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WHAT'S HAPPENING: Elsewhere
The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc We were mystified by some donations that started appearing on our Justgiving page in support of ‘Steve and Janet’ on the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. We had no idea who or what this was about, until Steve Brammar wrote to explain: “My wife (Janet) and I and our friend (Antony) attempted the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in late August. The UTMB is a race which starts and finishes in Chamonix, France, and circles Mont Blanc, covering 166km and crossing into Italy and Switzerland before returning to France. “It's a fantastic event with amazing support in the local towns and villages and incredibly beautiful scenery. It's pretty hilly though and allows only 46 hours to complete the course. In fact Antony finished the event in 45 hours and 4 minutes. “I pulled out after 23 hours at the 94km mark, suffering from various ailments, including nasty blisters and lack of the mental toughness needed to walk through our second night on the trails. Janet pulled out at the same time to make sure I was OK. Despite my failure we all had a very memorable time (and took some lovely pictures). I suspect Janet and I will be back for another go next year. "We chose to try to raise money for Laurie's fund because we were very moved by the article which appeared in the Guardian, and because the cause is so worthwhile.” Steve Brammar, Antony Wyatt and Janet Ng (from Britain, Australia and Hong Kong originally) are all lawyers now based in Hong Kong. We are amazed and touched that Laurie’s story reached them on the other side of the world, and that they undertook this challenge for his fund. Many, many thanks.
Over to you Over-by-Over, the cult internet Test match commentary on The Guardian website, started putting out their own merchandise to coincide with the Final Ashes Test of 2009 at The Oval. The Over-by-Over boys (led by Sean Ingle, Rob Smyth and Andy Bull) have been great supporters of the Laurie Engel Fund, and designer David Horn has very kindly offered to donate all profits to us. Feel free to support this effort. Super Smash Brothers Tournament, Bethesda, Maryland, June 2009 James Roach and Scott Konner, two of Laurie’s old classmates, put on a video game tournament at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, on a special day that the school sets aside for fund-raisers. Participants paid to play the Super Smash Brothers game on a huge screen in the auditorium while over 500 students watched. For a day James and Scott were BMOC’s (Big Men on Campus). James says: “It was the most popular event at school that day. I was very pleased with the turnout. I know it is something Laurie would have enjoyed.” The tournament raised $92 for Laurie’s fund. Many thanks to James and Scott for remembering Laurie in this very appropriate and ingenious way.
2008 Official start There was a ceremony at the hospital on November 26, marking the official start of the building work. About 60 guests came from across the country, including patients, ex-patients, parents, hospital staff, fund-raisers, donors, Teenage Cancer Trust staff, family and friends.
Afterwards Simon, Matthew and Andrew Hughes, deputy to the chief executive of the hospital, spoke about the project, and Matthew paid tribute to the film director David Raibin, who died of cancer earlier this year, before showing his film about Laurie and the fund. Lots of local media covered the event, most particularly Central Television news, who made it their lead story of the day. Many thanks to Sandy Barton, Central's medical reporter, for doing Laurie proud. Birmingham Half-Marathon Laurie's cousin Tom Engel, who teaches business studies and economics at Plantsbrook School in Sutton Coldfield, took part in Birmingham's first Half-Marathon on October 26. Nine thousand people were running in the race through the city centre, and thousands more turned out to watch. The rain fortunately held off.
Well done, Tom, and thank you.
The “18 Counties” bike ride undertaken by cricket writers Colin Bateman of the Daily Express, David Lloyd of the Evening Standard and Ian Todd, formerly of The Sun, was a triumph. Together with Colin’s sons, Tom and Jack, and Colin’s nephew Alan Dracey they covered 1,000 miles in 16 days, visiting all 18 of the first-class cricket county headquarters. They set out from The Oval on September 13 and returned to Lord’s on September 28, going as far as Chester-le-Street in Durham and Taunton in Somerset. All proceeds from the ride will be divided between Laurie’s fund and Heads Up, a charity backed by former England cricketer Hugh Morris, which aids research into cancers of the head and neck. Colin Bateman reports:
Vicky Morgan, Caroline Knox and Anna Roby-Welford completed the Mazda London Triathlon to raise funds for TCT, directing most of the money to Laurie’s fund.
