A new day, a new total.

Monday mornings, gotta hate them. First day back at work usually after a fun weekend, having to drag yourself out of bed is a chore and for me usually filled with a list buzzing in my head of what I didn’t achieve over the weekend. This Monday is different, I knew I would be able to come into work and update my Cheshire Charity Challenge total, yipppppeee! An achievement Yes! Feels like I haven’t updated it for a while and this morning, I get to update it by a great £402! This brings my total so far to £3702.17, not too shabby! I may get to this £10,000 sooner than I think, a life time I have set myself to do this, maybe I could change it before I am 30 (hum... this is only 9 months away, maybe that is not such a good idea haha!), 35 a bit more realistic J

The £402 has been raised through 2 things, 1 the great Riverside Charity Pub Quiz Part 2 and the help from a wonderful friend of mine Jo Sutcliffe.  A while ago Jo asked if there was anything she could do to help me raise money, I find this a hard question to answer, come to my events is the main one really – I don’t like to expect anyone to take time out to raise money for something I have set to do, why should they? Everyone has a busy life, their own priorities, their own charities or reasons to raise money. However as seen by other events; my friends triathlon, my sisters ½ marathon, other people want to get involved. I am not going to say no, anything to raise money for Macmillan and Myeloma UK, is fantastic. Some time later Jo text and suggested she did a bake sale at her work, I thought this sounded fantastic and would does she need any help. Everything went quiet for a while,  Jo has been renovating a house, plays a lot of sport and been supporting her folks at home whilst they’ve not been very well, so I understood that things must have gotten busy. A surprise text out of the blue, Jo had done the bake sale and raised over £100 in the process, AMAZING! I was so touched, knowing how BUSY Jo is, the fact she’d taken the time out to arrange this and put the proceeds to the charity, really means a lot. Jo, thank you. xxxx

So, to the pub quiz part 2! After the success of the last pub quiz I had been asked a number of times by various people would I be running another one, I kept thinking about it and was going to do a summer one, but before I knew it the summer was coming to an end! How! I had started organising Good Vibrations and the initial date was for the 10^th November, however one of the main attractions couldn’t play this date and it looked like we weren’t going to get a date in the diary until the New Year. I couldn’t wait that long to do another event, so figured as I was already free on the 10^th November, well I may as well replace it with another Pub Quiz!

I decided with everything that was going on with Good Vibrations to keep this one a bit more low key and stripped it back to the basics of cake, chutneys and a good old fashioned pub quiz. I figured although the raffle was probably one of the big earners last time, the time it took to get all the raffle prizes and then go round with all the thank you cards, was something not to add on to my already hectic schedule. I therefore found that actually, the run up to the pub quiz was okay! A lot less lists that last time! I had a quiz master; I just needed questions, cakes and chutneys ... easy!  The weeks ticked on by, I had most the questions, but not all, posters had been put up in the pub and a facebook invite went out. Off the back of this the lovely Tommy and Zac, Savills and Spoilt for Choice all donated a prize, which went into the hamper of goodies for the pub quiz winners.  Thank you!

About 10 days before I started stepping up, sorting out chutneys, planning which cakes to make and sorting out the answer sheets. The Friday night before the quiz my lovely ladies, Tara, Amy and Charlie came round and helped me make the remaining chutneys (I couldn’t face chopping any more onions!), and an abundance of cakes. You could tell we’d all been eating the cake mix; interesting dances with cake making instruments ensued. Photos will follow! My other lovely friend Gabi also bought over a tray of cakes to add to the mix, we had plenty to sell!

The day of the quiz, was calm, went to the Riverside and Chris helped me set up the room, it looked lovely, we had balloons and flowers in red and white for Dad and then the cakes were all in tins ready to be revealed in the evening.

The night came and went in a bit of a blur, the room was full, all the chairs taken, all the cakes AND all the chutneys sold! Will, Mr Quiz Master, was fantastic, I had rollergirls there, my family from Donny came over, my lovely Sheffield friends and old work colleagues all came down to enjoy the fun.  Team Wieners were the winners, followed closely by the Mr Menace and his Rollergirlz, who all enjoyed there prizes.  Everyone filtered out the room and I sat down for a well deserved drink whilst counting the coins we’d collected throughout the evening. £290, not bad for pub quiz. In fact I would say it was bloody brilliant!

