Newcastle put their best feet forward AND dig in!

[caption id="attachment_1818" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Ian Rothwell, House Manager and Marilyn Stadius, Community Champion present the cheque to Gill White, Facilities Manager at Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle upon Tyne[/caption]

Newcastle House had the great job of handing over some of the rewards from their hardworking fundraising efforts when they presented a cheque to their chosen charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care last December.

Community Champion, Marilyn Stadius takes up the story:

Our Night Despatch and Local Systems Administrator, Nic Spencer and Scott Stevenson walked from Cumbria to the North East coast and raised over £1,000 in the process. The money raised was for Marie Curie Cancer Care and we have requested the money to be restricted to the Marie Curie Hospice in Newcastle which is our adopted charity.

Nic and Scott's walk was along Hadrian's Wall last September, which takes in some very rugged terrain at times as well as having breathtaking scenery. A great achievement guys.

Marie adds:

We send a team each month of at least four staff to the hospice to look after the Day Care garden; digging, weeding painting etc. The Hospice are happy to have the commitment of our company and look forward to our visit each month. In turn, all staff who attend the days gardening feel a sense of pride in the work they have done and the visit is a huge morale boost!

NB Marie has previously told us about their gardening activities here.

It's also worth noting that whilst their chosen charity is a national one, Newcastle House have successfully managed to ensure their contributions are felt at the local level.

Dress Up or Dress Down?

In our last update from 2011 there's a pair of stories involving clothing and Breast Cancer Awareness...

In the Pink

[caption id="attachment_1409" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Pink, pink sunshine brightens up Wakefield House"][/caption]

The girls in the new selling point team (NSP) showed their support for Breast Cancer Awareness on 28 October by holding a pink day – which is exactly what it sounds like! The team dressed up in pink and encouraged everyone else to do the same, paying £1 to wear
something pink.

The events included morning coffee and tea for everyone at Wakefield House. Employees took part in a raffle, guessed the number of sweets in a jar, and had their nails painted – pink, of course! There was even the chance to play a slightly dodgy version of
Pin the tail on the Donkey, involving a bra. We’ll leave the rest to your imagination!

£300 was raised – nice work, ladies!

Dressing down for charity

There was a relaxed atmosphere in Reading House on 28 October, as everyone enjoyed a Dress-Down Friday in aid of Breast Cancer Research. All comfy-clothes-wearing required a £1 donation. The day was a great success, with everyone pitching in to raise even more money during the day.

Louise Blake, from Customer Service, sold delicious homemade cakes, which went down a treat. “We also held a raffle,” says Carly Hughes, Customer Service Manager, “and we raised money by washing cars.” A sealed-bid charity auction completed the event – congratulations to top bidder Steve Drew, Reading Returns Manager, who netted himself a rather stylish Claude Valentini watch. We’re sure he’ll be showing it off around Reading House over the coming weeks!

Charity Handiwork - Can You Help?

Does your New Year's activities include having a good tidy up and clear out? Then you may be able to help Jacqueline Bunnett with her fundraising...

[caption id="attachment_1356" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Jai and Jess helping out on the stall"][/caption]

Jacqueline Bunnett from the data management team in Swindon is using her enviable handicraft skills to raise money for her two favourite animal charities.

In September,  Jacqueline made her debut as a fundraiser with a stand at an event organised by Torbay Animals in Distress, selling her handmade patchwork baby cot quilts, pram quilts, soft toys, bags, cushions and many more items. She also plans to raise funds for the Swindon and District Animal Haven.

These two charities are close to my heart. Jai, our wonderful three-year-old border collie, came from Torbay and our eight-year-old collie Jess came from the Swindon animal Rescue Centre. 

Both dogs provide my family with lots of pleasure, and Jess is even trained to help with my epilepsy. If I have an epileptic fit, she will nuzzle me and lick my face to reassure me when I come round from the attack, which can leave me confused and frightened. As you can imagine this gives me a lot of confidence when I am on my own.

Without the hard work of charities like these two, many animals would be left to fight for survival due to neglect, abuse, or the changing circumstances of their owners.

If you would like to help Jacqueline’s fundraising efforts she is appealing for donations of
cotton and polycotton fabrics for her patchwork products.

Darren's Shedding Pounds for £££!

Many of us will have made a New Year's resolution to lose weight. Darren Young's quest to do so is already well under way...

Darren Young, Night Supervisor from Bristol Emerson’s Green, is undertaking a year-long diet for charity.

From Monday 11th July 2011 to Monday 9th July 2012, Darren (‘Desperate Darren’ to his friends) will be eating healthily to shed those pounds, all while raising some much-needed cash for Children in Need. Darren’s target weight loss is an impressive six stone, and with such a great cause in mind, he’s sure to make it! You can sponsor Darren’s hard work by clicking on his Just Giving page.

You can sponsor me for each stone lost, each pound lost, or for the whole six stone! Every penny you can give will encourage me to reach my target and help vulnerable kids across the UK and beyond.

Why not give Darren the best possible post-Christmas encouragement and make a donation?