Help Lisa Connell Create Change with Influential Stars!

Lisa Connell was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and despite having a whole host of debilitating symptoms on a regular basis, Lisa believes now is the time to make her dream of creating a successful business that raises awareness & funds for others, a reality!

My name is Lisa Connell, and I’ve been living with an inoperable meningioma brain tumour since 2006. From that moment, it became my mission to raise awareness around brain tumours and support the organisations that fund life-saving research.

Back in 2010, I launched a unique initiative called Rent A Date For Charity, which, in just six months, gained worldwide media attention and raised over £50,000 for brain tumour-related causes.

Sadly, due to my worsening health at the time, I had to press pause to focus on my own treatment.

Fast forward to 2025 — my tumour, which had remained stable for years, is now slowly growing again. But this time, I have someone new by my side: my miracle daughter, Ruby. She’s nine, she’s fearless, and she’s my reason to keep pushing forward.

Introducing… Influential Stars!

This new project means everything to me. Influential Stars is a commercial fundraising business with heart — and a whole lot of purpose. It’s a platform where people across the UK can enter prize draws to win one-of-a-kind meet and greet experiences with their favourite UK personalities and creators — all while having fun, raising funds, and completing a FIT List Challenge together to boost awareness for a range of causes.

Every experience we run is in partnership with Virgin Experience Days, one of the UK’s top experience providers, so there really is something for everyone.

But here’s the part I’m most proud of…

As a business, we pledge to donate up to 85% of our net profits to charitable causes. Yes — you read that right. We’re here to make a difference, not just noise.

Each prize draw supports a different UK charity or urgent cause, meaning we’re not restricted to one area of giving. We can be nimble, responsive, and support the stories that truly matter — as and when they happen.

Now I need your help to make this dream a reality. The funds raised here will help support the growth and development of Influential Stars — including covering ongoing website costs, outstanding overheads, and allowing us to continue doing what we do best: helping others.

Most of all, this is about building a legacy — something Ruby and I can be proud of, no matter what the future holds.

Please, if you can, donate today. Whether it's £2 or £200 — it all helps us move one step closer to making this vision come to life.

Visit influentialstars.org for more info, or follow us across social media:

@1nfluentialStars & @OfficiallyLisaConnell

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please help me help others.