Thank you to all those involved in the cake making, chutney making, jar supplies, the Riverside for the venue, Tommy and Zac, Savills, Spoilt for Choice and Flora for the prizes. Also a big thank you to those who made it down to the pub quiz and joined in the fun, without each of you, well we wouldn’t have raised any money! Esp you lovely rollergirls and boys, who had about 4 different events to fit in, in one night and still managed to squeeze the pub quiz in.  Here’s to the next one, roll on 2013!

Good Vibrations

A night in the making, bands confirmed, DJ's confirmed, venue booked, it is going to be EPIC. 

You will be able to skate, dance, buy lovely things, drink beer, listen to music, see fantastic acts doing what they do best in Lindy Hop, Skating and many more things... 

What more could anyone want! 

Keep the 26th January in your diaries free, free, free! 

News on how and when to buy tickets will be available sooner than you think and you'll want to snap them up to make sure you get one before they sell out, it is going to get busy! 

I am very excited about this night and how much awareness and fundraising  we can get for both Macmillan (http://www.macmillan.org.uk/) and Myleoma UK (http://www.myeloma.org.uk/) 

As with any of the events I have been putting together, I cannot get over how much people want to support me in my quest to make money for charity. Every time it amazes me. I have had the lovely Joe Armitage (http://boneshaker.uk.com/blog/), the awesome Thirsty Ear crew (http://thirstyearuk.wordpress.com/) and beautiful Sheffield Steel Roller Girls (http://www.sheffieldsteelrollergirls.com/) all bend over backwards to offer what help they can, where they can and back me 100% on this night and being there to make it happen!

I will be eternally grateful for this and so humbled that these people want to be part of it, when they didn't know my Dad, but no doubt have been effected in some way or another by cancer in there lives. This support really makes putting these events together, I know when there are niggles and doubts along the way I'd be close to giving up - their collective belief in me, makes me know that it is doable and to get over the hurdles, without them, well I may just give up! To all of you, thank you. 

Watch this space, it's going to get exciting! 

(oh yeah, reminder 10th November Pub Quiz Take 2, the Riverside! Be there or be square!) 

Tractor Ride - An Update

So, previous posts have explained I have two events up my sleeve...

1. Follow my Granddads footsteps and drive a tractor from John O Grots to Lands End. 
2. Following a silly conversation with my sister, doing a coast to coast on a mini tractor. (http://cheshirescharitychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/oh-dear-mini-tractor-ride-in-making.html)

Here is the update on how the planning is going for both of these...or not planning as the case maybe.

So, the real tractor ride. Well, I am trying to get a job abroad, it's been a plan of mine for years and it is close to make or break time on whether it is going to happen and if it does happen it will happen within the next 3 - 6 months. The tractor drive is going to take some planning, as I want to arrange a couple of events along the way and also requires a commitment on a date - at the moment I cannot give this. If it turns out that I do not move abroad, which is a possibility, I shall be putting a date in the diary and hope to do it in 2013. 

The mini tractor ride, well what can I say, I want to do it, SO MUCH! It would be hilarious, push a childs tractor along the coast to coast, think of the attention along the way and the money i Could raise whilst doing it! I would want people to chuck coppers into the tractor etc. Also the promise of £1,000 is 10% towards my ultimate goal, that is not something to be sniffed at. That is a significant amount and gets me a good step closer to achieving what I have set out to do. I can't turn that down... I have spoken to Andrea and she has committed to giving me the money if I do it. I figure I would need at least 10 days to do it, which means precious time off work and someone who is willing to walk slowly with me. The next step for this is to try out a mini tractor and see if my long legs will even it! I am still not sure of its feasibility, but I REALLY want to do it! 

Whilst these two events are being pondered, I am planning 2 others which I am also really excited about and can be done a bit more imminently. 

So, the return of the charity pub quiz is on its way, probably on the 10th November and I am part way through talks with the right people to put on a Retro Disco night with fab bands, DJS and more importantly ROLLER SKATES! Watch this space! 

Father’s Day – Miles for Macmillan.

