No sooner do we reach one target than we hit the next one along! Thanks to Alison's walk and lunch yesterday, Olives continued writing of letters to wealthy companies, and lots of very generous Christmas donations we have managed to crack £3k before New year!
Not bad at all for little over 2 months work, and that means that one of us can definitely go to Cuba!
Keep it coming folks!
(and girls - think we'd better get on those bikes in earnest now eh?!)
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
We've done it!
We are over £2500! Hooray!
Thank you to everyone for their support! A particular mention to Eve and her friends form the youth choir here in Frome who braved the cold weather and did some carol singing and got me a fantastic £70!
Best wishes to everyone for a very happy Christmas and New Year.
2008 brings lots more fundraising and we will all have to crack on with our cycle training and try and keep up with Caz - so watch this space to see how we get on!
Ruth
Thank you to everyone for their support! A particular mention to Eve and her friends form the youth choir here in Frome who braved the cold weather and did some carol singing and got me a fantastic £70!
Best wishes to everyone for a very happy Christmas and New Year.
2008 brings lots more fundraising and we will all have to crack on with our cycle training and try and keep up with Caz - so watch this space to see how we get on!
Ruth
Saturday, December 15, 2007
£2000!
Hurry! you will now see on our justgiving site, we have cracked the £2000 mark and are aiming for £2500 by christmas!
Despite inviting a total of about 200 families to my mulled wine and mince pie evenings, I had a grand total of 10 attend, making a very small profit, however thanks to some hearty donations from people who were unable to attend I can add a decent donation to the pot and am now not lagging so much behind all the others!
Sunday sees myself carol singing with a few of Frome youth choir, and Caroline having a mulled wine evening, so with a few extra donations hopefuly going to arrive in christmas cards, that goal shouldn't be too unobtainable!
Not bad for about 10 weeks work girls!
Lets keep it up!
Despite inviting a total of about 200 families to my mulled wine and mince pie evenings, I had a grand total of 10 attend, making a very small profit, however thanks to some hearty donations from people who were unable to attend I can add a decent donation to the pot and am now not lagging so much behind all the others!
Sunday sees myself carol singing with a few of Frome youth choir, and Caroline having a mulled wine evening, so with a few extra donations hopefuly going to arrive in christmas cards, that goal shouldn't be too unobtainable!
Not bad for about 10 weeks work girls!
Lets keep it up!
Monday, December 3, 2007
fundraising frolics
Well done to Alison who organised a spectacularly successful mini Christmas fair at her home on Saturday. The four of us finally got to meet, which was fantastic, and we all got on! Hurrah! hopefully 10 days of sharing a room and being exceptionally tired after the most gruelling physical challenge of our lives and we will still get on!
The event was a financial success, with Alison raising £200 through cake sales and traders selling jewellery, toys and massage / reflexology treatments, and Olive matched her by wrapping presents for everyone, selling money pots and Christmas cards and a raffle, so all in the day raised £400! Fantastic!
Did I mention I raised another £10 selling knitted things?! Seems rather insignificant but every penny counts!
Here's hoping the upcoming mince pie do's that Caz & I are planning will be as rewarding!
The event was a financial success, with Alison raising £200 through cake sales and traders selling jewellery, toys and massage / reflexology treatments, and Olive matched her by wrapping presents for everyone, selling money pots and Christmas cards and a raffle, so all in the day raised £400! Fantastic!
Did I mention I raised another £10 selling knitted things?! Seems rather insignificant but every penny counts!
Here's hoping the upcoming mince pie do's that Caz & I are planning will be as rewarding!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
newsflash from Caz!......
I NEED A GEL SEAT COVER FOR CHRISTMAS (Thankfully Santa is on the case)
Well I jumped on my shiny new bike for the first time one month ago, my first journey being 7 miles. I was impressed….. My body was very unimpressed! Bike saddles are not as comfy as they were when I was four, had stabilisers and only weighed 3 stone! I have ventured out about twice a week since which is good going for an unfit overweight non cyclist like me. I also managed 19 miles on the flat between Worthing and Brighton pier and back to the middle with my Dad. This was very fun but in true southern form they have taken away the cycle path on Worthing sea front so I am now a closed cycle path rebel and happily cycle over the large and plentiful yellow “NO CYCLING” painted signs on the safe car free tar mac! Bah humbug I’m not getting run over by Christmas shopper’s trying to find a car parking space for no one.
