Posted by PaulClabburn on Dec 1, 2015 in 2015, Claire Prosser
CLAIRE
(In memory of Claire Prosser)
We hold true to your joy of being,
your heartache and your soul.
We return, each, to the last time
we met, the last time you smiled
that ready smile, then the time
before that, and that … We recall the
hours we shared and those that were
still to come, and mull the years to come
unshared, over bridges that we crossed,
along streets that chime unchanged,
– all, henceforth, haunted by your shade.
Memory must suffice, the store
in which to treasure your timeline.
It is what we cleave to now –
friend after friend after friend …
Published by permission of author and poet, James Ballantyne.
Thanks Jim.
Posted by PaulClabburn on Nov 26, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Donations, Uncategorized
CRY: a voice for Tom and all those like him.
This week is CRY’s awareness week. Tomorrow is Tom’s birthday. This coming Tuesday is Claire’s anniversary. A time, then, for reflection, for reminiscence and, perhaps, a time to look forward as well, for both Tom and Claire’s Fund and CRY.
As many of you will know, after we started the Fund in 2008 it was Claire’s great wish that it should raise £100,000 in support of CRY. When we lost Claire, it was just short of that figure. It is now well in excess.
We’ve therefore spent much time talking to CRY about how we might put that money to work. There’s no point in people raising or donating cash only for it to sit in an account. So we’ve agreed with CRY to spend:
• £27,000 on the purchase of a new echocardiogram machine as part of the expansion of the CRY screening programme, enabling more young people to have access to cardiac screening.
• £18,000 to fund six days of screening between January and March, 2016, at CRY’s national screening centre at St George’s hospital, Tooting, London. Young people aged 14-35 travel from all over the country to this regular clinic.
• £10,000 to fund research into young sudden cardiac death, supporting CRY research fellowship grants which are focussed on developing a greater understanding of the conditions that cause young sudden cardiac death and improving the way the young people at greatest risk are identified.
Additionally, we’ll spend further money sponsoring free screenings in Ealing in Autumn 2016, Spring 2017 and Autumn 2017.
You raised it. We’re spending it on your behalf. We hope you approve. It will leave little in the pot but, as people keep so brilliantly running, baking, selling, donating and so on, we’re sure that the Fund will be able to carry on sponsoring free screenings in 2018 and beyond.
Although we can but hope that by then we are doing so in tandem with a change of UK policy on cardiac screening that properly addresses the loss of at least 12 young lives aged 14-35 each week to undiagnosed heart conditions.
At last night’s CRY All Party Parliamentary Group event in the Commons, the charity officially launched a bold new campaign. It aims to put names to all those who make up the 12 a week statistic, to give a voice to those we have lost. CRY want to make clear to the Government the extent of the problem following the flawed decision in the summer by the UK National Screening Committee not to recommend a national screening programme. CRY have decided this cannot go unchallenged.
The new campaign will be led by Dr Steve Cox, currently CRY’s deputy chief executive, who will become its new CEO.
By which you’ll note that there’s also going to be a change at the top. CRY’s founder and CEO, Alison Cox, has decided to step down after 20 years. Alison is a remarkable woman who took on the medical and political establishment in order to shine a light on the extent of young sudden cardiac death in the UK. But for her, families like ours would have had no specialist charity to turn to for counselling, for advice and, as importantly, for a sense that there is much work to be done.
In a letter to CRY supporters, Alison wrote “I have been so privileged to be Chief Executive of CRY for so long but now would like more time to focus on the development of how we support CRY families, which is how I would like to continue in my role for the foreseeable future.”
We, too, have been privileged in being able to witness at first-hand the drive, rigour and, above all, humanity, that Alison brought to her task. We hope that you will join us in wishing Alison well as she changes direction and to Steve as he takes CRY forward.
Paul and Ellen x
Posted by PaulClabburn on Nov 15, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, CRY screenings, Dr Rupa Huq MP
Dr Huq (second right) with CRY team members (L-R) Gareth Jones, Jodie Egerton, Janice Long and Dr Harshil Dhutia.
Ealing Central and Acton MP Dr Rupa Huq visited Tom and Claire’s Fund’s free CRY heart screenings at the Florence Road Health Centre, Ealing, on Sunday, November 15.
Nearly 100 young people aged 14-35 attended the fully booked event.