"Wet seemed to be the theme of the day. First element was a dip in the Victoria Docks - a 750m choppy swim in inclement weather, more churn being created by the 400 or so swimmers in our heat as we thrashed our way through the saline and murky waters. Once out of the dock we stripped off our wetsuits and were onto the bikes for a 20km cycle in a summer rain shower. The final leg was a 5km run. “We were all thrilled to finish our first ever triathlon - and we all agreed we'd do it again next year!” London to Brighton Bike Ride We just received a cheque for £500 from sports journalist Kate Laven, who revealed that last October she cycled from London to Brighton for Laurie's fund and also Ian Salisbury's benefit. She says: "I collared a few cricketers and commentators for sponsorship. Sals came along too, which was the most exercise he'd had all season! It was bloody hard but enormously satisfying, and I am chuffed to bits that I can make a small contribution to such a fantastic cause." Many thanks, Kate. Parachute jump
Laurie's second cousin, 16-year-old Georgia Mercier from Cirencester, recently Well done, Georgia, and thanks for such a fantastic achievement. Paris Marathon Colin Mutton, Laurie’s first head teacher, ran the Paris Marathon in April. Here is his account: "I finished the marathon in 4:17, having taken 2:15 for the first half and then doing the second half in 2:02, finishing very strongly and thinking I could have gone under 4 hours if I had pushed on sooner. Still, there's always the next one! "We went over to Paris on the Thursday, 10 of us in all, and enjoyed two gorgeous spring days in the sun, sight seeing. My only regret was climbing the Eiffel Tower on the Friday - 700+ steps, which I could feel in my calfs on the Saturday. That, plus worries about niggling knee aches on my last training run, and the poor weather forecast for the Sunday, led to a sleepless night on the Saturday and serious concerns that things might go badly and I might not even finish. "Fortunately none of this happened and the longer the race went on the better I felt. I had great support from the others at various points around the course and that helped enormously too. But I have to say that the crowds in Paris are smaller than and less supportive overall than those in London. "I owe a huge debt to my wife Kath - she has joined me on so many training runs over the last 6 months and helped me get my marathon pace established. Having her company for a good proportion of my longest runs was a huge help. "Thanks to all of you who sponsored me. I raised a total of £400 for Laurie's fund." Well done, Colin.
Saunders Quiz Night Our friend Helen Leadbeater and her colleagues at Saunders Solicitors in London recently held their second quiz for the Fund, at which £700 was raised.
2007 Cricket auction, 30 October Former England cricketer Eric Russell presented us with a very special signed cricket bat which has now been auctioned for £1500. The bat dated from the Lord’s Centenary Test of 1980, when all players who had ever played in an Ashes Test were invited as guests of honour. It was auctioned on October 30 at a TCT fund-raising dinner, again at Lord’s, where Sir John Major was the guest speaker. Sponsored St Cuthbert's Way Walk Matthew’s brother Tony Engel and his friend Geoffrey Barrett successfully completed their sponsored saunter along the St Cuthbert’s Way in Northumbria. “The weather was kind, the scenery was beautiful, the path well-marked, and the sponsors very generous.” Altogether they expect to have raised nearly £5000. 23 September 07: Bunbury Cricket Match, Lavenham, Suffolk On a gorgeous late-summer day Even with an 18-strong team to fill, the Bunburys could loan one former Test player (Devon Malcolm) to the opposition to help balance the other four (Mark Ramprakash, Phil Tufnell, Chris Silverwood and Rob Bailey). The Bunburys team also included heartthrob Harry Judd of McFly and footballer Chris Sutton, who scored a century. We owe enormous thanks to Bunburys' mastermind David English and everyone at Lavenham, especially Holly Bellingham and Simon Turner of Marketform.
Laurie’s Woods We are thrilled to learn that the land at Kingscliffe, near Peterborough, which was generously We are grateful to Nick Bowman of Berrys in Kettering, who handled the sale free of charge, and to Richard Engel of Max Engel and Co in Northampton, who donated his legal expertise.
The money they have raised is to be divided equally between Laurie's fund and a new pavilion for young teams at their club.
