As we approach the 3rd anniversary of our charity, it is a good time to look back at all that we have achieved in 2015. With your help we have come such a long way in our short 3 years of existence. We would like to thank all our supporters and patients who donated or supported us in anyway. You have been so generous, creative and inspirational. Thank you!
2015 has been a year where we have capitalised on all the hard work done in the first 2 years. We have achieved some major milestones during the year and with support increasing (we now have almost 550 Facebook followers), we have raised a fabulous £61,000 through donations and fund raising events.
In February 2015, we were delighted to welcome Kelvin Davies – Southampton Football Club goalkeeper and Club Captain – as our Charity Patron. Kelvin has been instrumental to the development of our relationship with the Saints Foundation. A one year support and partnership concluded in May with the Saints Foundation contributing a massive £20,000 to our charity.
This enabled us to provide an annual £35,000 grant, the first award we have ever made, to fund a major research project on liver stem cells - to be carried out at Southampton University Hospital. The research involves harvesting healthy liver stem cells from patients undergoing surgery to be cultured outside of the body. The aim is to improve outcomes for patients suffering from liver and pancreatic cancer by identifying and developing future possible treatments. In particular, different forms of chemotherapy will also be tested outside the body thereby limiting risks to patients.
June saw the launch of our new website http://www.lapcancercharity.com/ which holds further details of our work, events and a partners forum where advice and information can be shared.
May to September were very active months for our supporters who initiated many different fund raising activities:
- In May, Florence Gimonet took part in the Ultra Challenge Round the Isle Of Wight walk. She completed the challenging 106km course (nearly 1800 metres of height gained in gruelling weather conditions) in 33hours and 03 minutes and finished 255 out of 516 participants.
- In June, Jo Wetton ran the Edinburgh Marathon. Jo finished in 6,590th place out of an estimated entry of over 17,000 in a time of 05:24:26. Congratulations to Jo Wetton for such an achievement for her first ever marathon.
- In July, Pauline and the Eastleigh Fusion Choir, led by their choir mistress Mairie, provided a lovely evening of music. Many more people helped to make the evening a massive success including Penny Burke who organised the refreshments, Bev Guymon who sold the charity button holes, and Southampton Football Club who donated a signed Saints shirt. This fantastic event was attended by the mayor of Eastleigh.
- Ann's Pensioners Tea Party on the 30th August was a massive success with the sale of knitted soft toys, cakes and raffle prizes
- For the second year running, on the 11th September, Owtons (Family Butchers & Wholesalers from West End) sponsored the Charity Golf Day, held at the Wellow Golf Club at East Wellow in Romsey
- Also in July, Andy Salmon and Chris Evans completed a massive 250 mile tandem bike ride in less than 24 hours. Many thanks and congratulations to Andy and Chris for this amazing achievement.
- Also in September, Mr & Mrs Michael Hunt opened their spacious garden to Hedge End Ladies Park Shopping Bus (an annual event) and with the help from close friend Mrs. Debbie Moore and her family, provided the most amazing and delicious afternoon tea for their family, relatives, neighbours and friends. Music was provided by The Lockerley Silver Band and the children enjoyed the large bouncy castle. Money was raised through the afternoon for the Liver & Pancreatic R&D Cancer Charity with the sale of cakes, soft toys and tickets for the Tombola and Raffle.
We would also like to express our very special thanks to the families and friends of Bill Smith (Bev Guymon’s late father) and of Angie Warren for their generous donations at their funeral, to the Knightwood Lodge for their contributions as well as to all our anonymous supporters - you know who you are!
Finally, the year would not have been complete without our annual formal ball. This year, the ball was held on the 24th October 2015 at The Hilton, Ageas Bowl. The Bat and Ball Fund Raising Charity Dinner was a great success and raised almost £50,000.
We will be celebrating the conclusion of our first 3 years of activity on the 24th January 2016 with an Anniversary Curry Night at Kuti’s in Southampton. We will be delighted if you can join us for this celebration evening. Tickets are available for £20 each from Linda Beadle (tel: 07773 338629 or email: linda@gichoice.co.uk) or via our fund raising page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=LAPCancerCharity If using this link please state the names of persons who will be attending and “Curry night” with your donation.
As we begin 2016, we would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope for your continued support over the forthcoming year. As ever, if you have fund raising ideas for 2016 please do get in touch.