So, as a fundraiser for Macmillan I regularly get emails about up and coming events I may be interested in.  Sometime in April one dropped in about doing some Miles for Macmillan, a nationwide campaign to raise £1.8million pounds this year through organised walks up and down the country (http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Fundraising/Walkingevents/MilesforMacmillan.aspx). A local walk was being organised by a fellow fundraising hero of mine, John Burkhill, a 4 or 8 mile meander around the canals and industrial parts of Sheffield, hum this is a walk I had wanted to do for a long time, being organised by a man I had wanted to meet for a long time, oh and the date, well it was organised for Father’s Day.  It was a done deal from that moment really, there was a £10 registration fee for each participant and it raised money through sponsorship.

I know sponsorship is a really valid form of fundraising and raises so much for so many causes through so many events; however, I have pestered my friends for sponsorship for years, for this race, that walk, this run, that fancy dress outfit, so when I set out the £10,000 charity goal, part of the challenge has been, for any events I do, make sure I am give something back to the people spending the money.  It also helps me try to think outside the box a little more and find new and wonderful ways to get friends and family to part with their hard earned cash.  

So, I opened the invite out to my friends, father’s day, £10, fun walk in Sheffield. I decided to cover people’s registration fee and then the £10 they paid went into the sponsorship bucket. I was hoping to get 10 of us and raise £100, in the end we had a group of 16 of us, I was so pleased my friends wanted to get involved and a lovely bunch of us it was as well.

The week in the run up to the event I was a little nervous, Father’s Day may be a little tough, made me think about Dad a lot and didn’t want the walk to be an emotional thing, I wanted it to be a celebration, a time for reflection, a nice walk out with my Mum and my friends. My Dad loved helium balloons and I have released various balloons over the last 18 months, my way of sending a message to him and decided to do the same on Father’s Day. I also got an extra special one made for the dear Quinn for a beautiful couple facing a tough Father’s Day who also joined us on the walk.   

The walk itself was lovely, spent a lot of time talking to my Mum and my friends, found a nice space to release the balloons with Poppies and Daisies and had a nice pint afterwards. I got to meet John, gave him a hug, told him his efforts were amazing and he probably thought I was a bit crazy. Even so, when he saw we were having a group picture, he came and got involved which was fab. (You can read more about Johns efforts here - http://www.justgiving.com/madmanwithpram)– Overall I was pleased with the day.

However, the reason I have found this entry difficult to sit down and write is because, I am not sure about how the walk started. It kinda put an edge to it, which has made me reconsider attending future events. There was a group welcome speech and warm up. The speech was too much. Too heavy. Too much focus on the sad. Almost felt like it was a preach to the converted and felt it was unnecessary. There was a strong emphasis on all the sad aspects of cancer and how it affects so many people and how it destroys so many lives.  It got too much and I had to walk away, I couldn’t hear any more, I know too well in a very raw way how sad it is, how it destroys families, how it leaves holes in people’s lives that cannot be filled by anyone or anything other than the person that has gone.  Then there are the people who are currently undergoing treatment, facing the uncertainty and desperately hoping to get to the point of being in remission and being able to celebrate but with the fear and knowledge that it may come back and come back worse… if they are on the walk, why do they need to hear that cancer kills X people a year, do you not think they are fully aware of that and are terrified of the potential outcome? and there’s all the people that are caring for people who are suffering at the moment or looking after friends and family who are grieving, scared of losing someone they love. Why make people relive all of that? I am sure every person who was there, knows why they are there, they know who Macmillan are.

I was told that after I had walked away, someone came on who gave a success story, one of the people that got to celebrate, which is amazing, I am so very happy that people get to do this and I imagine it is so… so…. I don’t even know what… but special… something… to be able to stand up and say, thanks to Macmillan for the support. People said it was a shame I missed the success story, I am not sure it is.  Maybe it’s all too soon still; I know I am possibly going to find this harder than some. But I wanted my Dad to be a success story, he so desperately wanted to be a success story, not getting through the treatment wasn’t an option for him. Part of what I find hardest, struggle with, guarantees to upset me, is the disappointment for him that he couldn’t beat it – obviously I do get sad for me, sad for that fact that I don’t get my Dad in my life, but sad for him, so, so sad he couldn’t do all the things he had promised and firmly believed he would do, I know he would be gutted. But anyway I digress… my point I suppose is why pull the emotional card at these events, it seems unnecessary and I suppose it seems a bit inconsiderate as people are usually there for a reason and that reason for them may be a very difficult one.

