Sunday, March 16, 2008

YAY!

We are nearly halfway there with the fundraising! If you check out our Justgiving page we are now up to the grand total of £5671!

This is largely in part due to the fact that last night Caz held a hugely successful race night. Over 40 people attended, were plied with an excellent feast of bangers and mash, before settling in to place their bets on the horses! Thank so much to everyone who came / helped / contributed etc, as the evening was a huge success raising over £800! (and I think it is fair to say that a good time was had by all....!)

OK, a few up coming events for you. Don't forget that this Easter weekend Olive is holding three events, her auction, a Laser-quest day, and a Cuban evening (see poster above for details.)

JUNE 21st sees Ruth's 'Formal Dinner and Auction' take place at The Bath Arms in Horningsham. (www.batharms.co.uk) This lovely restaurant is very kindly donating a room, and this promises to be a very special evening. The ticket price of £30 will include a superb 3 course dinner and welcome drink in a great atmosphere, and the dinner will be followed by an auction of promises and items! If anyone wishes to purchase tickets please get in touch with Ruth, and also I am still hunting down more Auction prizes so if any of you have any talents or items you could donate all offers greatly appreciated!

We have our £50 prize crossword available still and the draw for the winner will take place on the 31st July. Again, please contact Ruth if you haven't received a copy and would like one!

Ruth and Alison are also collecting old mobile phones (complete with charger and battery but not Sim card) to recycle towards to women for women pot!

Don't forget, we are ALWAYS open to sponsorship, so if you haven't done so yet, please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraisingfemales and pledge your donation. Also please don't forget to tell your friends and family about us and what we are doing, and see if they would like to take part in the crossword, give a donation, or even organise a fundraising event on our behalf. We are so grateful to everyone for all your support.

Lastly, please wish us luck - we are planning to take part in a 37 mile cycle ride through the surrey hills (yikes - more hills!) on 11th May. Watch this space for how we get on!

Monday, March 10, 2008

oh help...!

I live in Somerset. In the Mendips. The Mendip hills. HILLS. HILLS HILLS.

I woke up on Friday bubbling with optimism (I had achieved a pb at the running club on weds) and thus decided that cycling to the lovely Bath Arms at Horningsham (who are hosting a dinner for me and being generally lovely - more of that later) would be a good idea. Itseemed to tick all the right boxes; I could see the room for the event, get some training in, spend some time with Jack & Dougal who was on a day off, and get to have a yummy lunch into the bargain. .

It was a one way distance of 6.2 miles - a walk in the park compared to the 10 I did with Caz - so I thought.

No no no no no.

To my great shame I found it exhaustingly hard. I was pushing the bike and walking by the first sign of a hill! I am also petrified of going down hills to fast, especially with young Jack on the back, so brake all the way down which Dougal found most bemusing. So I pant up and break down, and do a bit a walking at either end and nearly expire in the process. I hadn't drunk enough and was christening my new saddle - the end result being that I DID make it to the pub, but was knackered with a pounding head and aching back by the time I got there. The utterly frustrating thing is that whereas I exercise fairly regualry, running a few times a week, Dougal does not - and yet he seemed to breeze through the whole thing! So much so infact that he cycled home, picked up Sam from school and then came back with the car to get me and Jack!

Personally i blame my very old very heavy bike (complete with small child) and the fact that when I had run my fasteset ever two days previously I had forgotton to stretch - and consequently was VERY stiff!

....do you think excuses like that will wash in Cuba?

Friday, February 15, 2008

10 mile marathon!

Well we did it. Three people, one penguin, two bikes, and ten miles.

Yesterday morning saw Caz and I saddle up, load the cargo (Jack) and head off on our first joint cycle ride. Vez, an old school friend and Caz's flatmate, was supposed to be joining us, but her bike happened to be at the police station. Not what you think - she works there. Anyway she SAID she was going to pop into work on the bus to collect her bike and meet us at the toll bridge. Then she called and SAID she had missed the bus. Then she called again and SAID she had a flat tyre and would see us at home. I have to say - I rather think she was just hiding round the corner until we had left, and then came home and ate cake. But I won't tell her that. She is a police officer and has access to trunchons and handcuffs and things, so we are going to be nice to her.

