Welcome to the very Christmasy December newsletter.
So, here we are at the end of 2009. It only seems like a couple of months ago when I was putting together the Christmas Newsletter for 2008.
It really has been an amazing year for the charity and on the fundraising side we have seen everything from skydives, kickboxing events, bungee jumps, calendar and card making, tea parties, sponsored walks, you name it.
We have truly been overwhelmed by the support, kindness and commitment so manypeople have shown over the past 12 months and can reflect on the year with great pride.
With the money donated we have been able to support many young people this year by means of
Respite breaks, great days out, accommodation and general support and only last month with the help of individuals in Lanzarote we supported the first young person from outside of the UK.
The charity has continued to grow despite the turbulent financial year, we have come through with the help of individuals (like you) who continue to offer Young Heroes kindness, support and donations.
This week the charity has launched the Christmas Appeal 2009 which you can read in detail further along in the newsletter where we are appealing to individuals, corporate sponsors and organisations to donate just ?3.00 a month for the next 12 months. Just think, ?3.00 a month is like sacrificing one glass of wine in a bar, a glossy mag or even one dvd rental.
We really do appreciate your donations and every penny from your monthly donations is spent on supporting young people with cancer.
Please remember your money is vital for Young Heroes to continue its great work and help make a big difference to families affected by cancer.
With less than one week until Christmas day I very much appreciate you taking the time to read our December charity newsletter at such a busy period and I hope you have enjoyed the last 12 months of newsletters.
On behalf of myself and everyone at Young Heroes we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.
Until next year!
Kim Tetlaw
Editor
Fundraiser hits the shelves
Young Heroes have been featured in the December edition of Combat Magazine, a popular martial arts publication.
The article was referring to September’s Ready to Rum-Bull event which was organised by Andy and James Olsen. The event saw the brothers from Whitley Bay, go head to head in a grueling 100 rounds of kickboxing, sparring against the likes of Kerry-Louise Norbury (WAKO 7-time World Champion) and Bradford Bulls Hooker Wayne Godwin.
Present at the event was Master Cris Janson-Piers who is the Executive Director and President of WAKO GB. Cris remained in contact with the brothers and last month contacted Andy to say that the magazine editors were keen to run the story.
click the links below to read the article
Wilfred Drive
This month Impact began making preparations for the newly acquired Wilfred Drive properties in Sheffield where the former residential care facility will house and support up to 25 vulnerable young people especially those living with cancer and other life threatening illnesses.
A little over 5 minutes away from Sheffield’s Weston Park Hospital, Wilfred Drive is conveniently located to reduce traveling time and expenses for tenants who are currently undergoing treatment and regular check ups at the hospital.
All 23 accommodation units will be renovated and refurbished to Impacts’ high standard and we are hoping to welcome the first service users in the New Year.
Fundraising Idea of the Month
Wine tasting evenings
Uncork the festive spirit this Christmas by hosting a wine tasting fundraiser. They are really simple to organise and with the help of your guests, friends and family and even local wine suppliers or wholesalers, it can be done cheaply.
Gather Up the Goods
If you are planning your event well in advance you could enlist the help of local wine suppliers (even the wholesalers direct) and tell them about your fundraising event. They may be able to offer you discounted products or even help you out on the night with their expertise of fine wines. You have the option to focus on one specific group of wines, or all of them!
- If you want to try white wines only, buy Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Grigio.
- For red wines, you’ll need Merlot, Cabernet and Pinot Noir.
- If you really want to experiment, offer Ports and Sherries.
Accompanying Food
The best food for a wine tasting event is also the simplest! Cheese and crackers.
These easy snacks clean the palate between sips of wines, so you can truly taste each distinct flavor. You can also add some grapes to the mix. When trying Ports, provide chocolate – this sounds like a sickeningly sweet combo, but it’s delicious.
Cups, Cups and More Cups
To keep wines from tainting each other, each new wine should start with a new cup. You can purchase a bulk package of small plastic cups, or keep many wine glasses handy! Technically, you’re supposed to spit out each taste of wine…but this is a party afterall!
You Taste What?