PUNCTURES
Well in my years of having a bike (note I do not profess to ever having been a cyclist until now) I have never had a puncture in fact I thought punctures were something only to be had in cartoons when the coyote puts ACME nails in the road. Little did I know that punctures are frequent when you travel along Worthing sea front, three in fact in one week? The first I didn’t go prepared at all no money, no phone and definitely no repair kit. I was saved by a friend whilst standing looking feeble. The second time I went out with my phone hooray and the local bike store pumped up my tire (thank you). The third time I went out I had a very large ruc sack with a pump, repair kit and spare inner tube and saved myself by pumping up my slow puncture. That’s another thing I have learnt - there are lots of types of puncture it seems the first one was a complete blow out with a sudden “bang” and no air left whatsoever (well it was more like a sudden “poof “ but bang sounds more dramatic) the second was a more gradual hissing slow puncture and the last one was a very slow puncture!
HILLS
This week I did a twelve mile ride with my Dad which involved some steep hills (not mountains apparently). This confirmed that my Dad whom is 66 years old is by far fitter than his 31 year old daughter. Thus the humiliations start….. Stay tuned in to hear whether I manage to get fitter than him.
Well I jumped on my shiny new bike for the first time one month ago, my first journey being 7 miles. I was impressed….. My body was very unimpressed! Bike saddles are not as comfy as they were when I was four, had stabilisers and only weighed 3 stone! I have ventured out about twice a week since which is good going for an unfit overweight non cyclist like me. I also managed 19 miles on the flat between Worthing and Brighton pier and back to the middle with my Dad. This was very fun but in true southern form they have taken away the cycle path on Worthing sea front so I am now a closed cycle path rebel and happily cycle over the large and plentiful yellow “NO CYCLING” painted signs on the safe car free tar mac! Bah humbug I’m not getting run over by Christmas shopper’s trying to find a car parking space for no one.
PUNCTURES
Well in my years of having a bike (note I do not profess to ever having been a cyclist until now) I have never had a puncture in fact I thought punctures were something only to be had in cartoons when the coyote puts ACME nails in the road. Little did I know that punctures are frequent when you travel along Worthing sea front, three in fact in one week? The first I didn’t go prepared at all no money, no phone and definitely no repair kit. I was saved by a friend whilst standing looking feeble. The second time I went out with my phone hooray and the local bike store pumped up my tire (thank you). The third time I went out I had a very large ruc sack with a pump, repair kit and spare inner tube and saved myself by pumping up my slow puncture. That’s another thing I have learnt - there are lots of types of puncture it seems the first one was a complete blow out with a sudden “bang” and no air left whatsoever (well it was more like a sudden “poof “ but bang sounds more dramatic) the second was a more gradual hissing slow puncture and the last one was a very slow puncture!
HILLS
This week I did a twelve mile ride with my Dad which involved some steep hills (not mountains apparently). This confirmed that my Dad whom is 66 years old is by far fitter than his 31 year old daughter. Thus the humiliations start….. Stay tuned in to hear whether I manage to get fitter than him.
Monday, November 26, 2007
finally, some bike training....
HURRAY £1000!!!!!
As I am still waiting for my fellow fundraising females to send me their amusing accounts of their adventures on a bike (AHEM! hint hint) I thought I'd better get on my bike myself, so as to have something 'bikey' to enter on here and look like we are all training hard for the more physical aspect of the challenge.
As a result Sunday morning saw me pumping up tyres and adjusting saddle heights accordingly, as all four Scott's set off for our first ever family cycle! Dougal & I share a helmet between us having decided to leave or other one as a housewarming present to the new owners of our old house. Subsequently straws were pulled and it was deemed that, for that trip anyway, my life was a teeny weeny bit more important. So I got the helmet. The boys were of course, suitably protected and Jack was firmly strapped into his seat on my bike, while Sam choose to ride his 12" wheel fireman bike (with stabilisers).
"Hurrah! Training at last!" thought I.
Errrm. No. That'd be wrong.
