Great publicity, Chris!
Chris Cockburn has done a fantastic job of raising awareness about CRY and what it stands for.
See http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/young-man-scale-mountain-raise-6414300
Read MoreIn at the deep end with the ‘Bath Half’
Louise and Ella
University student Ella Brown is tackling her first ever half-marathon next year in aid of Tom’s Fund and CRY.
Ella and her friend Louise Kirk will be taking part in the ‘Bath Half’ – the Bath half-marathon – in March 2014.
Ella, studying Ancient History at the University of Bristol, is a daughter of CRY patron Ben Brown. She said she hoped running in the event would encourage young people to be screened.
“I’ve never run anywhere except for a bus before so this is a pretty big challenge! We’re really hoping we can do everyone proud and complete it, as well as raising money for CRY. It’s a great charity providing invaluable support as well as research into cardiac conditions.
“My siblings have both been screened, and it was an incredibly easy and friendly experience that can give you such peace of mind.”
Anyone who wants to support Ella and Louise can do so via Virgin Money Giving at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/louiseandellarunthebathhalf
Read MoreThanks for the donations
Thanks to Neil and to Matthew, Hilary and Vika for the latest donations. As ever, hugely appreciated.
Read MoreHaving your cake – and reading with it!
Angelique, Jacky, Ruth, Simon, Vicky and Claire
Claire’s report: Cake and book lovers flocked to our latest sale in aid of Tom’s fund on Tuesday December 3rd. The sale – our 12th – was held at the BBC where I worked full time until March this year.
Start of the sale…
Hundreds of books had been donated and West London’s amateur bakers had been out in force too* – with the icing on the cake (as it were) going to these cupcakes decorated with books!
Yummy cupcakes
As ever these sales take a lot of effort – otherwise I would be organising them once a week! Hugest thanks go first to Ruth Akins who hosted the sale at the BBC and organised all the tables, setting up and teams of helpers. Others who played their part on the day were Vicky Pearson, Jacky Hems, Simon Wright, Sue Ellis, Angelique Halliburton, Lorna Donlan, Phill Thomas, Bridget Osborne, Sam Upton, Elspeth Morrison and Jane Kinghorn.
Lots of customers!
Thanks also go to former BBC colleagues – Annie Flury on Radio Five Live, Gillian Dear on Radio Four and the One Show for their contributions. We couldn’t do it without you!
So the grand total – yes I know you were wondering about that – was a wonderful £834 which will all go to funding screenings for young people in West London.
Keep your eyes on the site for the next sale which will probably be in the spring outside Munsons cafe in Ealing.
*Those bakers in full: Ruth Akins, Gina Bentley, Elin Hale, Faith Howells, Shona MacMillan, Alison Montgomery, Elspeth Morrison, Linda Panzer, Elizabeth Porter, Anne-Marie Reilly, Isabel Turner and Debbie Young.
Ruth, Jacky and Angelique on cakes
Angelique puts finishing touches to the cake stall
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Donations and what’s next …
Firstly, and most importantly, thanks very much for the latest Justgiving donations from Liz and Alan, Ellen, Rob and Caro and Neil.
We have plenty to look forward to this week as, on Tuesday, Ruth Akins is hosting Claire’s book sale for BBC staff in west London. We’ve had lots of offers to bake cakes for sale too, to fit in with CRY’s Great Bake event, which is fantastic.
Finally, we said we’d try Facebook ads to promote Tom’s Fund and CRY during the charity’s Raising Awareness Week. We have paid for the ads ourselves as a family initiative, no money raised for Tom’s Fund or CRY has been used (It’s a bit dull to keep saying this but we think it’s important that if, say, you’ve slogged your way around a 10k, you know the money you’ve raised is only going to be used on screenings and research).
But was it money well spent? We think, on balance and despite the baffling nature of Facebook’s metrics, that the answer is “yes”. We’ve had a good percentage of new “likes”, so thanks to everyone who has given us a thumbs-up. Hopefully we’ve reached people who might not otherwise have been able to read about CRY. We’ll think about doing it again next year during the 2014 CRY Raising Awareness Week.
Have a good weekend!
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