Fund Raising Night....Great Success!

First of all, please can Jackie and I thank everyone who helped, attended and donated to fund raising night....you all made it a great success! Thank you very very much!

What a brilliant turn out it was as well, great to see so many friends together having a good time and helping raise over £800 for the hospice....YES £800 made on the night!!! A special thank you to the friends who helped out on the night and a massive thank you to The Score who not only provided some fantastic entertainment but gave me their nights fee of £140 back as a donation....thank you lads....everyone has commented on how good you were....That's entertainment! (Pete, hope the blisters have healed!)

The setting up started mid day, The Score eager to get going. Thanks Chris for helping me with laying the room out.

DJ Fearney arrived with his vinyls....yes vinyls....how good is that! Thanks Steve the disco was superb and your auctioning skills were impeccable! Steve auctioned off the House of Commons whisky for £70 and raised another £25 for the GMTV pack (decided to auction rather than eBay it!) Thank you to the buyers.


Everyone arrived early and soon got into the swing of things. The helpers were soon in top gear!

Jackie and Ian stood the door welcoming everyone and collecting unpaid ticket money! Ticket profit £210

Sam and Gail sold and marked the quizzes making £68 and also went round with a scratch card game raising £20 for the charity and £20 for Tony!

Teresa took control of Roll the Dice and netted £59.50. Congratulations to Chris and Steph who won the £100 Photographer session.

A really nice touch to the evening was provided by Margaret, a Hospice volunteer since it opened! Thank you Margaret and the Hospice for the support and kind words.

As the night went on £120 of donations came in and the brilliant Score handed back their £140!

Jackie did the prize draw round and collected £100.... THE GRAND TOTAL COMING TO £812.50

The rest of the night was all music, drinking....and lots of fun!

Jackie mingling!

Social drinkers - Lee , Jackie (mingling again!), Dave and Liz

Rachel and Jane happy, Nat being rude!

Tomo's Team winners of the Sport's Quiz. Rumour has it they phoned a friend!

Claire, Daved and Sally showing off their John Eastwood Rosettes!

Lee, Nicola, Lynn and Neil....Mum would have loved the night!

....and there was even a surprise visit from the PROCLAIMERS! I WOULD WALK FIVE HUNDRED MILES AND I WOULD........

THANK YOU EVERYONE, I LOVED THE NIGHT AND I HOPE YOU ALL DID TOO.

PS. Did anyone take any pictures? If you did can you send them to me please so I can add them to this post.

THE NEXT DAY

After a late night, me and Jackie had to get up early (6:30) and get back to the hard bit....training!

Jackie was doing a 10k run at Pride Park, Derby, so I cycled there to watch her. This was her first 10k and also the first run for the Heanor Running Club, making her time of 0:54:29 even more impressive. Well done duck!

After the race I still had another 35 miles to do to keep up with my training schedule so I set of into Derbyshire. I did a right here, a left there and before I knew it....I was going up the steepest hill in the world and ended up in Crich!

That was tough! Managed to do 65 miles in total, hard but I felt quite good considering. The weeks aim was 150 miles but I actually did 157, so pleased that I had met another weeks target. Only six weeks to go so lots more miles to pull in yet!!!

THE PHOTOGRAPHER....£100 Donation!

When I thought the donations could not get any better along comes another fantastic gift. THE PHOTOGRAPHER Cathy-Marie Robinson has kindly donated a photographic session to include one mounted and framed photograph to the value of £100.

Cathy it was a pleasure meeting you today and thank you very very much for your generosity. By the way, the photos you have on display in the shop/studio are stunning! I would recommend anyone to pay a visit and look at your work.

To make the most of this wonderful donation, I have decided that at the fund raising evening I will run a dice rolling competition. At 50 pence a go, the first person to get four of a kind will win the prize! Also there will be separate prizes for the first three people to throw a run of 1, 2, 3 and 4. If there is no winner by the end of the night the highest scores of the night will win the prizes....so come on everyone who is going on Saturday, get rolling those dice....This BRILLIANT donation has got to be took home by someone! (me hopefully, I am definately having a go or two!)