An alternative I suggest, is celebrate, have a celebratory speech, have a minutes silence for people to still personally reflect to show that you are still respecting that things are, can be, have been tough. But celebrate the nurses, celebrate the money raised and what it will help provide for Macmillan, celebrate people who are on the walk who may not be on it without Macmillan’s helps, but the key word here is celebrate, not pull on peoples heart strings for what all I felt seemed to do is make people sad. It’s sad enough.

I have fed this back to Macmillan and but I am also really interested to hear how other people find these emotional pleas for help at the beginning of events? Anyone who has done Race for Life will know it is the same there as well. I don’t get it, but maybe if others could share what they get from it and help me understand, I won’t be so against it, knowing that for some people it really helps them.

Let today be a good day...

Today is hard, I don't know if it is the backlash from a good weekend surrounded by friends, family and rollerderby... either way, I feel like things are incredibly unfair, why did Dad have to get ill, why couldn't Dad be one of the happy success stories so many others talk of, why couldn't Dad still be here with me, why can't Dad be here to give me advise and courage to do what I really want to do.

I am trying to be strong, trying to remember words and kindness from so many people since it has happened but all I want to do is scream and shout and cry...

Dads' page is still active on facebook, I often go on it and look at it, make a comment look at conversations he has had in the past. The last few times I've tried I've struggle to get to his page, today was no exception and thought it was finally over and I wouldn't be able to go to it again - this broke my heart a little bit. It seems so silly, it is only facebook, but it is a link, a way in, a way to make him still feel like he is here, even if I am totally kidding myself. I got their eventually, but I realise it may not be there forever - this makes me sad.

Yesterday was Fathers Day and we did the Fathers Day Macmillan Walk, which I will write another entry about another day, when negativity isn't so strong.

Miss you Dad. xxxx

Sheffield Walk 2012

I shall be walking this on the 17th June 2012, not only is it a Macmillan Walk but it is Fathers Day and I couldn't think of anything more apt to do on such a day.

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Fundraising/Walkingevents/Sponsoredwalks/NorthEngland/Sheffield%20walk%20with%20John.aspx

I am currently championing getting an additional 9 people to do this with me. At £10/person that is another £100 towards my total.

John Burkhill, the man behind this walk is an incredible inspiration - he has already raised £150,000 and wants to raise £250,000. He has dedicated so much time to this and will continue to do so. I am looking forward to meeting him and more than likely embarrass myself by giving him a big hug. Here is his story and page  http://www.justgiving.com/madmanwithpram

Come and join me... it will be fun and I promise a delightful picnic as a reward.

Month of May

Things have been a bit slow of late with life admin, a flurry of hen do’s, weddings, new babies and 30^th birthday bashes keeping me busy. I’ve also had some sad news that another close family member is has been diagnosed with cancer and is now undergoing treatment, so this is another reason to keep this challenge alive and get moving with the next event. The money that goes to Macmillan will help in so many ways, here are just a few things it can do

·         £20 helps Macmillan relieve people's fears

Macmillan nurses and trained advisers on the helplines are there to answer anyones questions.

·         £40 provides support

The counsellors and psychologists support anyone living with cancer, whether they're coping with depression or anxiety or simply need someone to talk to.

·         £100 helps Macmillan reach more people

Help Macmillan be there for the two million people who are living with cancer in the UK today.

I am seeing my sister this weekend and going to discuss the Mini Tractor ride mentioned in my last blog post, it is time to start making this happen whilst I am preparing for the End to End version.

Meanwhile a fantastic friend of mine, Mark Aldridge, is doing this http://www.justgiving.com/ooaldridge and contributing all donations to Macmillan as part of the £10,000 challenge. His training is including competing in an Iron Man Triathlon! So, if you can dig deep and donate to this event.

Off the back of the success of the last pub quiz I am also considering doing this again in the summer, it won’t be as epic as the first, but I think a regular quiz could be a fantastic earner.