Mandy's West Highland Wander - Day 1

Having started the day on a greasy fry up it was after a gruelling first day of over 20 miles covered for Mandy and Paul.

Paul said ‘We’ve done it – 7 hours.

There was this chronic hill, well I think it was more of a mountain!’

You can follow their progress updates on the web. Click here 

To read more of Mandy and Paul's story and to show your support, click here

Mandy's West Highland Wander

Well, she's off! Mandy Grinyer has started her journey north of the border to conquer the West Highland Way.

96 miles in 5 days!

Mandy and her brother, Paul Hollands, have set themselves this challenge to raise money for Sophie's Appeal. Read more of her challenge and show your support by helping her reach her target click here

Sophie's Appeal Annual Summer Ball

What an amazing night we had at our annual Sophie's Appeal Summer Ball.

With entertainment from Mike Brown our fantastic table magician, talented young saxophonist Callan Jones, the Spitfire Sisters and fabulous dance from the girls at Parkwood School of Dance our guests were entertained throughout.

A big thankyou to Russell Parker our loyal master of ceremonies, the committee who worked tirelessly on the night and finally thank you all for coming, supporting Sophie's Appeal, and helping us raise in excess of £6500.

For a selection of photos from the evening, courtesy of Megan Scanlan, click here

Lucy's Leap

'I'm a nutter and an absolute adrenaline junky!'

 Those were the words of Lucy Sheridan when she signed up to a sponsored sky dive in aid of Sophie's Appeal.  Why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft is beyond me!

Jump she did and , with sponsor money pouring in, she is well on her way to raising her target of £1000.  You can still sponsor her, click here.

Want to know what you are missing out on?  To watch her video, click here.

Airport Sweeps Together to Donate £100

Southampton Airport has generously donated £100 to Sophie’s Appeal following an afternoon of sprucing up the approaches to the airport ready for the summer.

18 members of staff from across the airport volunteered to clear the roadsides, bushes, pavements and car parks of litter and other items including old traffic cones, an 8ft piece of wood, matting, cables and metal stakes to name just a few!

Luke Mosley, Airport Duty Manager and organiser of the event, said:

“Everyone cares deeply about keeping the airport spick and span so with the added motivation of raising money for charity, it encouraged people to get stuck in with gusto.”

Sophie’s Appeal funds the regions first ‘Beads of Courage’ scheme.

Sophie’s Appeal is funding the regions first ever Beads of Courage programme for children receiving treatment for cancer. Beads of Courage is an inspirational scheme which honours the children’s courage and bravery, through the collection of handmade decorative beads from around the world. Each individual bead represents a specific treatment received such as; blood transfusions, chemotherapy sessions, bone marrow transplants, scans, dialysis, drug trials and much more.

The programme started in America in 2004 and was soon rolled out in Japan and New Zealand. In its infancy in the UK, the initiative is being rolled out at Southampton General Hospital’s Piam Brown Children’s Ward, and the running costs have been funded by a donation from Sophie’s Appeal.

Major benefits of the programme are that it helps to decrease distress, provides a coping strategy and helps children find meaning in illness. The programme also provides something tangible that a child can use to tell family and care-givers about their experience during treatment. The beads also help explain to teachers and friends what has happened to them whilst they have been away from school.

One of Sophie’s special hospital friends, eighteen year old Hannah Wright (pictured) has been participating in the scheme since December 2011. She has collected 10,868 beads so far (as at July 2013) during her treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaeima Philadelphia Positive. (ALL ph+) and managed to collect the beads for treatment she has received since 2004. She said: “The beads make something positive out of horrible experiences and it's nice to get special beads when something is over and done with. They make people realise exactly how much you go through and it's not 'just ' chemo you have to deal with. The beads also make it easier to tell people your experiences and of course they are really pretty. When my doctors ask if I will have extra treatment or tests I just tell them,

 "It's all about the beads!"

Lin Barringer, Sophie’s Mum and Charity Founder, added, “Sophie would have been proud of her beads and would have talked to and educated her family and peers about her experiences. It is such tangible evidence of what these children have gone through in their personal battles to fight this disease. It is their journey, their story. For me, as a Mum, I wish this programme had been available to Sophie. She would have been proud of her beads. For a grieving family, I am sure during our darkest days Sophie’s beads would have in some way given us some comfort, would have helped us talk about our feelings, just as she had. For us Sophie would have lived on through her beads."

Here Come the Girls

Thank you to everyone who came to our 'Here come the girls' evening at the Fleming Park Bowling Club.

Over £500 was raised!

Thanks also to all the stall holders, helpers and fundraising team for a lovely evening.