Darts Marathon, Birmingham, 14 July John Bousa, President of Rubery Juniors Football Club, writes: "Just to inform you that The Cock darts team, Rubery, raised £1,231 in our 12-hour darts marathon. Otto (Putland) arrived at about 2.30 and stayed the night here in Birmingham so he could present the prizes at the end. "It was a brilliant day all round, with many players coming from different pubs in Birmingham to play. Paul James, a local darts player, played 16 games against each of the players in turn and lost just once, to his own 15-year-old son Mark, who is one of the top 50 under-18s in the country. "The manager of the pub, Damion, whose own mother and grandmother died from cancer, was deeply touched by Laurie’s story. He said that Otto had inspired him, and we will continue to raise money for Laurie’s charity. "I coach an under-13 football team and a few of the boys came up to play against Otto and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. But one of the lads summed it up by saying that he wished the most important lad was there with them." London 10 kilometre race, 1 July Congratulations and thanks to Victoria Beenstock, who decided to run her first long-distance race for Laurie's fund. Victoria's father went to school with Matthew, at Carmel College, and she works as a clinical scientist at Northampton General Hospital. She has raised about £1300. Three Peaks Challenge, June 7-8 Congratulations and many thanks to all participants in the Laurie Engel Fund Three Peaks Challenge team – Michael Watkins, Rebecca Wright, John Mulcaster, Martin Jolliffe, Alan Lathey, Kat Heritage and Paul Griffiths, seven Birmingham University students who set out to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours. Michael tells us It all went really well! We had to fit seven of us and kit in a 4x4 which took some serious acrobatics climbing in and out of the boot. Aside from blisters and a few dodgy hips, knees and ankles we all made all three peaks without a hitch! We had great weather with almost no wind and only a couple of showers – the clouds gave us the most fantastic light show during the Ben Nevis climb.
Five of us completed the challenge of getting to the summit of all three mountains in 24 hours! Due to joints and blisters two of the group were 15 minutes over the 24 hours; but talking to other groups and guides it sounds like we did well to get all seven of us to all the summits! Paul and I pushed ahead and managed to climb up and down the three mountains with only 2 minutes to spare – we were running the last bit in panic! The climb is expected to raise over £500 for the fund.
Plant Sale, Birmingham Susan and John Lloyd, Laurie’s aunt and uncle, once again worked fantastically hard with the help of friends and neighbours to organize a plant sale and coffee morning at their home in Harborne on Saturday 19 May. Even with bargain prices they managed to raise well over £700 for the fund. Thank you very much to everyone concerned.
London Marathon 22 April 2007 Congratulations to our five runners, Will Railton, Hannah Caven, Elaine Findon, Lee Gallant and Clare Dunne, who all successfully completed the race on a hot, sunny day that was great for spectators but very hard for those taking part. Will, who was running for the first time, managed it in three and a half hours, and said it was a fantastic experience. Hannah and Elaine somehow covered the course in their huge Pink Lady apple costumes, and with the help of Alex Philpott and Fiona Williams attracted a great deal of publicity for the fund. Elaine said afterwards: ‘it was the most amazing experience. Although it was hot, the atmosphere running through the crowd was incredible, filled with chants about “looking fruity” and hundreds of people cheering and wishing you to succeed. There were times when I thought I would never make it because I was over-heating, but with the end in sight, I was encouraged to run all the way by a gentleman who admired the fact I had done it in costume!.. I don’t think I will ever be able to dress like that again or shake off the comments of “mad” and “insane” to run so far in the eye-catching outfit. Yet I know in my heart that it was for such a good cause, and I would do it again tomorrow if I could!’. Clare and Lee were also running a whole Marathon for the first time. Lee said "I was very sore and missing a few toenails by the end, but I did it". Huge thanks to all five runners and everyone who has supported them along the way. It was incredibly moving for us to see the huge effort they made.
