Archive for Fundraising heroes

Sponsored horse ride from Stornoway to Callanish

Cara and Anna with their horses Beth and Magic, raised an amazing £1,513.20 for MPD Voice on a sponsored horse ride from Stornoway to Callanish in April.   Here Cara tells us about the ride.

“As we have been keen horse riders from an early age we thought it would be a great idea to fundraise for MPD Voice by doing a sponsored horse ride.  We live on a small island on the west coast of Scotland called the Isle of Lewis and decided to ride from the main town to our house, which is around 15 miles.  We were busy preparing for the ride since January as we needed to make sure our horses were fit enough to complete the journey.  We were very lucky that a lot of our friends were able to help us with this as the weather in Lewis isn’t the best at that time of year so we had to get out to train whenever we could!  We were still a bit apprehensive on the day of the ride as we weren’t sure how the horses would cope.

We all arrived at the meeting point at 11am and we got a fantastic turnout of people who came to support us and also some friends came with their horses to ride with us for part of the journey.  Our mother did a great job of keeping everyone topped up with cups of tea and cake, and also plenty of apples for the horses!  We had a good laugh along the way and were very lucky with the weather. It was a great day and we were so relieved when we reached home where our father had prepared a fabulous BBQ…a steak burger and glass of cider had never tasted so good!  The ride took us about 4 hours to complete so we were very happy with that.  The horses had a great time too, we needn’t have worried about them as they hardly broke a sweat through the journey.  They had a good long roll in the grass once they got back to their field and got of plenty treats that night!

The numb bums were well worth it.  We had such a great time we are planning another ride for next year!”

Sky-divers jump for MPD Voice

One step beyond!  Update on the total now raised by the Tandem Parachutists, it is an amazing amount, £15,000 and still rising!

2nd July was a hot but perfect day for the 15 brave volunteers who registered AND turned up to complete a tandem parachute jump in aid of raising funds for MPD Voice.

For many participating, this was an activity that really ‘did take them out of the comfort zone’ as they were anticipating jumping out of the small plane at 10,000 feet; in reality the jump was even higher and ‘tandem jumpers’ were able to experience the thrill and amazing sensations of freefalling for up to a minute from above the cloud line at 13,000 feet!

The tandem jumpers comprised MPD patients, family, friends and colleagues of MPD patients all of whom had raised significant amounts and were enthusiastic and committed to making a real difference to the lives of the MPD community.

Alisia O’Sullivan, a first time tandem participant described the experience “Once you had edged out of the plane, strapped to your instructor, the feeling of falling through the clouds was so fast and the onslaught on your senses of so many new sensations in such a short period of time is still hard to put into words!  The visibility was great and the views over the Oxfordshire countryside were amazing.  For a moment time seemed to stand still and then a great feeling of relief when the chute opened, the descent slowed down and the landing on my bum, several minutes later was perfect and safe!

As a first time participant, I was absolutely reassured by the clear briefing, professional organisation and the benefit of seeing many safe and happy landings from tandem and solo jumpers throughout the morning.  I also had a nice big strong man to operate the chute and bring us down safely so I can honestly say that on the day I had no fear or anxieties for the whole of the jump or training (and no, I am not an adrenalin junkie).

For anyone thinking about doing it I’d say definitely go for it.  It’s something you’d never experience in your normal day to day activities.  Having my family and friends there to support me was really great and I’m proud of myself that I went beyond any comfort zone I had previously imagined I could do, so when anyone asks ‘would you do it again,’ I surprise myself by saying yes, one day…….when my friends’ and families’ bank accounts have recovered.”

Kilimanjaro Climb

Brian Kilpatrick is setting off on 18th June 2011 on a massive challenge to climb the highest mountain in Africa – 5,895 m or 19,340 ft, to raise funds for MPD Voice. Kilimanjaro is considered the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, the trek is scheduled to be a 6 day round trip with about 6 hrs walking each day, except day 5 which is 15 hrs!  Brian says “I’m not entirely sure what I’ve let myself in for but this is an adventure that I’ve considered for many years and now that the mid-life crisis has firmly kicked in, it’s time for action rather than words!  This is a trip run by Exodus and I am personally meeting all of my costs, all donations to my just giving page at www.justgiving.com/Brian-Kilpatrick will go directly to MPD Voice.”

Beer Bellies on Bikes 3

Beer Bellies on Bikes is a group of ex rugby players who have over the last 2 years raised over £15,000 for charities, this year BBoB3 who are David Graham, Dave Law, Craig Thomson, John ‘Tweag’ Lindsay, George Currie, Jack Ryan, Stevie Christie, Dave Gemmell, Nick Graham, Brian Bianchi, Cammy Taylor, Scott Henderson and Kev Rodgerson are raising funds for MPD Voice because David’s younger son Matthew was diagnosed with PV 3 years ago after a blood clot on the brain and after a lot of support from the staff at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Western General Hospital in Edinburgh he is coping well with his treatment and will hopefully start university this year.  BBoB3 are cycling in Mull, Ardnamurchan and Skye, cycling over 300 miles in 4 1/2 days, 7 ferries, 5 islands and probably 5 million midgies!  If you would like to sponsor BBoB3 their just giving page is at www.justgiving.com/dgrahammrg

Bollywood Night Fundraiser

The Bollywood night fundraiser held on 30th April was a great success and raised over £240 for MPD Voice.  The evening was organised by Pam whose husband Alan was diagnosed with PV in 2006.  Pam wanted to raise not just money for MPD Voice but awareness of MPDs in general, Pam explained “when we talk to people about Alan having PV nobody seems to know what we are talking about, I wanted to change this and let people know that there are a lot of people with MPDs who need to find a cure, I thought a Bollywood evening, with lots of lovely Indian food, music and dancing with a dance demonstration would be a fun and different way to raise funds, everyone who came had a brilliant time and have asked when the next one is!”

Richmond Park Sponsored Walk

The 2011 MPD Voice sponsored walk took place on Monday 2nd May in Richmond Park around the 7 mile Tamsin Trail in beautiful spring sunshine.  This walk was not only a good opportunity to raise funds for MPD Voice but a time for meeting new friends and old, all walkers made the 7 mile walk look easy, some taking fairly scenic and circuitous routes, two running the whole way, two pushing pushchairs and two were pulled by their dogs!  Thank you to all walkers and the marshalls for their fantastic support, so far a total of £4,857 has been raised, and still rising!

Quotes about the day:

• the sponsored walk in Richmond Park was my first contact with MPD Voice and it really was a fun day.  It was wonderful to do something positive and meet some lovely people who all have an interest in MPD Voice, most of all it was lovely to share the day with family and friends.  (MC)
• we had a lovely day in Richmond Park, the weather was perfect and the park itself was beautiful.  My daughter and I especially enjoyed meeting our walking companions, we didn’t stop chatting for the whole of the walk!  Thank you once again for organising the walk and we look forward to taking part in other fundraising in the future.  (MH)