Introduction from our editor
Welcome to the May edition of the makeabigdifference newsletter.
Firstly I would like to say thank you for all the positive comments received about the last newsletter. We always welcome any feedback and suggestions you may have for future editions.
The end of April saw the first respite break of the season with young hero Matthew Gaunt, wife Sharon and their daughter Aime enjoying their special week away.
In this edition you can read about Matthew’s experience of the break and the family’s aspirations of fundraising for Young Heroes.
As you will see we’re very much focusing on fundraising over the next couple of months. Donations and sponsors are so important to the charity and with your help Young Heroes can offer more support services and respite breaks to these deserving young individuals.
Also don’t forget time is running out to buy your charity ball tickets, so please act now to avoid disappointment. The glitzy event promises not to disappoint with champagne reception, entertainment, a mouth watering 4 course meal and some truly amazing prizes up for grabs in the raffle and auction.
Best Wishes
Kim Tetlaw
Editor
Matthew and family enjoy a ‘dream break’
Matthew and his family were offered a Young Heroes respite break in April this year and they eagerly took us up on the offer. Matthew and Sharon both said that they had been unable to ‘get away’ for 5 years due to high insurance and flight costs etc and other agencies had been unable to help them as a family.
Matthew and Sharon both said that Young Heroes had enabled them to have a much needed break, in an environment where they could just relax and enjoy their holiday with no awkward questions or ‘looks’ from ‘the locals’ and that they could almost forget things for that week
They have come back relaxed, refreshed and ready for action……. They have both decided that they want to be active fundraisers for Young Heroes and they really want to encourage other people to ‘make a big difference’. Sharon has already approached her workplace for Young Heroes to benefit from ‘dress down days’ and other Charity support. She has also roped her friends and family in to facilitate a ‘fun day’ and we’ll keep you all updated. Matthew is being his usual chatty self and ‘banging the drum’ for Young Heroes’. From the sound of things they have made lifelong friends through Young heroes and we look forward to sharing more of their fundraising escapades with you in the not too distant future.
Would you like to Sponsor a Young Hero?
A respite break can make such a big difference to a young person who have been affected by cancer and their carer.
For young people whose illness and treatments have brought much pain, distress and disruption to their lives a respite break is a place to relax, unwind, have fun and fulfil dreams.
The young heroes can then return home rested, with precious memories and lifted spirits.
For family members who wish to accompany their loved one, a Young Heroes respite break will provide welcome relief from the stresses of daily life and the space and time to reflect away from difficult times.
We would like to provide respite breaks for 60 people per year; we need people to donate to make these trips possible which is why we are asking for people to sponsor a young hero.
Each break costs £2200, we rely on the kind donations from individuals, corporate sponsors and fundraising events to fund the respite breaks.
We currently receive no help from trusts or foundations to fund respite breaks so your donations are vital.
If you are interested in sponsoring a young person’s respite holiday please contact Sharon Brown on 01142 43 18 50.
Young Heroes and their families’ comments
Some of the comments made by the young people and their families who have benefitted from a Young Heroes respite break.
“This really is the place to get away from it all. The villa is beautiful, clean, well equipped and felt like home from home. Everywhere is well looked after and having a pool is a mega bonus. The support from Bev and Rob is exactly what is needed to make the break perfect. Thank you very much to everyone at Young Heroes. We are extremely grateful, we never thought we would be able to go abroad, you made it happen!”
“All of our family had the most fantastic holiday, it was the perfect break we needed. The villa was gorgeous and clean and we couldn’t have wished for anything better. The island is such a beautiful place, we are going to be very sad to leave. Thanks to Young Heroes for giving us this opportunity!”
“The villa is beautiful and has everything you need. The place is perfect, just right for a relaxing getaway”.
“What to say? This page is not big enough!! The villa was clean and so well equipped. Bev and Rob are two of the nicest, kindest people you could ever meet. They made the break for us. Thank you so much to everyone involved with Young Heroes, it is just fantastic!”
“We had so much fun and the villa was gorgeous! Thanks very much for everything”.
Don’t forget…….
You can make an instant donation to Young Heroes online through PayPal.
PayPal is an easy convenient online payment method, Simply click the link below and follow the instructions. PayPal protects your privacy and security using VeriSign SSL Certificate
You do not need a PayPal account to donate to Young Heroes. It allows you to send money with your credit card without creating an account.
Everyone’s on Twitter…..even us!
Impact Young Heroes has joined the ever popular social networking site Twitter.
Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people and it’s as instant as text messaging. It’s the latest craze to sweep the nation and has a long list of followers including celebrities Lance Armstrong, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Britney Spears. Even Barack Obama is a twitterer!