Sam has been for the last few months going everywhere by scooter. On a scooter if it suddenly veers the wrong way or wobbles or anything at all you just jump off. To suddenly get on a bike again appeared to be something of a challenge to my wee lad, who managed to 'veer' quite a bit - enough to raise my pulse considerably - and didn't seem to remember how to steer a bike at all. All veering no steering! Thankfully he did point out to us before we had rounded the corner toward the main road that his brake actually wasn't working, so we managed to fix that one without further ado.
Anyway, finally we were off. Dougal in front, Sam in the middle and Jack & I bringing up the rear. We have to go about 200 yards on pavement next to a fairly busy road, and then it was cycle path all the way.
Then we stopped. then we were off. then we stopped. then we were off......
It would seem four year old boys on bikes are as incapable of multi-tasking as the rest of the male population, but still full of wonderment at everything (as is only right and proper for a four year old) hence every 10 yards or 10 seconds (whichever came soonest) we had to stop to examine insects, pedals, houses, the river, a bit of litter, bogie's, the sky, a flower, the clouds, a tree................when we weren't deliberately stopping to examine the many wonders that lay before us the stabilisers hit a high patch of ground, or the back wheel a low patch, the result being a small boy peddling furiously and going nowhere at all.
Lets just say I had plenty of practise in how to ride VERY slowly (this does not involve pedaling, simply cruising by pushing ones feet on the ground) and how to stop suddenly with absolutely NO warning when you finally get up to some speed (if you can call it speed!) Good cycling skills I am sure, but training this was NOT!
We covered probably just under 3km, and including a brief stop at the playground it took us about 2.5 hours.
I think it's just as well the 370km in Cuba isn't a family cycling challenge really, don't you!
As I am still waiting for my fellow fundraising females to send me their amusing accounts of their adventures on a bike (AHEM! hint hint) I thought I'd better get on my bike myself, so as to have something 'bikey' to enter on here and look like we are all training hard for the more physical aspect of the challenge.
As a result Sunday morning saw me pumping up tyres and adjusting saddle heights accordingly, as all four Scott's set off for our first ever family cycle! Dougal & I share a helmet between us having decided to leave or other one as a housewarming present to the new owners of our old house. Subsequently straws were pulled and it was deemed that, for that trip anyway, my life was a teeny weeny bit more important. So I got the helmet. The boys were of course, suitably protected and Jack was firmly strapped into his seat on my bike, while Sam choose to ride his 12" wheel fireman bike (with stabilisers).
"Hurrah! Training at last!" thought I.
Errrm. No. That'd be wrong.
Sam has been for the last few months going everywhere by scooter. On a scooter if it suddenly veers the wrong way or wobbles or anything at all you just jump off. To suddenly get on a bike again appeared to be something of a challenge to my wee lad, who managed to 'veer' quite a bit - enough to raise my pulse considerably - and didn't seem to remember how to steer a bike at all. All veering no steering! Thankfully he did point out to us before we had rounded the corner toward the main road that his brake actually wasn't working, so we managed to fix that one without further ado.
Anyway, finally we were off. Dougal in front, Sam in the middle and Jack & I bringing up the rear. We have to go about 200 yards on pavement next to a fairly busy road, and then it was cycle path all the way.
Then we stopped. then we were off. then we stopped. then we were off......
It would seem four year old boys on bikes are as incapable of multi-tasking as the rest of the male population, but still full of wonderment at everything (as is only right and proper for a four year old) hence every 10 yards or 10 seconds (whichever came soonest) we had to stop to examine insects, pedals, houses, the river, a bit of litter, bogie's, the sky, a flower, the clouds, a tree................when we weren't deliberately stopping to examine the many wonders that lay before us the stabilisers hit a high patch of ground, or the back wheel a low patch, the result being a small boy peddling furiously and going nowhere at all.
Lets just say I had plenty of practise in how to ride VERY slowly (this does not involve pedaling, simply cruising by pushing ones feet on the ground) and how to stop suddenly with absolutely NO warning when you finally get up to some speed (if you can call it speed!) Good cycling skills I am sure, but training this was NOT!
We covered probably just under 3km, and including a brief stop at the playground it took us about 2.5 hours.
