; an integrative counsellor, but most importantly, mum to Ryan.
So, who was Ryan?
A very precious son, grandson and brother, partner and friend. Family was the most important thing to Ryan, and he had so many wonderful friends. Life was going amazingly; Ryan was a talented programmer and had just set up his own business which was successful from the start. He had met the love of his life, and they had discussed their plans for life together. Ryan loved cars, and he was able to buy his dream (for now) car; a smart VW. At just 20 years old he had already accomplished so much, happiness and success seemed to fall into his lap.
But then, he got headaches, his mood felt different, and he suddenly suffered a seizure. It was a brain tumour, a big one, but operable. Sadly, the lab results after the operation gave the worst news. It was terminal. Family and friends were devastated, the car had to be sold as he could never drive again, work stopped, as his abilities were diminished on account of the surgery. He could easily have felt so sorry for himself, but he didn't. Ryan started a blog (see Ryan’s story and Ryan’s old blog), and he supported charities who were also there to support him. All this despite chemo and radiation, he wanted to help as many people as he could in the time he had left. After 17 months battling brain cancer, Ryan lost the fight in 2021. Shortly before he died, he spoke to me, he gave me a cause; asking me to continue helping people in his name.
So here I am, fulfilling my promise. I find joy and purpose in meeting other people, supporting them, and seeing them find the inner strength to savour the time that remains with loved ones. I hope to keep this charity small and personal, dedicating every penny donated to the simple aim of supporting individuals during dark moments.
Thank you for taking the time to read this page.