Dr Huq said: “It was a really eye-opening experience to see for myself how a CRY screening works and impressive that such a diverse range of people from different cultural backgrounds were waiting to be tested. The message is getting out about the importance of screening and I would urge everybody in the age range to take the opportunity to be tested.
“It’s brilliant to have a CRY team working in Ealing and I can’t thank them enough.”
She added: “I’d also like to praise all those people who have supported Tom and Claire’s Fund over the years. Without their efforts, raising awareness and funds, these free screenings couldn’t take place. It was a pleasure to meet some of the fund’s supporters on the day.”
Paul Clabburn said: “Ellen and I are very grateful to Dr Huq for spending so much time at the screening and also for joining CRY’s All Party Parliamentary Group. We are also, of course, indebted to the CRY team for the highly professional but hugely welcoming way in which they go about their work and to Dr Evans and the team at the Florence Road health centre who have yet again hosted the event.”
Tom and Claire’s Fund has sponsored more than 1,200 free heart screenings since 2009. It will sponsor further screenings in 2016.
If you wish to be screened in the meantime, please click here.
Posted by PaulClabburn on Oct 21, 2015 in 2015, CRY screenings
The Ealing screenings on November 15 are now fully booked and therefore booking has closed.
If you wish to attend an alternative screening, please check the national screening calendar here at www.testmyheart.org.
You can also contact CRY to discuss alternatives –
Telephone: 01737 363222
Email: cry@c-r-y.org.uk
Full contact details here.
Posted by PaulClabburn on Oct 20, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Donations, Fund-raising event
More than £500 was raised for CRY at the diamond wedding anniversary celebration of Peggy and Gordon Prosser on October 11.
Peggy and Gordon expressed their grateful thanks to all who contributed to the grand total of £545 during a buffet luncheon for family and friends at the Cecil Ince Hall. West Clandon, Surrey.
The donations were in memory of a grandson, Tom Clabburn, who died of an undiagnosed heart condition aged 14 in 2007, and their daughter, Tom’s mother, Claire Prosser, who died on December 1, 2014.
Posted by PaulClabburn on Oct 19, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, CRY screenings
The next free CRY heart screenings sponsored by the Tom Clabburn and Claire Prosser Memorial Fund will take place at the Florence Road Health Centre, Florence Road, Ealing, London, W5 3TX, on Sunday, November 15.
Anyone aged 14-35 is eligible. You can book here via www.testmyheart.org.
As ever, our thanks to Dr David Evans and the Florence Road team for making the premises available and to all of you who have run, jumped, baked, cycled, sold or done anything else that has raised the funds which allow these screenings to be free.
Please share the details on social media. In previous years, the screenings have always been over-scribed so book early!
Any questions, please contact CRY rather than us or the health centre. CRY’s contact details are here.
With thanks for all the ongoing support for CRY’s screening programme,
Paul and Ellen x
Posted by PaulClabburn on Oct 7, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Fund-raising event
Jamie Gavin finished the Chester Marathon in 3 hours and 11 mins on Sunday, October 4, – keeping him on track to achieve his ambition of running three marathons in 10 months for Tom and Claire’s Fund.
Having already taken part in the Liverpool Marathon in June, Jamie’s final target is the London Marathon in April, 2016 – by which time he hopes to have raised £1,000.
A quite brilliant effort on his part.
Jamie said: “Thanks so much to everyone who’s supported and donated so far – it’s very much appreciated and fingers crossed we can reach our target before London in April.
“Claire was such an inspiration to me and to so many, it’s an absolute privilege to be able to run in honour of Claire and Tom’s memory – that thought kept me going on Sunday, and will keep me going all the way into London in April
You can support Jamie here.
Posted by PaulClabburn on Sep 15, 2015 in 2015, Awareness, Fund-raising event
Jane Kinghorn and Stephanie Marshall
Jane Kinghorn and Stephanie Marshall were among the 57,000 runners who took part in the Great North Run on Sunday, September 13, – and they successfully overcame 13 miles of dual carriageway and 18 degree heat in the shade to raise funds and awareness for CRY.
Jane said: “When I worked with Claire, her nickname was Prosecco so we designed foam hearts with Team Prosecco emblazoned on the back to run in. As you can imagine, this meant we had lots of support along the way.
“Thanks to everyone’s generosity we’ve raised £3,000.”
She added: “I was glad to do this for Claire and Tom but I’ll never run another half! Steph and I have just got to work out what our next fund raising adventure for CRY might be …”
A pair of big hearts.