So, there we were, waiting at the toll bridge and I asked Caz if I could have a go on her lovely brand shiney new bike (without children or extra seats) while we were waiting. Well. Honestly. Compared to me that girl has it easy! Not only can she get on and off without contorting into a miriad of positions and getting cramp in her left hip to negotiate all the child seats, but her bike weighs nothing. Literally. Is probably filled with helium its that light. SO then I get back onto my bike - doing the gymnastics and getting cramp in the process - and immediately regret having ever gone anywhere near hers! My bike is HEAVY.

So having discovered Vez was copping out (get it?!!) we went onwards up the river path, and crossed the bridge at this point apparently we had two choices - either to go back down the river on the other side (a bit narrow and very muddy) or to carry on along some country roads. I opted for the roads......10 minutes later I am faced with a mountain. Well a hill. OK ok more of a small incline. But don't forget I am heaving about 4 tons of bike and a small child all the way: and the weight want to go DOWN the hill much faster than I can go up it! Caz had very conveniently ommited to metnion the presence of said hill. Hmph. Still, we made it.

All in all, we stopped to wait for Vez, to put gloves on the very chilly Jack, and to retrieve the penguin. (Yes honestly) and still made the 10 mile loop in under an hour.

50 miles in 8 hours? BRING IT ON!!!!!

Friday, February 8, 2008

PLEDGE-A-POUND WEEKEND
16TH & 17TH Feb 08
Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help!
Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!

Dear Friend,
So far I have raised over £500 on my own, but now I need some help! I am asking everyone I know to help me this weekend by asking all their friends and family to give just £1 towards women-for-women. I would be grateful for any help you can give, and am relying on all of you for this plan to work!

So Please……
Get in touch with all your e-mail / facebook / my-space contacts and direct them to my just giving page.
Take a sponsor form and cards with the just giving address on with you all weekend and let people know it is pledge a pound weekend and encourage them to participate by pledging!

As an added incentive there is a PRIZE for the person who raises the most!

Many thanks for your help!

Ruth
www.justgiving.com/fundraisingfemales www.fundraisingfemales.blogspot.com
www.women-for-women.org

If donating through Just giving please ask you contacts to specify ‘for Ruth via your name’ in the comments box so we can track it properly – otherwise you may miss out on your prize!

Cheques payable to ‘The Institute Trust Fund’.

Olive Upcoming Events

Ideal Home Show has kindly donated 50 tickets to us to raise funds to support vital medical research for women starting a family and for babies at the start of their life. The project is called “Women for Women.”
Please buy from Olive at £5 each (Non refundable)
(Normal price £14 each)
No reservations, first come, first served basis -Only 50 tickets available

CONTACT OLIVE LYCETT MOBILE- 07985168416 (text only)
EMAIL- olive.lycett@hotmail.com

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THURSDAY 20th march 2007
Railway Tavern has kindly allowed me to use their facilities for this FABULOUS Auction Fundraising event.


Doors open at 6pm.
Hammer crashing down at 8pm.
Admission £1.
Food can be ordered before 9pm.
Bar closing at 12 midnight.
Raffle.
Auction includes a selection of autograph items including Steven Gerrard shirt. Spa Day at Champneys Tring and many more.
Full exciting list of auction lots available will be distributed nearer the time.

Thank you for your support.
The Railway Taevren, Engine Room, 15 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7NX

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The Mission Fundraising Event on
GOOD FRIDAY 21st March 2008
2pm SHARP for the BLAST OFF

Laser Mayhem has kindly allowed me to use their facilities for this fund raising event. I will be raising funds to support vital medical research for women starting a family and for babies at the start of their life. The project is called “Women for Women.”
The event is as follows:
· Collect army kit at 1pm onwards.
· Blast of is 2pm sharp
· 2 ½ hours of intense action
· Finishing at 4.30pm.
· £10 for a child. £15 for an adult. (Minimum age 8)
· Light refreshments available.
· Team challenge – PRIZE for the winners.
Address: Laser Mayhem, Pryors Farm, Patch Park, Abridge, Essex, RM4 1AA
· Please complete the form below to guarantee you a place and send a cheque payable to Olive Lycett.

The training

Hi all,

sorry its been a bit quiet for a while - i have been busy organising evnts and doing some extra hours at work, so blogging has taken a backseat!

I am now unable see anyone I know without them asking how 'the training' is going. Those words, just two little words, seem to be asked with a sense of expectation, and I am begining to dread them- for I have to admitt that 'the training' to date consists of about 4 school runs and a trip to the dentist, with children on board and me puffing my way up the hills like an old steam train hauling too many carriages.