I think it's just as well the 370km in Cuba isn't a family cycling challenge really, don't you!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
new news
Last week I found a fingernail in my yogurt. Blee. My first thought - compensation money - into the pot!
I wrote a VERY stiff letter of complaint to the company in question demanding immediate compensation for a such a great trauma. After all I discovered the thing when it was already in my mouth. Blee Yuk.
All the while the pound signs flashed before my eyes, thinking about the £100's that I would get in compensation that I could add to the W4W pot.
After agreeing to send in the yogurt and fingernail 'for analysis' I today received a letter...I was trembling slightly as I opened it in expectation of see a very large number on a cheque. What did I get? £5! apparently the way it burnt demonstrated that it was in fact a fruit pip husk.
Whoops.
But hey, £5 extra in the pot eh?!
Alison has had a similar moment of fundraising planning nearing on the obsessional - her younger daughter today spilt VAST quantities of milk over a large area including several items of furniture and rugs etc. Alison's' first thought was apparently of the cash back she could generate replacing all the furniture through cash back websites and therefore...you guessed it...more money in the pot!
So there you have it. This thing is taking over our lives in a way totally un-anticipated! Great isn't it!?
Right, a few more thank yous before I log off....firstly to
MOUNT GRANGE B&B who are donating a nights stay for us to raffle! (http://www.mount-grange.co.uk/)
MERLIN THEATRE (Frome) who are wavering their 10% cut off anything I sell at their Christmas Market & open day (It's this Saturday, 24th Nov 12-4!) (www.merlintheatre.co.uk/)
oh, and watch this space....Alison is going to put something on here about her first time on a bike in about 20 years! And Caz, who has been getting well under way with her cycle training may also be persuaded to tell of her growing relationship with the puncture repair kit......!
I wrote a VERY stiff letter of complaint to the company in question demanding immediate compensation for a such a great trauma. After all I discovered the thing when it was already in my mouth. Blee Yuk.
All the while the pound signs flashed before my eyes, thinking about the £100's that I would get in compensation that I could add to the W4W pot.
After agreeing to send in the yogurt and fingernail 'for analysis' I today received a letter...I was trembling slightly as I opened it in expectation of see a very large number on a cheque. What did I get? £5! apparently the way it burnt demonstrated that it was in fact a fruit pip husk.
Whoops.
But hey, £5 extra in the pot eh?!
Alison has had a similar moment of fundraising planning nearing on the obsessional - her younger daughter today spilt VAST quantities of milk over a large area including several items of furniture and rugs etc. Alison's' first thought was apparently of the cash back she could generate replacing all the furniture through cash back websites and therefore...you guessed it...more money in the pot!
So there you have it. This thing is taking over our lives in a way totally un-anticipated! Great isn't it!?
Right, a few more thank yous before I log off....firstly to
MOUNT GRANGE B&B who are donating a nights stay for us to raffle! (http://www.mount-grange.co.uk/)
MERLIN THEATRE (Frome) who are wavering their 10% cut off anything I sell at their Christmas Market & open day (It's this Saturday, 24th Nov 12-4!) (www.merlintheatre.co.uk/)
oh, and watch this space....Alison is going to put something on here about her first time on a bike in about 20 years! And Caz, who has been getting well under way with her cycle training may also be persuaded to tell of her growing relationship with the puncture repair kit......!
Friday, November 16, 2007
OLIVE
well done to Olive - the last of the fundraising females to join the team, but it is down to her hard work our total is soring sky high to over £800
Many, many thanks to Olive and her sponsors!
Many, many thanks to Olive and her sponsors!
internet earnings for the pot...
Hurray! you will see at our justgiving page (see link to the right) that we are now nearing the £500 mark, so hopefully our pre-christmas events will get us to the £1000! Thanks to all our supporters.
Also Alison and I are clicking through cashback websites to obtain more 'free money'. Many of the websites pay you a nominal amount (up to 10p) per search, so we are utilising this loophole as recommended on 'moneysavingexpert.com' to earn extra pence. By doing it every day it will really add up! If anyone is interested in finding out more to do this on our behalf please speak to Alison or myself. The only commitment is time just clicking your mouse everyday - and who isn't doing that already? We are also planning to make all our Christmas (& other!) purchases online through cashback websites, to raise more 'free money'. Again speak to us if you would like more details, but as an example a home insurance renewal purchased in this way can raise as much as £70!