When tasting, ask each person to identify the flavors of each wine – could be a fruit or spice. Ask them to try and identify the country where the wine is from.
The Fun – draisier part
Invite each of your guests to donate a bottle of wine. Club them together and go with a “winner takes all” approach where all bottles donated go to one big auction.
You know your guests. Are there deep pockets on your guest list? Or, true connoisseurs who will shell out for a wine collection and feel great about making a donation to a good cause as well?
Let the bids begin.
Katies Christmas Corner.
This past month has been a busy one with Christmas preparations and of course lots of card making! Since I started making and selling cards for Impact Young Heroes in August I have made around 60 cards and raised an incredible £87.50! Thank you to everybody who has bought my cards.
I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year, whilst enjoying the festive season you might like to exercise your brain cells with this cryptic Christmas quiz, answers in next month’s Katie’s Corner!
The following are clues to the names of well-known Christmas carols. Can you guess the names of the Christmas songs from the cryptic clues provided below?
1. Approach everyone who is steadfast
2. Ecstasy toward the orb
3. Listen, the foretelling spirits harmonize
4. Hey, minuscule urban area south of Jerusalem
5. Quiescent nocturnal period
6. The autocratic troika originating near the ascent of Apollo
7. The primary carol
8. Embellish the corridors
9. I’m fantasizing concerning a blanched yuletide
10. I observed my maternal parent osculating with a corpulent unshaven male in crimson disguise
11. During the time ovine caretakers supervised their charges
12. Virtuous royal philanthropist
13. The thing manifested itself at the onset of a transparent day
14. What offspring abides thus
15. Removed in a bovine feeding trough
16. Valentino, the roseate proboscis wapiti
17. The slight percussionist lad
18. Father Christmas approaches the metropolis
19. Seraphim we aurally detected in the stratosphere
20. The creator reassures you, lively fellows.
Christmas Appeal 2009
According to new figures Christmas shoppers are fighting back against the recession this year, with increased numbers hitting the high street shops for presents and pre-sale bargains.
It seems people are beginning to relax after a difficult financial year and are starting to loosen those purse strings which is great news for the economy and of course charities like Young Heroes.
Amid the financial crisis, loyal supporters of the charity continued to donate monthly and run fundraising events which allowed 8 young people and their families and friends to benefit from a respite break abroad.
We can spend ?3.00 in the blink of an eye on a weekly glossy magazine which after we have read we recycle or throw away. Money down the drain as they say!
However it isn’t about looking at what you could have done with that ?3.00 but instead looking at what you can do with it.
This Christmas Young Heroes are asking you to donate just ?3.00 a month to help give a young person living with cancer the chance to have a memorable respite break, a break away from their everyday struggles of life; hospital visits, chemo, radiotherapy, blood tests.
Unlike a magazines shorts life, your ?3.00 a month will live on forever in the hearts of the young person and their loved ones who will return home after their respite break with a lifetime of precious and fond memories.
Please sacrifice that one magazine a month for Young Heroes and help make a big difference!
Please click here to start donating today.
Christmas Message
Christmas is the beginning of the good news for the poor, the disadvantaged and those with poor health. Throughout history mankind has expressed the hope of improving life for everyone, and light is often the symbol used to communicate that hope because light always invades the darkness. Open a cupboard where it’s dark inside and the light always enters the darkness, the darkness never invades the light.
At many different levels light is being extended into the darkness of people’s lives especially where disease is concerned through research and the discovery of new techniques and drugs. Counselling has also helped with the sense of loss and the fear it generates when life is threatened. All these things bring the light of hope into our lives not just for those suffering from a particular condition, but for their families and friends too.
At Young Heroes we also have our part to play in bringing the light of hope into the lives we are privileged to know. The practical help of an informed listener is a real comfort to those whose imaginations have suggested things way beyond reality. The practical help of doing the ironing, or preparing a meal show that people do love and care when everyone else appears to have given up and walked away.