If you would like to see more of Cathy's work then visit her website at http://www.cathy-thephotographer.co.uk/ or visit in person to her shop/studio.

Contact details are:
The Photographer
Wighay Bridge
Annesley Road
Hucknall
Nottingham
NG15 7DB

Tel: 01158 40 88 86
Fax: 01158 40 88 86

Email: cathy@cathy-thephotographer.co.uk

PS....Thanks Jane, see you Saturday!

Robinson plc donate quiz prizzes

Thank you very much to Sandra and her boss Bob for arranging a very generous donation of £50 from Robinson plc. The money has bought 6 bottles of lovely wine and a £20 Boots voucher which will be used for the fund raising night quiz prizes. So come on everyone who is going on the night, have a go on the quizzes and give your self chance of winning these brilliant prizes. Thank you very much Robinson's for your generosity it is much appreciated.

Did you know?
That Robinson Plastic Packaging Limited is based in Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, UK and is part of Robinson plc, which also owns two Paperboard Packaging businesses in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and in North America .
It was founded in 1970 and acquired by Robinson in 1974, Robinson Plastic Packaging Limited is a dedicated manufacturer of injection moulded plastic packaging for the Food, Drinks and Confectionery markets, supplying a wide range of ‘Blue Chip' UK and European companies.

For more information why not visit the Robinson website at http://www.r1pp.co.uk/

Dolma donation....smells lovely!

A really big thank you to April and Trev, the owners of Dolma, a local vegan cosmetic and perfume manufacturer and supplier. They have donated a wonderful wide selection of Vegan Perfumes, Toiletries and Skin Care in a very attractive presentation box. This is a great prize and well worth spending a £1 on a prize draw ticket to try and win.

DOLMA was established in 1982 by Jim Payne, a practicing vegan and qualified chemist, to provide perfumes which could be used with confidence by vegans and vegetarians. It has since become a family business run by his daughter, April.

The winner of this prize will be using products that contain essential oils used according to the principles of Aromatherapy. Essential oils are obtained from the flowers, roots, berries or leaves of plants.

To celebrate exceptional products manufactured without testing on animals, the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) have launched the first-annual “Golden Bunny” awards – named after an animal commonly used for testing. Congratulations to Dolma as their perfumes won the award of the Best Cruelty Free Perfume.

If you would like to know more about Dolma products, contact April or Trev at:

TEL/FAX: 0115 963 4237

EMAIL: info@dolma-perfumes.co.uk

WEBSITE: http://www.dolma-perfumes.co.uk/

TYBRO...GMTV...EMA...Weekly update!

What a great week. The netball raffle, House of Commons whisky and Tescos have already been mentioned in earlier posts but that is not all that has happened this week. On top of that, Tyler Brothers, a Kirkby engineering firm, kindly donated a bottle of whisky. Thank you to them for their generosity.Then there was the travel pack kindly donated by East Midlands Airport. This includes a travel bag, clock, passport holders, key ring and pen. Lovely prize, thank you East Midlands.


Another surprise was a great donation from GMTV. They have kindly donated a pack that includes 10 signed photos of the GMTV team, which includes Andrew Castle, Kate Galloway, Penny Smith etc. Also the pack includes a GMTV mug, alarm clock and egg cup. I might give GMTV a ring and see if they mind me auctioning this donation on eBay as I think it might make £20 - £30. I will let you know if I do and keep you informed on the bidding. Thank you GMTV.



After all the excitement of the donations coming in there was also the small business of training! My target for the week was 130 miles and I kept to this by managing to clock up 137 miles. The weekend target was a ride of 50 miles. Set off on Saturday afternoon not really knowing where to go, ended up cycling to Tuxford and back, completing 50 miles (actually 49.3 but don't tell anyone!).