Hurrah for the Internet!
Also Alison and I are clicking through cashback websites to obtain more 'free money'. Many of the websites pay you a nominal amount (up to 10p) per search, so we are utilising this loophole as recommended on 'moneysavingexpert.com' to earn extra pence. By doing it every day it will really add up! If anyone is interested in finding out more to do this on our behalf please speak to Alison or myself. The only commitment is time just clicking your mouse everyday - and who isn't doing that already? We are also planning to make all our Christmas (& other!) purchases online through cashback websites, to raise more 'free money'. Again speak to us if you would like more details, but as an example a home insurance renewal purchased in this way can raise as much as £70!
Hurrah for the Internet!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Upcoming events
Confirmed Events:
- 24th November, Christmas Fair at the Merlin Theatre, Frome. Ruth will be selling knitted hats, socks and phone covers on the 'stitch & bitch' stand. 10% to the theatre youth & community projects, 90% to Women for Women
- 1st December: mini Christmas fete at Alison's house, with a therapy room, cakes stands, wooden toys and terramundi money pots for sale plus much more! 10% from sales to Women for Women.
- 7th December: mulled wine & mince pie evening at Ruth's gaff. Phoenix cards & gift wrap on sale, 10% of sales & order on commission goes to Women for Women.
- 14th December: More mulled wine & mince pies at Ruth's. This time with wooden toys for sale. Again 10% commission goes in the W4W pot!
In the planning stages...
- New Years Day family guided walk and Lunch in Surrey
- 'Brighton Bus Bobbing' day
- Raffle of a 'Bath Spa overnight break'
- Surrey Spring Fairs
- Somerset Street Party
So far we have £275 in the pot, it is hoped this will be much nearer £1000 by christmas! (check our 'justgiving' page to see our total grow - see link on the right)
Thank you to everyone for your support. A special thanks to all the traders at the fair and the mince pie evenings who have agreed to give the commission in cash rather than goods for us.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
this really is a CHALLENGE!
This week has been one of so much high spirited excitement it is affecting our daily functioning!
Alison had a ...well lets say a moment of great forgetfulness, as she was so keen to get home from her friends house and open her pack when she heard it had arrived. With two of her three small infants in tow she got in the car and drove home before realising her error (I'll leave the finite details to your imagination)...and still didn't get to open her pack before the kids were in bed anyway!
I also had a very similar moment; I was enjoying a very lovely pub lunch with Jack and hubby Dougal, but have to confess my mind was not there. Oh no! It was off busy thinking up more fundraising ideas, and wondering just how much wine I would need to mull for my evening do's etc. Subsequently halfway home from the pub I realised I had totally forgotten to pay. Much grovelling on the phone and red-faces all round resulted in the Scott family NOT being banned from the establishment in question! Phew!
And tonight the main frustration is that having prepared some letters to send out to various hopefully helpful institutions my printer has gone ca put, leading to much grumpiness on my part. Humph.
So only three days since we received our packs and look at the chaos that has ensued! Thank heavens Olive & Caz seem to be a bit more level headed! One can only imagine what the next year holds! Thank goodness we all have fantastically supportive partners and families to cope with us in this!
Lastly tonight well done to Caz who is getting firmly underway with her cycle training completing a 19 mile ride today! You go girl!
Right, a cup of tea is in order me thinks.....
Alison had a ...well lets say a moment of great forgetfulness, as she was so keen to get home from her friends house and open her pack when she heard it had arrived. With two of her three small infants in tow she got in the car and drove home before realising her error (I'll leave the finite details to your imagination)...and still didn't get to open her pack before the kids were in bed anyway!
I also had a very similar moment; I was enjoying a very lovely pub lunch with Jack and hubby Dougal, but have to confess my mind was not there. Oh no! It was off busy thinking up more fundraising ideas, and wondering just how much wine I would need to mull for my evening do's etc. Subsequently halfway home from the pub I realised I had totally forgotten to pay. Much grovelling on the phone and red-faces all round resulted in the Scott family NOT being banned from the establishment in question! Phew!