St Thomas More Language College St Thomas More, a Catholic comprehensive school in Chelsea which takes children from all over London aged 11 to 16, has raised more than £500 for Laurie’s fund in all sorts of ways. Jenny Railton, mother of Will who is running the London Marathon for the fund, teaches at the school, and says ‘the parents and children reacted very positively to my requests for fund-raising on Laurie’s behalf. Many children went on the website and this made them very keen to do what they could. ‘One child in year 7 said “When I told my Mum about the fund she wanted to know all about it and said I could get paid for the jobs I normally do around the house to raise money!" Another said, my mum and dad were so moved they gave me some money for the new ward. One class immediately did a jam jar collection: we have our Mr Carter to thank for that and for giving some of the ticket money made from the art department’s body sculpture show. I could go on in this vein.’ Many thanks to everyone concerned. A Comedy for Laurie At Carrs Lane Church in the centre of Birmingham the Carrs Lane Players put on a hugely successful production of Richard Harris’s ‘Party Piece’, and kindly donated their profits of £500 to Laurie’s fund. Many thanks to all concerned, and especially to Jamila Khan. Saunders Solicitors LLP Annual Quiz Night, London Saunders' Annual Quiz Night this year donated its takings to the Laurie Engel Fund. Legal clerk Helen Leadbeater is an old friend of Hilary and Matthew's and saw during Laurie's illness how that time was made even more comfortless for them and Laurie by the depressing and inappropriate conditions of the hospital wards where he was treated. Quizmaster Iain Wilson set the questions, tactfully leaving out anything about the law and concentrating as usual on large carnivorous mammals. The takings included donations from the partners of Saunders and also from the chambers of David Wolchover and Chris Van Hagen at 7 Bell Yard, making a total of £550. 2006 Christmas Collections A special thank you to the Beddard family of Ross-on-Wye – Mel, Tony and Abi. Their son Matthew died of cancer at the age of 13 in 2005, after being treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They held a Christmas disco in memory of Matt at his school, John Kyrle High School in Ross-on-Wye, which raised £618, and a Christmas fancy dress disco that raised £871. They went carol-singing in Goodrich (£436), and held a cricket day at Goodrich earlier in the year (£405). Some of Matt’s friends, Jess Mutton, Luke and Ellie, did a sponsored run (£480); and HSBC donated £500 under the ‘£1 for £1’ scheme, making a grand total of £3310. Many thanks as well to the Oat Street Unitarian Chapel, Evesham, to Olton United Reformed Church, Solihull, to Aston Fields Middle School, Bromsgrove and to the School Improvement Service at Herefordshire Council for donating their Christmas collections to Laurie’s fund, amounting to £1000 altogether. Motorway Challenge for Laurie Our friend Sarah Bierley, who lives in Shropshire, had a phobia about motorways, and had never driven on one. She decided this was the moment to do it, so ‘on a drizzly November afternoon, with the windscreen wipers flicking back and forth, I discovered the meaning of motorways. Not exactly the piece of cake I had been encouraged to believe, more like boiled cabbage with the hint of something nasty lurking inside. Anyway, it’s done – 4 miles along the M54 to the local service station and back again. People have been very generous. Never has such a short trip yielded such an extortionate mileage rate.’ The drive raised just over £400 for the fund: many thanks to Sarah and everyone concerned. Christmas Party for Laurie Simon Reid, dear old friend of Laurie’s cousin Rachel, organized a giant party in aid of the fund. It was called The Longest Night Before Christmas. Simon writes: The people behind the legendary The Longest Day festival (www.thelongestday.net) brought themselves and their brethren to Hidden in Vauxhall to scythe through the cold winter air with a little summer attitude. A heady mix of live music and DJs ran for 10 hours, and left all 360 attendees exhausted but warm, grinning and begging for more...which there will be...soon...once I've had a little lie down .... The party raised £1000. Thank you Simon and all your guests.
An Evening with Michael Parkinson, Birmingham Rep, 12 November Over 800 people packed the Birmingham Rep to enjoy Parky’s marvellous show, in which he shared memories of his unique 50-year career in sports journalism and TV. He showed clips of some of his most dramatic interviews, ranging from Mohammed Ali and Billy Connolly to Dame Edith Evans and Jakob Bronowski. He recalled the hazards of dealing with characters as diverse as Robert Mitchum, Nelson Mandela, Peter Sellers, Fred Trueman and Dickie Bird; and answered questions with great good humour. The show began with the short documentary film made by David Raibin about Laurie and the need for the new unit in Birmingham; and one of the stars of the film, 17-year-old Zara Free, together with another BCH patient, 13-year-old Alex Godding, like Laurie a pupil at Fairfield High School, went backstage to chat to Michael Parkinson afterwards. Matthew spoke briefly about the remarkable people we have met in the course of the past year’s fund-raising, quite a few of whom were there on the night. There was also a large contingent of staff from Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Some of Laurie’s friends shook fund-raising buckets at the end, and altogether the event raised more than £15,000. This is the first large-scale event we have held in Birmingham, and undoubtedly it will have made many more local people aware of the campaign to build the new ward. Huge thanks to the Birmingham Rep for lending us the theatre for the night; and to all the staff who managed every detail of the show with such patience and efficiency, helping to make it such a huge success. Above all, thanks to Michael Parkinson, who so generously offered to do the show in the first place.