The advice from the charity is to start working on your overall fitness six months before the event, and as the event is not until November we are still 9 months away, so i am reassuring myself I don't need to do any really hard graft until the days are longer and the weather a bit more cheery. I also keep telling myself that my overall fitness isn't too bad, and trying to deny just how little running I am actually doing now and how much my overall fitness has consequently dropped! At the time I signed up I wasrunning 25 miles a week, I'm now down to 5 on a good week! Oh dear!

Still, on the good side the fundraising is going brilliantly!

Olive and Alison have managed to organise a school reunion, plus get hold of some Ideal Home Exhibition tickets, which they are selling at knock-down price (see below), Caroline is doing lots of mashing, in preparation for her great Bangers & Mash Race night at the end of March, and I have been getting great support up here and am ready to raffle my 'Somerset & city' break with Caz's help, and am getting geared up for my formal dinner and auction, set to take place in May and Pledge a pound weekend 16th/17th Feb (see below) Also we are thrilled that it looks likely that the team behind many of fleet streets puzzle pages, sudoku.co.uk, are likely to come on board to design our very own puzzle! Watch this space....

If anyone would like further information on any of the events or how you can support us, please do post a comment or get in touch with us.

Many Thanks,

Ruth
PS. I am going to stay with Caz next week - and we have some serious cycle training session planned - all the way to the pub - then home!!! Well maybe not. I have grand ideas about cycling along the front into Brighton...but we will have to see as I haven't mentioned that to her yet!

Monday, January 14, 2008

phew!

I just did the school run.

Two children. One bike. And me.

Oh and two water bottles, one lunchbox (complete with lunch), one book bag, three spare sets of clothes, two pairs of plimsoll's, one elephant bag, one set of keys, one purse, one chequebook, one glasses case. All of which adds up to one very full and heavy rucksack - but Jack didn't complain so I think he could breathe despite being squashed up against it!

I recon I have about 5 stone of weight extra on there with all that. That makes things a little tricky.

The first challenge is getting everything into the rucksack. That accomplished I have to get the kids all kitted up, plus I 'dress' Jacks bike seat in a high vis bright yellow and orange vest with reflectors. I'm not taking any chances that the traffic won't see us! We all have bright helmets and the boys wear reflective straps on each arm.

Then it's onto the bike. Getting Jack on is fine. Strapping his feet in is a little fiddly but that done, I lift Sam on and do his straps. Then I look at this bike, designed to carry ONE person, with two people all ready on, and this itsy-bitsy space in between them and feel about the size of an elephant. The Rucksack suddenly feels even larger than it did before.

Now in order to get on a bike most people swing their leg over the back wheel. No can do. Jack is in the way. The next option - and the one I have been used to - is to take your leg over the crossbar. No can do - Sam is in the way. So I have no choice but to life my leg OVER the saddle, which is at hip height - and the gap is sufficiently small that I have to point my toes while doing this. Simultaneously I have to hold the bike complete with small excitable children steady and maintain my own balance which is somewhat thrown by the rucksack. No mean feat!

Finally I am on the bike, and tentatively I start to peddle. I immediately lost my balance as I cannot go fast enough! So I stop, switch to much lower gear and try again. We do a loop round the block first before tackling the slightly busier road to school, and I feel confident that this can be achieved!

By the time I have got to the roundabout I am exhausted. By the time I get to school - which is less than half a mile away from home - I am absolutely shattered! I get off the bike and park next to Lynn - who also takes her two children on her bike every day in exactly the same way. I watch slightly amazed as she springs gaily off the seat (she is wearing a skirt - how does she do that?) and looks fresh as a daisy. I then heave my leg back over the saddle and after about three very ungainly attampts manage to put two feet back on the floor. Then Lynn reminds me she has a powered bike! Ha ha! My challenge is therefore to get fit enough to over-take her!

Anyway my legs shake & wobble on the way down to the classroom, so unaccustomed are they to this type of exercise! I rather nervously re-mount to cycle the remaining trip to preschool, but Jack and I make it there in one piece in perfect time. Now according to the elevation on the 'mapmyrun' page (see link below) I have climbed a total of 153 feet (its a slow steady drag uphill all the way) on the way....so you can imagine coming home - downhill all the way and without the children! Bliss!

Am hoping it will be a little easier by November with some decent training. I think when I get on the nice bikes they will provide us with in Cuba, and without the children, I am in danger of becoming air-borne!

This link shows my route.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/frome/1201074888 the 'P' is Sam's school and the red flag Jacks pre-school.