Caroline Jones

Caroline Jones (born 1968) is an English charity fundraiser from Chester, Cheshire. She started volunteering for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) as a window dresser in Harpenden, Hertfordshire shortly after her mother died of breast cancer in 2014. She received a "Pioneer of the Year" accolade from CRUK's Flame of Hope and a Points of Light award in 2015 for her work wearing different second-hand clothes every day of that year. She originally projected to raise £1,000, but actually raised £43,500 in 2015. She also established Knickers Model's Own that year to commemorate her mother's death. She repeated the charity shop challenge ten years later in 2025.

Life Caroline Jones was born in Chester, Cheshire, in 1968. She has three children. Jones started volunteering in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, at a Cancer Research UK (CRUK) charity shop as a window dresser (where she arranged donations shown on display windows) shortly after her mother Mary Benson, aged 72, died of breast cancer in October 2014. Jones established Knickers Model's Own in 2015 to commemorate her mother's death and to financially support CRUK. The name signifies that she still buys new knickers (a type of women's underwear).

In January 2024, JustGiving partnered with Jones and hosted a fundraising-focused podcast, titled What Have I Done? The podcast features ten episodes from each of the ten interviewees including herself and Leah Chowdhry, the first British Asian woman to swim across the English Channel. She had an idea about the challenge on New Years Eve in 2014. She raised just over £2,600 on 4 November 2015, after a one-off event in Harpenden Public Halls, where she put approximately a thousand items on sale. In the end, she raised more than £43,500 in 2015, £7,000 over her June predictions. She responded to the award saying it was "a huge honour", which was "a wonderful way to end [...] the hardest and the most rewarding year of my life". At the start of 2025, she raised approximately £70,000, including from her book, A Year of Frugal Fashion. She was invited to a Buckingham Palace reception for cancer charities on 30 April 2025 for her fundraising support and met the King while wearing an £8.50 dress. The customers "praised its friendly staff, community events and 'constantly updated stock'."

Awards + Year Award Category Title Result 2015 Pioneer of the Year Flame of Hope Cancer Research UK 2015 Points of Light Charity shop challenge Cancer Research UK