Quiz at Roosters Restaurant, Palma Nova, Mallorca, 11 November Ian Morrison, who used to be co-author with Matthew of The Sportspages Almanac, organized a quiz night for the fund at his local restaurant. It was a roaring success, with a record 20 teams competing. Altogether it raised just over 3,000 Euros – more than £2,000 – for the fund. The winning teams were:
Many thanks to Ian and everyone concerned. Derwent Valley Lunch, 1 November The fund's most lucrative event yet was organized at the Savoy Hotel, London, by the property company Derwent Valley plc. More than 450 guests attended a lunch and raised a staggering £285,000-plus towards the Birmingham unit. Derwent Valley were already generous backers of Teenage Cancer Trust. But by coincidence Simon Silver, one of the company's founders and directors, was a school friend of Matthew's, and resolved to hold this event for Laurie's fund. The 41 other companies taking part included agents, architects, builders, designers, surveyors and lawyers, many of whom in conjunction with Derwent Valley have already donated their services and expertise in the creation of Teenage Cancer units. The lunch was followed by a short film, made by David Raibin, which tells Laurie's story and shows current patients explaining why the unit is needed. This was followed by an unusual and ingenious auction. Guests were invited to bid, not against each other for objects, but to pledge donations towards various items needed to build the unit. It raised £37,000 in six minutes. A surprise cheque was handed to Matthew and Hilary afterwards. It was a payment from Universal Studios, who wanted to use a Derwent Valley property as a location for the new Matt Damon movie, The Bourne Identity Ultimatum. Derwent Valley held out for a fee of £40,000 to be paid to Laurie's fund. It was an amazing occasion. Our profound gratitude goes to everyone involved - Simon, Paul, Derwent Valley managing director John Burns, chief organizer Dupe Odunsi and her team, auctioneer Richard Auterac, and all those who attended and gave so generously. Laurie would be very chuffed. Among those present were Paul O'Connor, chief executive of Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Adam Johnson, manager of the oncology ward. They were chuffed too. One object was auctioned at the Derwent Valley lunch: a cricket bat signed by the entire 2006 England Test squad, kindly donated to the fund by the England and Wales Cricket Board. It fetched (perhaps a record?) £5750.
Athens Marathon, 5 November David Owen, a former colleague of Matthew's at the Financial Times, successfully completed the Athens Marathon. Here is his report: "As temperatures on November 4 in Athens plunged towards freezing, I was starting to get worried. But conditions for the marathon the next morning turned out to be just about perfect, even if many of the approaching 3,000 runners put on bin liners to keep warm while awaiting the starting-gun at 8.30 sharp. So much for the glamour and romance of running the original marathon course. We must have looked like an aliens' convention. Laurie would have seen the funny side. "It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience and, although I took almost exactly twice as long as the race winner to cover the 26.2 miles, I could not believe how fast the time went. I had the odd sticky moment, as nearly everyone does in a race this long, but of course it's self-inflicted and strictly nothing compared to what those we are raising money for have to go through. That thought, plus visions of having to 'fess up to the less tactful among your colleagues and friends if you don't stay the course, is what keeps you going. And then there are the sprightly pensioners who seem to plod past you with sobering regularity. If they can do this.... "The most beautiful part of any marathon is the finish. This is certainly the case in Athens where the finishing-line is in the marble Panathinaikon stadium, which staged the first modern Olympiad in 1896. And about four and a half hours after I started, that's where I ended up, just missing the podium in something like 1900th position. Much more importantly, it looks like the generosity of my donors will raise between £4,000 and £5,000 for the Laurie Engel Fund." Congratulations, David, and many, many thanks. You can see photos of David running in the Marathon at www.firstfotofactory.com. Select Athens Classic Marathon, and then insert his 'Startnummer' - 938. Run a mile for Laurie All the pupils at Tudor Grange School, Solihull, were challenged by Angus Neal, their Director of Sport, to run a sponsored mile for the Fund. He writes: 'I have been delighted by the pupils' eagerness to take part.. Indeed some pupils ran even further than a mile – as far as four and a half miles! Even wind and rain couldn't dampen their spirits.' Altogether an amazing £4061 was raised. Ready, Steady, Cook Laurie’s cousins Rachel and Clare Engel appeared in the show on October 5. They weren’t allowed to wear their Laurie Engel Fund T shirts, but they were able to give the Fund a good plug. September 22, Bethesda, Maryland September 22 was the first anniversary of Laurie's death. We were quite overwhelmed that so many people remembered and sent us messages and flowers and cards. A group of Laurie's friends and their parents gathered at 'Larry's Tree', a dogwood which they planted last year in front of his old school, Westbrook Elementary. They lit candles, and read from Laurie's book, and listened to Matty Groves, and reminisced about 'the funniest guy in the Fifth Grade'.