This weeks target is 150 miles. Sunday I need to do a distance of 60 miles which will be tough as Saturday is the fund raising night! Other good news this week is that I have finally starting sleeping again....Zzzzzzzzzzz....good night!

Presentation Raffle Nets £86!

Ashfield and District netball league held their presentation night on Friday. Jackie (league treasurer) went round and sold raffle tickets which raised a brill sum of £86. Well done to Jackie and all the netballers who kindly bought a ticket.

My House of Commons contact!

I have had a word with my House of Commons contact, Geoff Hoon Member of Parliament for Ashfield and he has kindly donated a bottle of commons whiskey for me to auction off next Saturday on the fund raising evening.

A real big thank you for this and supporting your local community and I hope that it generates a really good price.

The bottle and the box has been signed by Mr Hoon so here is your chance to own something very special that can not be bought in the shops. Get your cheque books out and start bidding!

Tesco tenner!

Another donation arrived today, a £10 gift voucher from TESCO'S HUCKNALL STORE. A big thank you to them for supporting a local charity.

Sainsbury's Mansfield store have also replied but they were unable to help. Unfortunately they receive many more requests each year than they can support but thank you for responding, many other businesses haven't! Quite ironic this letter, I opened it just after returning from doing our weekly shopping at Sainsbury's!!!

Weekly update....things are warming up!

Yes, things have warmed up this week in more ways that one! The weather has been unusually hot for April, not complaining but I must be more sensible and put some cream on before I go out biking in the sun....ouch!

It has been a brilliant week for receiving raffle prizes and raising more cash for the cause. The £73 raised at the car boot was a real bonus and the amount of excellent prizes that have been donated has been fantastic. In fact, the prizes are that good I have decided to sell prize draw tickets for all of May and not just on the fund raising night. I am sure the tickets will sell well.

My training mileage target for this week was 110 miles and have actually covered 112 which I am pleased with. It has not been easy this week, I have finally come of my back problem medication but have suffered with a number of withdrawal symptoms. The worst thing being at night where I have been restless and not been sleeping, in fact I have not made 10 hours sleep total in the last 4 nights. On top of the blocked nose and stuffy head this has made my energy levels very low but hopefully this will all go away in the next few days. Positive point has been, to find something to do at 3 in the morning I have been updating the blog!

Car boot raises more cash!

This Sunday we decided to make the most of the recent lovely weather and do a car boot. The loft was cleared and loaded into the car and off we went to Tansley in Derbyshire. Jackie and Jemma went in the car and I followed on the bike giving me a chance to put some training in as well.

What a great day it turned out to be, the weather brilliant, some training put in and we sold nearly everything we took and raised another £73 for the hospice....brilliant day, well pleased!

Our friends also did a car boot and they also made themselves £70....no wonder they are laughing....good for them!

Griffins Head Papplewick donate a brilliant prize

A very big thank you to the GRIFFINS HEAD AT PAPPLEWICK . Now this is a prize really worth winning. They have kindly donated A MEAL VOUCHER TO THE SUM OF £50 PLUS A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE....how about that for prize! That has got to entice you into buying some tickets!

To thank the Griffin for their generosity, I met up with Mark the Griffin manager (lovely chap!) and whilst I was there, took the chance to have a quick bite to eat.

The Griffins Head has just re-opened after extensive refurbishment. The pub is comfortable, completely no smoking throughout and still maintains the country pub feel. I was very impressed (loved the non smoking atmosphere). Also the food is freshly prepared by the chefs, cooked to order using quality seasonal produce sourced from local suppliers. I tried the hot pork sandwich....delicious!

Thank you once again to The Griffins Head, in particular Mark, for their kindness and may i wish them the best of luck for the future.

If anyone would like to know more about The Griffins Head, visit their website at www.thegriffinshead.co.uk.

Royal Centre Nottingham donate....Thrilling!