Young Heroes also puts the icing on the Christmas cake by providing respite breaks for those who have suffered. For the first time in years, many families and friends are given the opportunity to be normal; to relax sufficiently to enjoy a full nights sleep, or even to enjoy a book while sunbathing and enjoying a glass of wine. To have the space to fool around and laugh without the pressure of being at hospital.
Along with all those endeavouring to bring the light of Christmas hope into people’s lives, Young Heroes provides us all with the opportunity to celebrate. To celebrate renewed relationships which had become strained over the past months? To celebrate new friendships, but above all to celebrate life itself.
May the light of Christmas hope shine brightly in all your lives so that others may see it, and rejoice with the angels, that the King of hope and glory is born again at this time.
We are very grateful for all the help and support from all of our friends, who have made this possible and wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2010.
Rev. Rob Law
Volunteer for Impact Young Heroes
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Young Heroes wish to thank everyone who has supported the charity over the last 12 months and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Special thanks to:
Impact Staff
Andrew Lodge
Asiya Bibi
Beverley Law
Brian and Jackie Clark
Maureen Canelle – Clic Sargent Newcastle
Sue Harrison – Clic Sargent Leeds
Sarah Hayarth – Clic Sargent Leeds
Louise Dolphin – Click Sargent Sheffield
Carol Robinson – Clic Sargent Manchester
Judy Stirton – Clic Sargent Manchester
Janis Ball – Clic Sargent Birmingham
Christine Coates – Clic Sargent Birmingham
Leeds St James Hospital
Sheffield Western Park Hospital
Birmingham Childrens Hospital
Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary
Diane Hubber – Macmillan
Dr Miguel
Christa Greswald
David Butler -Rotary Club Solihull
Dr Shastri and colleagues- Insure Cancer
Excel Executive Chauffeurs
Freida Burke
Graham and Lynne Penn
Heather Irvine Health and Beauty
Helen Murgatroyd
Julian Hanson
Keith Stead
Kim and Jason Leeming
Liz and Bradley Watmuff
Lorraine, David and Damien –
Christie Hospital Young Oncolgy Unit
Margaret Beaton
Marj Day -Clatterbridge Young Oncology Unit
Michelle Barnes
Mr. Griffiths -Headmaster of Solihull School
Mr. Norman Pattison
Mr and Mrs McCormack
Mr and Mrs O’Brien
Mrs and Mrs John Glasswell
Mrs Martin
Nicola Massey
Rachael George – Face to Face Marketing
Revd. Chris Ellis and the Community of Stillington
Robert Law
Sarah Atherton
Sarah Thabit
Saxophony
Steven Wright
Trudie Newlove
The Anglican Parish of St Laurence in Lanzarote
Bradford Bulls
Wayne Godwin, Bradford Bulls
Michael Platt, Bradford Bulls
Jamie Langley, Bradford Bulls
Jack Petty
Chris Lightfoot
RFL (Rugby Football League)
Salford City Reds
Jim Leon, Cornwall
The Brooman family
Sorelle Marshall
Sheila Lewis and Lanzarote Mothers Union
Rooftops Bar, Playa Blanca
Nikki Easton
Julie Fox
Solihull Indoor Bowling Club
The White Bear, Stillington
Jayne Turner
Mike and Diyhane at Island Mobility, Lanzarote
Nuestra Senora Del Carmen Church, Playa Blanca
Maria at the Inn Plaice, Playa Blanca
NG Bailey
Christa Greswold
Jack Brown and the Wyke Writers Workshop
Andy Olsen
James Olsen
Mark Barrett
Action Planning
Dave Terry at DEMAA Martial Arts
Kerry-Louise Norbury, Luke, Jordan and Leaf
Cris Janson-Piers
Brian Noble
Frank Watene – Halifax RLFC
Jonny Presley – Keighley Cougars
Brendon Rawlings – Keighley Cougars
Gary North – Dewsbury Rams
Yvonne Hewitt
La Tasca – Trafford Centre
Gaucho’s Restaurant – Manchester
Ego Restaurant – Prestwich
Pizza Express, Prestwich
Lucia Wine Bar – York
Café Rouge – York
Tom Higson
Paul and Sharon Mullen
M1 Engineering
Jan Verhaert