Young Heroes has created its own page and by signing up you can receive regular news and charity updates online or to your mobile / blackberry.
If you already have an account or would like to sign up please visit: http://twitter.com/youngheroes
Signing up to Twitter couldn’t be easier and takes a matter of seconds!
*News Flash*
New units of accommodation in Radcliffe, Manchester.
We have identified new apartments in the Radcliffe area of Manchester, which we are in the process of converting into a 6 unit supported housing project for young people who are either affected by cancer or are vulnerable.
Young people face many challenges when they make the transition to living independently.
This is especially true for vulnerable young people who are perhaps leaving care, facing homelessness or just needing to make the break from their parents for a variety of reasons.
Many find themselves with nowhere to turn for support and end up on the streets or sleeping on friends sofas or floors until they exhaust their welcome. They can often move from place to place with no direction.
For many young people with a life threatening illness they lose their sense of independence by either having to stay or move back home with their parents during their illness and recovery, often hindering plans to rent or buy their first home.
The stark reality is that access to housing becomes even more difficult for a young person with a life threatening illness as their personal circumstances are further compounded by the often required needs for additional support in relation to emotional support, living and medical assistance.
Impact Living believes that everyone has a right to a place called home which is safe, secure and appropriate to their needs.
We provide a range of housing and support services for these vulnerable young people, to allow them develop the skills and confidence they will need to live independently.
Each new tenant has the opportunity to live in a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, or share with a friend or family member, depending on his or her circumstances. The apartments comprise of new windows, doors, bathrooms, kitchens, lounge area, flooring and central heating in order to facilitate modern apartment living for a number of young people who want to live in their own home but access support from Impact support workers as well as a wide range of social activities. For example: bowling and cinema outings, which encourage young people to socially interact and form new friendships.
One of our first service users at Radcliffe will be Young Heroes ‘very own’ Daniel Hewitt. Dan says that he ‘loves the Impact Young Heroes experience’ and is looking forward to life in his new home, which is well suited to his needs
For more information on supported accommodation and how you can support a young person: follow the link below:
https://www.impactliving.org/makeabigdifference/housing.html
Fundraising Idea of the Month
A Quiz
A quiz is a fantastic way to help raise funds for Young Heroes and of course have a lot of fun!
Organising such an event is not as daunting as you may think. Simply follow the steps below and your half way there!
Find a venue
Firstly, you need to think about a venue. This could be your local community centre, church hall or probably the most popular place, a pub!
When you find a suitable venue, speak to the landlord / owner and ask them if they would agree to you holding the event on their premises.
Suggest a night of the week when they are not too busy – this is an incentive for the landlord as it means they will receive more business than they normally would.
As you will be bringing lots of extra custom to the pub, suggest that perhaps they could provide a simple buffet or snacks free of charge (you’d be surprised at just how many pubs will do this).
Find out how many people the space/room will hold – this is a matter of comfort as well as health and safety regulations. Then print tickets for the maximum number of people.
This doesn’t have to be expensive and can be done on a normal computer with a little thought and creativity.
Then decide whom you want to sell the tickets to: friends, family, colleagues, etc. You could display posters in the venue and leave a number of tickets there to be sold.
Organising the quiz
You will now need to think about the quiz itself, this should be four or five rounds covering a range of subjects for example music, geography, general knowledge, film & television, sport and history.
If you’re really stuck for questions, you can ‘borrow’ questions from internet sites.
You will also need a ‘quiz master’. This should be someone who is outgoing, well spoken and will be able to keep order.
Running the quiz
After each round, the answer sheets should be swapped between teams for marking. The quiz master keeps a record of the scores for each round.
You will need prizes for the winners. So that everyone has a chance of winning, you should have prizes for each round and a prize for the team that is the overall winner. You could also have a booby prize for the team that comes last!
Contact your local shops and supermarkets to see if they can donate prizes or vouchers for their store so you can go and buy prizes yourself.
As an additional fundraiser on the evening, you can hold a raffle or a darts / pool competition.
Make every click count
When you’re next trying to find something on the internet, why not try EveryClick – the search engine that donates to charity every time you click ‘search’?
It really is that simple!
Everyclick.com is very similar to Google and AskJeeves. It’s a search engine with full search and image results and gives the same standard results as any of its competitors however EveryClick has one big difference – it donates half its revenues to charity!
It doesn’t cost you or Young Heroes a penny. All you need to do is register and choose Impact Young Heroes as your chosen charity. Then every search you make through www.everyclick.com will generate a donation.