Canon Hill Park Bike Ride, Birmingham At the end of July in baking heat four pupils from King Edward’s Camp Hill School for Girls in Birmingham completed a two-hour sponsored bike ride around Canon Hill Park. Layla, Kate, Yasmin and Amy are former biology students of Susan Lloyd, Laurie’s aunt. Altogether they have raised about £200 for the fund. Well done, girls, and thank you to the parents who supervised. Birmingham to Oxford Bike Ride, July 2 On a warm sunny morning seven lawyers who work for Warwickshire County Council set off from the outskirts of Birmingham and, despite minor hiccups such as dehydration, punctures and derailer malfunction, successfully completed their ride. They raised about £500 for the Fund. Many thanks to Barry Juckes and his colleagues. Plant Sale, Birmingham, May 20 Susan and John Lloyd’s coffee morning plant sale was a huge success despite the weather, and raised an amazing amount for the Fund: £1100. Sheffield Half Marathon, May 14 Martin Day and James Halse successfully completed the Sheffield Half Marathon, and raised over £500. James, running his first half marathon, finished in 1:41. Martin, who had been complaining of tired legs before the race, left James in a cloud of dust at the 9 mile mark and finished in 1:40. James and Martin would like to thank everyone for their support.
Bike Ride, Putney Bridge to Stratford-upon-Avon, May 6-7 Colin Chambers and Nigel Porter undertook this challenge and raised £1813.85 for the Fund.. Nigel writes: "Thanks to those of you who took an interest, this one was completed successfully. "After a gruelling day on Saturday, rain, rain and more rain we finally made it to Woodstock. That’s after having lunch (which I didn't have to pay for!) One disappointment: the Queen wasn't in at Windsor, despite the fact we had asked for tea and cakes, never mind I'm sure there will be another occasion. "Sunday went off to a bad start … the map was left in the pub from the night before, and within 10 minutes I had had a puncture. Clearly cycling without a map does prove difficult and I think this added a few miles to the journey, not at least a few more hills through Oxfordshire, yet we ended up in Stratford at 12.30 ish, and the fellow who I was cycling with, much worse for wear... looks like he popped his cartilage 15 miles from home (ouch)!! "So in the end we completed 153 miles, and raised over £1200 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and specifically for Hilary and Matthew Engel, whose son we were doing this for. Thanks again to you all. Nigel."
Thames row Retired British Airways pilot Rob Jenkinson rowed 123 miles down the Thames from Lechlade to Teddington on behalf of the fund, raising £370. “I am not sure whether the rowing or the beer did the most damage,” he reported. Rob is also a tireless worker on behalf of the Sreepur Orphanage in Bangladesh, which was founded by British Airways staff. Non-Uniform Day, King Edwards Camp Hill School, Birmingham, 28 April Susan Lloyd, Laurie’s aunt, who is a science teacher, arranged for all the pupils at her school to pay £1 each to the Fund for the privilege of not wearing uniform for a day. Combined with other generous donations from parents this has produced nearly £900. Chelsea Football Club raffle, 9 April 2006 Chelsea FC dedicated their regular charity raffle among corporate box-holders for the match against West Ham on 9 April to the fund. It raised £5,180, the biggest amount all season. "We are thrilled," said Sheniz Osman of the club's corporate affairs department. So are we.
Hastings Half Marathon, 12 March 2006 Lee Gallant and Clare Dunne ran their first half-marathons for Laurie's fund and raised more than £2600 (with Gift Aid).
Sports Journalists' Association, 28 February 2006 Matthew's colleagues in the Sports Journalists' Association dedicated the raffle at their annual awards night to Laurie's fund. It raised £3,550. |
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A full year on, lead nurse Lorraine Beddard is still fizzing with the enthusiasm she had on Day One.
Karren Brady, managing director of Birmingham City Football Club, was invited to cut the non-existent turf, and joined Matthew, Simon Davies, chief executive of Teenage Cancer Trust, and Tyler Bradley, a current patient, in hard hats for the photo call. 
Tom managed to shave two minutes off his personal best time, completing the race in 1 hour 48 minutes. He got some excellent coverage in the local press, and was generously sponsored by many friends and colleagues from school. He says that it was a great experience, and he hopes to do it again next year. 
motorcyclist. "How much do you need?" bravely enquired Alan, our most experienced cyclist.
Anna reports: “It was a fabulous day - despite the weather! 