And tonight the main frustration is that having prepared some letters to send out to various hopefully helpful institutions my printer has gone ca put, leading to much grumpiness on my part. Humph.
So only three days since we received our packs and look at the chaos that has ensued! Thank heavens Olive & Caz seem to be a bit more level headed! One can only imagine what the next year holds! Thank goodness we all have fantastically supportive partners and families to cope with us in this!
Lastly tonight well done to Caz who is getting firmly underway with her cycle training completing a 19 mile ride today! You go girl!
Right, a cup of tea is in order me thinks.....
Thursday, November 1, 2007
justgiving...
We now have our 'justgiving' page up and running. Please follow the link below to add any pennies you are happy to part with for this.
Donating through 'justgiving' is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Women for Women will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you
http://www.justgiving.com/fundraisingfemales
THANK YOU
Donating through 'justgiving' is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Women for Women will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you
http://www.justgiving.com/fundraisingfemales
THANK YOU
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
It's Official!
We have definitely been accepted on the cycle challenge, and will be going 21st - 30th November 2008! .....Better get those bikes out girls!
We are also really pleased that Alison's friend Olive, has definitely agreed to join us. We will all be meeting for the first time at Alison's fundraising day on 1st December...so watch out for the photos. Caroline will be bringing her homemade bags and Olive will be bringing more goodies to sell on the day, and we are very pleased to hear that Alison already has 5 reflexology bookings which has raised us £25 before we start!
Also Ruth's' Mulled wine & mince pie evenings are off and running, the first being for 7th December, when a phoenix card trader will be present to meet all those Christmas card & gift wrap needs! And a fantastic 10% of all phoenix purchases and orders will be going straight in the pot!
We are all ridiculously excited to have this fantastic opportunity, and excitement is leading to frantic knitting, plotting, making, baking, cycling, sleepless nights and re-decorating! I have even ditched my MP3 when I run and opt instead for mulling over fundraising ideas!
Watch this space for details of our justgiving.com page which will be up & running soon!
right, must go make fliers, bake mince pies, knit i-pod covers, and re-decorate the hall before the 7th.......
We are also really pleased that Alison's friend Olive, has definitely agreed to join us. We will all be meeting for the first time at Alison's fundraising day on 1st December...so watch out for the photos. Caroline will be bringing her homemade bags and Olive will be bringing more goodies to sell on the day, and we are very pleased to hear that Alison already has 5 reflexology bookings which has raised us £25 before we start!
Also Ruth's' Mulled wine & mince pie evenings are off and running, the first being for 7th December, when a phoenix card trader will be present to meet all those Christmas card & gift wrap needs! And a fantastic 10% of all phoenix purchases and orders will be going straight in the pot!
We are all ridiculously excited to have this fantastic opportunity, and excitement is leading to frantic knitting, plotting, making, baking, cycling, sleepless nights and re-decorating! I have even ditched my MP3 when I run and opt instead for mulling over fundraising ideas!
Watch this space for details of our justgiving.com page which will be up & running soon!
right, must go make fliers, bake mince pies, knit i-pod covers, and re-decorate the hall before the 7th.......
Friday, October 26, 2007
on your marks...
....get set....GO!
And we're off! In the lead is Ms Alison McCann who has fully organised (in the time it takes mortals to boil the kettle) a full afternoon of fun frolicking fundraising!
On 1st December at her home (address only disclosed if you know Alison and want to ask her yourself!) she will be having an afternoon of coffee & cakes, with various people there selling all you need for Christmas including homemade jewellery, wooden toys (see www.butterfliesanddragons.co.uk) , educational and craft toys, homemade cards and gift wrap plus a therapist who will give reflexology, Indian head massages and Hopi candle treatments to those who pay and want to add even more delight to the afternoon. About 10% from all sales will be going straight into 'the pot' for women-for-women.
And in hot pursuit is Ms Caroline Spears, who is hoping to raise some dosh at her Halloween party and is also making some homemade bags 'and bits' to pass on to Ms Ruth Scott.......who is STILL furiously knitting things to sell at the Merlin Theatre Christmas fair on 24th November. ( http://www.merlintheatre.co.uk/show.asp?id=420 ) Watch this space for details of Ruth's' mulled wine & mince pie evenings which will be occurring sometime on December.
