Trash to Cash

I'm a very tidy blood cell but I know that not everyone is as neat and tidy as me!

The BBC programme Trash to Cash is looking for people who are hoarders or have overly cluttered homes. The show will help them recycle, refurbish and repair the clutter in order to raise money for themselves and a charity of their choice.

If you are in the West Midlands, London or just outside the M25 then programme would like to hear from you. Filming would take place in February or the first week of March.

Interested? Contact my fundraising team for details

Bertie

Bertie's Back

I've been having a rest since all the hard work of the Great North Run. I've just about recovered from this year's Santathon - running with all those Santas was hard work.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all at our next few running events - the Bath Half Marathon and Reading Half Marthon in March. There are still places for each so if you'd like to join me you'd be very welcome.
Well, I'm off for a mince pie or two - talking of Christmas, why not check out our Christmas Appeal ?
http://justgiving.com/LeukaemiaCAREChristmasAppeal

Sharon Supporters' Sponsored Silence!

Aupporter of hopeful Kilimanjaro trekker, Sharon Cherry, have completed another brilliant fundraiser to help Sharon reach her sponsorship target of £3,600.

Staff at a local hairdressing salon took part in a 6-hour sponsored silence, and between them raised an amazing £450! Sharon told us the story;

"My aunt runs the salon near to my home, and very generously offered to hold a six-hour sponsored silence to help raise funds. She said it was hard, but her customers lip read to her to decide what style they wanted to make her feel better! The total was fantastic, and I made sure to send a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for all their efforts."

At this rate, Sharon will hit her target in no time at all! If you have been inspired by Sharon's success, please visit the Leukaemia CARE fundraising website: http://www.raise4leukaemia.org.uk/ for lots of ideas as to how you can get involved with supporting the charity.

Kilimanjaro Here I Come!

Intrepid fundraiser, Sharon Cherry, has signed up with Leukaemia CARE to undertake the Kilimajaro Trek challenge, raising much needed funds for the charity at the same time! Below is a summary from Sharon about how she is busy raising the required amount of sponsorship to get her to Kilimanjaro:-

"As the amount to raise (£3,400) was quite high, I automatically set a plan in place of what I can do, who I could approach, and how much I would charge. The activities to date are; sewing trouser hems, weeding gardens, car cleaning, car boot sales, ironing, cake sales and selling car parking spaces at work. Donations have been high, largely due to a very generous contribution from my dad, plus my employers' 'Community Cashback Award' of £500.

I thought there is no point thinking you will just be handed £3,400 in sponsorship alone and I set to raising this with an urgency so that I felt it was all under control. I wrote letters to every business and shop in my large village asking for their support in sponsorship or raffle prizes. From 21 letters sent I have receieved 2 cheques and 7 raffle prizes, including a bouquet of flowers and fish & chips twice!

At the time of writing, I have about £480 to go and a few more ideas to help me achieve this. I will be selling the excess 'Old English' variety apples from my allotment, teaching someone to sew and last but not least, holding a raffle.

I took this challenge on to be an exciting thing to look forward to and aim towards and it has certainly been that. Apart from cleaning cars of my day off I've loved it!

Everyone can do something that someone will pay for, it's just your time you are giving away."

We are very proud of Sharon's effort, and her activites go to show that a bit of ingenuity and effort go a long way when settign yourself a goal such as hers. For further information or ideas about fundraising, please contact us on: 0845 521 3456

Triathlon queen update

Hi

Just to keep you up to date with my progress… I am 9 days away from doing my triathlon in Wick and I’ve just past the £1000 mark for raising money for Leukaemia CARE. www.justgiving.com/lornpearson

The triathlon is in Wick (far North Scotland) and the distances are 750m swim, 20k cycle, 5k run.

I’m resting a little now to get ready for it, and trying to collect as much sponsor money as possible!

I’ll be in touch to let you know how I get on.

thanks

Lorn Pearson

Pudding Party

Just thought I'd let you know about why I did a Pudding Party, and how it all came about...

After the birth of my first child, I became a stay-at-home mum with some involvement in school activities and always an interest in cooking. Over the years I was drawn into PTA activities and by the time my youngest child started school, I became PTA Chair. As well as organising social events, I did a lot of fund-raising and noticed that many people (myself included) could get a bit fed up with sponsored activities. At Christmas bazaars and Summer Fetes, the cake stall was always a firm favourite with everybody and I must admit that when things were a bit quiet, you could easily do a Cake Sale and it would be well-supported. Having received a few compliments on the cakes I prepared for these events, I thought the logical step for me when considering fund-raising for charity was to invite family and friends to a Pudding Party at my house. The desserts were all prepared beforehand, and served cold (no actual puddings such as jam roly-poly, crumble, apple pie; it was easier to do cheesecakes, flans, mousses, ice-creams, cakes, meringues, fruit fools, banoffee pie, etc.) Everybody was welcome to sample as many desserts as they liked, and asked to make a donation.

I tried this a few years ago, in aid of Acorns (I have a couple of friends who are associated with the hospice). I held it as a Ladies Only event and was a bit nervous beforehand, until my husband helpfully pointed out that a room full of women, wine and cakes was a winning combination! This proved to be the case and it was a big success.

Sadly, earlier this year one of the mums at school lost her battle with leukaemia and I wanted to do something in her memory. I thought of doing another Pudding Party along the same lines as the first. In retrospect, I think I should have invited blokes as well because they often have a sweet tooth and it would have raised more money.

Also, if anybody wanted to adapt the idea, it would make a lot more sense to have individuals donating home-made desserts (I made them all myself, which is obviously not cheap and takes up a fair amount of time!)

Along similar lines, I invited friends to a Soup Kitchen at my house a couple of years ago. I cooked 5 or 6 different soups and served them with bread and cheese.People could stay from 12 till 2, or they could just drop in for ten minutes.

Maybe I just have very generous friends, but I have found that people are more likely to support these events when they think they are getting something back apart from a sense of "doing the right thing". Whether that is an evening's entertainment in the form of a quiz (several of which I have organised in the last three years), or home-cooked food, it seems to work!
Best wishes and good luck with all your fund-raising,
Helen Roskams

Hi

This is just to let you know how I got on at the Glasgow Women’s 10k yesterday, and a thanks to you for sponsoring me! The photo attached is how I looked after it.

So far I have raised £650 for Leukaemia CARE and have done two events:

- the Santa Dash in December 08 (27 minutes)
- the Women’s 10k on Sunday the 10th of May.

And I have one more event to go – the Wick Triathlon in August.

On Sunday I finished the 10k with a time of 48: 33 minutes - personal best for me! I came in 287th out of 10,740 runners.
It seems like the training I’ve put in really helped. The day was good and the atmosphere was brilliant.

I’d just like to say a big thanks to you for sponsoring me and motivating me to train and complete the 10k. Now I look forward to the next few months of training and the triathlon!!

Thanks again, and if you know of anyone else who might like to sponsor me, please forward on my just giving link:

www.justgiving.com/lornpearson