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Posted by on Jan 19, 2016 in 2016, Donations

Whitman and Co’s grand support for @CRY_UK

CRY, Whitman and Co, January 2016

James Matthews, centre, with Chris Chalmers, right, of Whitman and Co.

The cracking start to the new year for Tom and Claire’s Fund has continued with the handing over of a cheque for £1,000 by Chiswick estate agents Whitman and Co.

James Matthews, director of  the company, said: “We heard about the work of the fund on behalf of Cardiac Risk in the Young and thought it a very worthy cause. We like to play our part in the community by supporting such initiatives.”

Paul Clabburn said: “We are very grateful to Whitman and Co for the donation, which will allow nearly 30 young people to be screened by CRY . We will be sponsoring further free screenings in west London in the autumn of 2016. Anyone who wishes to be screened before then should visit http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/cardiac-screening/.”

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Posted by on Jan 9, 2016 in 2016, Awareness, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Claire Prosser, CRY screenings, Tom Clabburn

Your money in action for @CRY_UK

St Georges launch event, 2016

Left to right: CRY founder Alison Cox, research fellow Dr Keteepe-Arachi and patron Ben Brown.

This morning I went to see your latest fund-raising efforts turn into potentially life-saving work at the CRY Centre For Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions and Sports Cardiology, St George’s Hospital, Tooting.

All the running, climbing, book-selling, cake baking and myriad other activities you’ve taken part in since our fund started in 2008 has now raised more than £150,000 for CRY.

So it was great to

  • See the first of six days of subsidised screenings get underway. The fund is supporting the screenings between January and March at a cost of £18,000. Young people aged 14-35 attend from all over the UK and around 110 screenings are booked per session.
  • Have a look at the brand new echocardiogram machine sporting Tom and Claire’s names that was bought at a cost of £27,000.
  • Meet Dr Tracey Keteepe-Arachi, the CRY research fellow who was leading the day’s screening programme. Our fund has donated £10,000 towards research.

It was particularly fitting that the BBC’s Ben Brown, family friend and CRY patron, was able to attend the launch because he represents each and every one of you who has ever supported CRY. Not only has Ben done whatever he can to raise awareness, he has also fund-raised by putting in the hard miles running half and full marathons.

It was also, of course, a pleasure to have a chat once again with Alison Cox. CRY’s founder may have stepped down as Chief Executive but she is still getting up at the crack on a Saturday morning to support events such as these.

Last year alone, CRY screened 23,000 young people. It shows a need, it shows the demand, but there’s a long way to go before there’s a national screening programme to replace the efforts of CRY. Since starting in 1995, the charity has screened more than 80,000 young people.

Part of that total is down to you. On the way home I heard Patti Smith on Radio 4’s Saturday Live. She talked about writing the song ‘People Have The Power’, which includes the line ‘We can turn the world around.’ Because of your efforts to turn at least one part of the world around, Tom and Claire’s Fund has sponsored more than 1,200 of those screenings.

That’s 1,200 who have been given a chance Tom did not have.

For today at least, then, it seems right to reflect with great pride on the efforts of a remarkable group of CRY supporters, a group that has raised £150,000 in Tom and Claire’s names.

Thank you.

CRY St George's launch event

The echo bought with your fund-raising efforts.

 

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Posted by on Dec 21, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Cardiac Risk in the Young

Christmas, ‘a maelstrom of emotions’ and @CRY_UK

CRY Christmas bookletCardiac Risk in the Young have published  ‘Christmas following a young sudden cardiac death’, the latest in a series of ‘Grief Booklets’ produced by the charity.

As with the others, it is a series of stories told by those who have been directly affected by the loss of a young person.

CRY’s founder and outgoing Chief Executive, Alison Cox, writes in the foreword: “There is no escaping the memories of past Christmases ‘before’ their lives were destroyed by tragedy. They flood back invading every moment.”

She adds: ‘My hope is that this booklet of stories written by some of CRY’s Bereavement Supporters will help provide you with how others have developed coping strategies which are intensely personal and which they have so willingly shared.”

It is a booklet not just for those who have lost a child but for anyone who knows someone who has and wonders what to say or how to behave at this time of year. The answer, naturally, is that there is no ‘right thing’ but it may give readers a better understanding.

As with the other CRY booklets, written by fathers, mothers, siblings and partners, it could also resonate with those who have lost a child in different circumstances.

You can order this booklet and find details of the others here.

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Posted by on Dec 17, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, BBC, Book sale, Fund-raising event

Christmas book sale success in aid of @CRY_UK

CRY BBC book sale December 2015

There was plenty of interest in the book sale in aid of CRY at the BBC.

A book sale in aid of Tom and Claire’s Fund at the BBC’s New Broadcasting House raised £437 on Tuesday, December 15.

‘It was a day of reminiscing as we all came together to remember our friend and colleague Claire Prosser, who passed away a year ago this month,” said Ruth Arulanandam, who organised the event.

“Many of our colleagues came to donate money in Claire’s memory and to learn more about CRY. Having helped Claire run the previous sales at the BBC, it felt right to carry on the tradition in her memory and, of course, to continue to raise money for the Claire and Tom fund.”

The cake making tradition also continued: “Lorna Donlon made brownies and Sam Upton made some mince pies which were all sold out by the end of the sale,” said Ruth.

CRY BBC book sale December 2015

Brownies and mince pies were also on offer.

She added: “We had plenty of helpers on the day, Isabel Turner and her son Felix, Jacky Hems, Suzanne Yates, Sam Upton, Jane Palmer, and my sister-in-law, Angeline Arulanandam.

“I must also mention those important people who made the sale happen; Jess Latimer at 5Live for collecting the books, Matthew Dickinson and Michael Angelo for transporting the books to London, Gillian Dear and Sue Ellis.”

CRY BBC book sale December 2015

Ruth, centre, with some of the team of helpers.

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Posted by on Dec 7, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Book sale, Fund-raising event

All right on the night in support of @CRY_UK

CRY Xmas night market 2015

Gina Bentley, Anne Marie Reilly and Justine O’Driscoll at the night market.

A bookstall at the Northfields Christmas Night Market in Ealing raised £100 for CRY.

Anne Marie Reilly, who helped to run the stall, said: “People were focused on buying Christmas presents from a range of stalls but being in a good location we were able to grab the attention of customers, some of whom made donations, and also to raise awareness about CRY.

“Our most enthusiastic purchasers of books were older children who were less keen on Christmas shopping! We’d like to thank everyone who bought books, donated or asked about CRY’s work and, of course, we’ve very grateful to Ealing Mums in Business for making CRY their charity for the night.”

Anne Marie added: “Our local MP, Rupa Huq, spent time talking to us and was interested to hear about CRY and we also had a visit from Northfields councillor Fabio Conti.”

Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq, a CRY supporter, visited the bookstall.

Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq, a CRY supporter, visited the bookstall.

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