I would also like to give an honorable mention at this point to SHIRLEY who has volunteered to knit a flock of Easter ducks that hold creme eggs (yum!) for us to sell and to Alison's Mum who is holding a coffee morning for us....and the word on the street is that she can raise £500! Thank you both!
Already F.A.Q's
- How can we help?
- By holding a fundraising event for us, having a boot sale, helping us with our ideas or practical help with the fundraisers or giving us £1....we are grateful for anything and everything.
- 'And what if you don't get accepted on the Cuba cycle challenge?'
- this is unlikely, but in the event then we'll still have fun raising a lot of money for them over the next few months regardless!! Hurrah!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Well here we are.....
A little more or less than three weeks ago I decided to cycle across Cuba, in doing so raising a load of cash for the fantastic charity women-for-women http://www.women-for-women.org/what .
I am a comfort zone chocolate and slippers type of a girl by nature, so what prompted such madness? Not really sure, except I recently managed to run a half marathon which is something of an achievement for a previously registered couch potato such as myself, and seem to have, as a result, decided I can do anything I put my mind to! So when I saw the ad in my weight watchers magazine asking for applicants I leaped....and thought I'd take a couple of people along for the ride!
Alison & Caroline (more on them later) both decided, within about 24 hours, that they were equal to the task, and agreed to join me on said challenge. This is no mean fit as Caroline will, I'm sure freely admit her fitness has lapsed somewhat and Alison recently gave birth to her third child, and yet already fundraising events are organised and bikes are purchased on which they can train! Subsequently we have also been joined by another of Alison's friends. I am immensely grateful to have such good but maybe slightly bonkers friends as these.
So what challenge lays ahead?.....
I am a comfort zone chocolate and slippers type of a girl by nature, so what prompted such madness? Not really sure, except I recently managed to run a half marathon which is something of an achievement for a previously registered couch potato such as myself, and seem to have, as a result, decided I can do anything I put my mind to! So when I saw the ad in my weight watchers magazine asking for applicants I leaped....and thought I'd take a couple of people along for the ride!
Alison & Caroline (more on them later) both decided, within about 24 hours, that they were equal to the task, and agreed to join me on said challenge. This is no mean fit as Caroline will, I'm sure freely admit her fitness has lapsed somewhat and Alison recently gave birth to her third child, and yet already fundraising events are organised and bikes are purchased on which they can train! Subsequently we have also been joined by another of Alison's friends. I am immensely grateful to have such good but maybe slightly bonkers friends as these.
So what challenge lays ahead?.....
- Well between the four of us we have promised to raise at least £12,000 by September 2008. This Blog will mainly document the fun/stress/laughter and tears involved in this process!
- November '08 we will be cycling 350km across Cuba!
- Oh yes, and we still are not sure if we have been accepted to do this yet.....hold your breath everyone!
A Little bit about us.....
- I am Ruth, mum to Sam (4) and Jack (2.5). When I was 36 weeks pregnant with Jack I developed the serious liver condition, Obstetric cholestasis, Jack had to be induced at 37 weeks to basically stop my own body killing him. I forever indebted to the scientists and medics who identified this condition and gave me my gorgeous son. Hence my desire to support women-for-women. I live in Frome, Somerset with husband Dougal and the boys, and work part time as a health visitor. In my spare time I run, knit, and attempt DIY and am currently learning to sign. My current fundraising effort is being concentrated on knitting baby hats to sell at the Merlin Theatre Christmas fair on 24th November.
- Caroline and I went to secondary school together. After a slightly rocky start to our friendship it became sealed spending many evenings and weekends wandering around west Sussex in our later teens. Now an Occupational Therapist Caz lives in west Sussex with her best mate Vez and their dog. Caz is a scout leader, and now avid cyclist on her new bike!
- Alison & I met in NCT antenatal classes is surrey, when we were both expecting our first children, Sam & Abby who turned four in August. Now with five small infants between us we have supported each other through out the joys and trials of parenting, and juggling life as working mums. Alison lives in Surrey with her other half Mike, Abby, Millie (2) and Ben (3 months). She also likes to knit and is something of an e-bay queen. Watch this spot for more details of her upcoming fundraising ladies day....
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