Visit www.everyclick.com/impactyoungheroes today to start fundraising for free!
Calling all companies
Did you know that there are 17.4 million office workers in the UK? Their combined daily use of internet search engines has the potential to generate millions in charity donations.
By setting everyclick.com as your company’s default internet search engine you could help support Young Heroes everyday!
Charity Ball Update
The event
The Mid-summer Night Soul Charity Ball is to be held at The Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford on the 27th June 2009 and will be a truly unforgettable night of fabulous fundraising and brilliant entertainment. It will offer a perfect opportunity for entertaining your staff, colleagues and clients, and will combine a superb corporate hospitality environment with the all-important task of raising much-needed funds to support young people living with life-threatening illnesses.
Prizes
We have some amazing prizes for the Charity Ball auction and raffle which are a fantastic boost to the glittering event. The prizes have been donated by individuals and organisations keen to support the charity, and Young Heroes would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their kind support.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. The elevated profile of this event along with recognition on the Young Heroes website and newsletter ensures that all contributors will strengthen business networks and build brand awareness through their donations.
To discuss a sponsorship opportunity, please contact Sharon Brown on 01142 43 18 50. or email: sharon.brown@impactliving.org
Tickets
**STOP PRESS**
Organisers of the event have decided to extend the early bird discount* up until the end of May therefore tickets purchased before 29th May will remain at £75 per person or £750 for a table of 10. *Tickets after this date will be on sale at the full price of £100 per person and £1000 per table of 10.
Included in the price is a lavish champagne reception, magnificent four-course meal, entertainment from singing diva Janet Jaye and luxury goody bags to take home. Plus much much more!! Tickets are still available for the charity ball however are selling fast it is strongly recommended that you book now to avoid disappointment.
Alternatively you can call Heather Irvine on 07876 467675
or contact Sharon Brown on01142 43 18 50
or email: sharon.brown@impactliving.org
Young Heroes are looking for people to support them by joining the ‘100 Club’.
Each club will consist of 100 members, who will pledge to donate a minimum of £10 on a monthly basis.
There is a 100 club for each area; which surround the many hospitals that work with young people with cancer. This will allow them to employ a support worker for each area to work with vulnerable young people with cancer.
For example all ‘100 Club’ members from Manchester and the surrounding towns will fund a worker to work with young people who are or have been patients of Christies Hospital.
To join the 100 Club in your area please download the form, complete and return it by one of the following methods.
Post the completed form to…
Impact Young Heroes
The Angel
St Philips Place
Manchester
M3 6FA
or Fax the completed form to… 0161 73 70 374
or scan and email the completed form to… info@impactliving.org
Young Heroes would like to thank:
Island Mobility
Young Heroes would like to personally thank Mike and Diyhane at Island Mobility, Lanzarote for their kind donation of a wheel chair.
Previous to the donation Young Heroes had been hiring wheelchairs and mobility aids which of course come with a cost.
The new wheelchair, which will be kept at the charities’ villa, Casa Nissar, will save a considerable amount of money and most importantly allow the young people with limited mobility, to enjoy more freedom and independence whilst on their respite break.
Everyone at Young Heroes would like to thank Island Mobility for their generosity and support.
Mothers Union
Back in the March ‘09 edition of the newsletter, Young Heroes said thank you to a very special group of ladies who make up the Lanzarote Mothers Union. Sheila Lewis and her friends had pledged to donate gift packs to each and every young hero who visited the island.
Matthew Gaunt was the first to receive his pack which included a designer beach towel and various other gifts suitable to his interests. His wife and daughter also received their own goodie’s which apparently they were delighted with.
Sheila Lewis, the branch leader of the Lanzarote Mothers Union said “The Mothers Union is about helping and supporting families in many different ways so when we heard about the charity Young Heroes and the young people visiting Lanzarote, we thought it would be a nice start to their break to receive gifts packs with a content suitable for their age, gender and general interests”.
Sheila first became aware of Young Heroes when Rob Law was taking a service at their local church. Shortly afterwards Rob and Bev were invited to a Mothers Union meeting to give a special speech about the charity and its precious work.
The Mothers Union wanted to help and so decided to start putting together the gift packs for the next seasons respite breaks.
Sheila said “The gift packs are really coming together and we are all having fun choosing the presents. Our next focus is putting a toy box together to keep at the villa for the guests’ children. We are currently asking people on the island to donate or loan toys to help keep babies and small children entertained”.
Young Heroes would like to extend their gratitude to the work of the Mothers Union and are pleased that such a wonderful organisation is supporting the charity and the young people.