To all you theatre lovers out there, buy a ticket and get the chance of winning TWO TICKETS to see a forthcoming CLASSIC THRILLER at the THEATRE ROYAL NOTTINGHAM.

The Theatre have kindly donated these tickets which can be used to go and see either:

The Ghost Train - 13th to 18th August

Touch of Danger - 20th to 25th August

Gaslight - 27th August to 1st September

House Guest- 3rd to 8th September

Thank you very much to Royal Centre, I am sure the winner will have a great evening out.

To find out what else is on at the Royal Centre visit their website at http://www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk/

Twycross Zoo donate a prize

Another result! Thank you to TWYCROSS ZOO who have kindly donated a FAMILY TICKET enabling the lucky winner to have a great fun day out at this super Zoo.

Did you know that like most British zoos, Twycross receives no government funds and relies entirely on money spent by visitors to continue its work. So good for you Twycross for sending us this great prize!

If you would like to find out more about Twycoss Zoo, visit their website at www.twycrosszoo.org

White Post Farm donation

Thank you very much to the THE WHITE POST FARM who have kindly donated TWO FREE CHILD ADMISSION TICKETS towards our prize draw.

Jemma loves going here (and so do I), It's a great day out with loads to do....super prize!

If you want to know more about White Post Farm have a look at there website at www.whitepostfarmcentre.co.uk

Kirkby Carpets....the first to donate!

A really big thank you to Steve, the owner of Kirkby Carpets. Steve's is the first business to respond to the request of prizes for the quiz and raffles for the fund raising night.

I posted a letter on Monday morning and by that evening, Steve had contacted me, kindly donating a couple of rugs....fantastic! On Saturday, Jemma and me went down to collect the goods and met Steve for the very first time. I would like to thank and praise him for his kindness, and the interest he showed in my fund raising event. Great guy! anyone who is thinking of having a new carpet, go and see Steve at Kirkby Carpets for a quote!

Steve presenting Jemma with the rugs!

Highest bid wins.....Good idea Nat!

My friend Nathalie has come up with a great idea for raising more

sponsorship money. On the fund raising night she suggests we should hold a 'Promise Auction'.

A promise auction involves getting people to make a promise and then the highest bidder wins the promise. Nathalie has kindly promised on behalf of her husband (sorry Carl if you do not know about it yet!) for him to do half a days worth of plumbing/plastering, so if you require anything of this nature doing then please place your bids by sending me a pledge by email or giving a secret bid on the night of the fund raising evening.

I am looking for around another 6 - 12 promises, so if anyone is prepared to offer their services then please get in touch. To back Carl up I will also give a promise. I promise to be a taxi to the highest bidder. For example, if you fancy a night out and don't want to drive, or going on holiday and need a lift to and from the airport, then I will take you. If your venue is local (inside 15 mile radius), I will even pay for the petrol!

Thank you also to Nathalie for helping me in getting in touch with local businesses (and some not so local!) to try and get them to donate raffle and quiz prizes for the fund raising night. Look out for further posts on the response from these businesses.

94 tickets have now been requested for the fund raising evening so if you still want to go and have not yet been in touch, please hurry as there are not many left.

This is where the training really starts!

Ten weeks now to go so the training has now got to step up a gear (just managed to hold on long enough with this pose to get photo took!).

I have given myself an eight week training schedule which I hope will get me fit enough for the event. Week one gave me a target of 100 miles but i actually covered 106. This figure rises and peaks at a max distance of 210 miles. More importantly I think, is doing long distances back to back, so as the weeks progress I will be trying to pull in consecutive days of at least 40 miles plus per day.

With not cycling for six weeks my fitness has really fell off. I covered 33 miles on Friday but from 24 miles my legs felt empty. Went out on Saturday just to get rid of the stiffness, covered 10 miles and it was hard. I am sure this is to be expected with having such a lay off but it is a bit dis-heartening!