Fundraising Friends

I am quite possibly the laziest person in the world and have nothing but respect for the incredible people who push their bodies into amazing challenges for charity. I have lots of friends currently training for events to raise money for various charities and would like to highlight them today, so if you are feeling generous, please do spare some pennies for these incredible worthwhile causes!

Luke Claxton – Luke is a fellow Chelsea FC fan as well as a hard working father and partner (he welcomed his second child into the world yesterday!) He and his partner Faye are incredible charitable people. Faye opens up her salon to treat CLIC Sargent youngsters to some pampering on regular occasions and the couple regularly do charity events for CLIC Sargent, including a very successful annual golf day which has raised several thousands of pounds in recent years. Luke is running the London Marathon on April 21^st in memory of his mum, Veronica, who sadly passed away from cancer a few years ago.

Not only is Luke incredibly charitable, he is also very supportive of my charity exploits too and it genuinely cheers me to know there are families such as the Claxton’s out there working hard to help others in someone’s memory.

To support Luke’s quest to run 26.2 miles for children with cancer please click: https://www.justgiving.com/runforclic/

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Danni Mannix – Danni is my fellow Cancer Campaigns Ambassador for Romford. I have been privileged enough to get to know her, firstly as mentor and mentoree, and now as friends. She is a wonderful, kind, intelligent and compassionate lady and the current Charity Face of Europe. Danni regularly does charity events of all different varieties and she has many passions, most of which include helping people in some way. She will also be running the London Marathon in memory of both her Mum and her Nan.

Having had many conversations with Danni, I know she is full of brilliant ideas of how to raise funds and awareness of many different issues and I really admire her enthusiasm and compassion for others. I’m very lucky to have met her!

To support Danni through her 26.2 miles for Cancer Research UK please click: https://www.justgiving.com/Danni-Mannix-London-Marathon/

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Gower Tan – Gower is another fellow Cancer Campaigns Ambassador for Cancer Research UK. Gower is a lovely man, very enthusiastic and very passionate about CRUK and their aims. He is very encouraging towards his fellow ambassadors and takes part in many of our lively discussions and events. Gower somehow manages to find time for his campaigning and fundraising despite having a very busy job and a family to look after so I take my hat off to him!

The fact that this will be Gower’s THIRD London Marathon is incredible; it exhausts me to even think of attempting a marathon let alone three! I think having the willpower to train is a incredible thing – I need to get some tips from him!

To support Gower as he attempts his hat trick of marathons in London please click: http://www.justgiving.com/gowertan2013

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Sue Duncombe – Sue is another of my fellow ambassadors. She is very passionate and enthusiastic as well as very supportive of everyone else and their achievements. I haven’t got to know Sue as much as I would like to and I’m hoping this will change over the coming months.

Sue is going to cycling from Marble Arch, London to the Arc de Triumph in Paris. This is a challenge that I couldn’t even imagine being able to complete! I have been reading about Sue’s incredible challeges for charity and I am in awe of her. She pushes herself to the limit and achieves incredible things. Three hundred miles on a bike for four days is a huge challenge and I really do think Sue is absolutely amazing for taking on such a challenge to raise money for CRUK.

To support Sue as she cycles her way to France please click: https://www.justgiving.com/SueDuncombe2013

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Nancy Scott – Nancy is a heroine of mine. A busy wife and mother with a job and she still manages to find time to be a fundraiser and awareness raising extraordinaire! I really admire her courage, her determination and her very creative mind. She is the mastermind behind Little Legs for Life and has raised huge amounts for CRUK and other charities over the years. She is also the reason I managed to almost complete the Shine marathon – I would have given up at mile ten if it wasn’t for her!

Nancy will be part of a group hiking the Yorkshire Three Peaks to raise money for Harry Moseley’s Help Harry Help Others charity. They will be attempting this in twelve hours and have been training hard for it. I am very confident that Nancy and her friends will complete this challenge with great gusto and look forward to hearing about their next challenge as they are always finding interesting ways of raising money for important causes.

To support Nancy and the Hike for Harry please click: http://www.justgiving.com/hikingforharry

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Rosa McPherson – I have mentioned the fabulous Rosa on this blog before. An incredible lady with a huge amount strength, humour, compassion and intelligence, she is also one of my heroes. She is another ambassador and she is a powerhouse of ideas and campaigning gusto. I love reading her posts and we share a love of The Sopranos amongst other things so she definitely has good taste!

Rosa will be doing the Stirling Race for Life in May this year to raise money for Cancer Research UK. She has been fundraising for a while and I am always struck by her fun way of thanking everyone for their donations.

To support Rosa as she shows support for CRUK in Scotland please click: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/rosamacpherson8?utm_source=DM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2013_Wel

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The LWC Nurses – I love working for the LWC and get to work with some incredible people. Our wonderful nursing team are taking on the Blackheath Race for Life this year in honour of our colleague who is currently fighting cancer. The girls are determined, hard working ladies and I have no doubt that they will finish the course in one piece. They spend so much time looking after our patients and really deserve some support for this challenge.

To support the LWC nurses as they attempt 10k on a hot summer’s day please click: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/rices-runners

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As you can see I have some incredible friends! I actually feel disgustingly lazy after writing this post, so much so that I have actually thrown my chocolate bar away and considered a visit to the gym tonight.

Times are hard and most of us are scrimping and saving at the moment but if you could show some support to any of these incredible people and the charities they support then your generosity will be gratefully received J xxx

CLIC Sargent - The Great Mum's Get Together

Happy Wednesday one and all!

One of the charities I support wholeheartedly is CLIC Sargent. They helped Georgie so much when he was ill and since his death I have found support with them too. They kindly set up an Especially for You Fund in Georgie’s name so his memory can help other children and young people suffering from cancer. They are also very supportive of my fundraising and campaigning efforts as well as this blog. They are a a fantastic charity who do incredible things for young cancer sufferers and their families.

March is the month of Mother’s Day. A time when mum’s get to be centre stage and we take time to appreciate what they do for us. CLIC Sargent have a mum based even taking place in March and I wanted to highlight it here and encourage everyone to take part if they can!

This March see’s CLIC Sargent’s flagship event for mums takes place. The Great Mums Get Together asks mums across the UK to get together and have a cuppa for children and young people with cancer.

So whether you feel like hosting an indulgent afternoon tea, a pamper night or simply turning your usual coffee morning into a fundraiser, it all makes a difference. You can sign up to take part at www.clicsargent.org.uk/gettogether or for inspiration and ideas join the Great Mums Get Together Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Mums-Get-Together/133197136737766.

To read more about CLIC Sargent please click http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clic-sargent.html

To read more about the George Pantziarka CLIC Sargent Especially for You Fund please click here http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-george-pantziarka-especially-for.html

If anyone would like to host a Great Mums Get Together and raise money for the George Pantziarka Especially for You Fund to directly benefit CLIC Sargent, please  let me know!

CLIC Sargent is a hugely worthwhile charity to support and I know from personal experience that their fantastic work helps thousands of families through one of the hardest situations. No child should have to face cancer but I’m very glad a charity like CLIC Sargent exists to help those that do sadly have to fight this horrific disease.

xxx

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

December = Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in the UK. I don’t think I need to mention why this cause is so close to my heart but I do feel it is important to get the facts and figures out there for people to see. So here are some facts about childhood cancer for you:

The cancers seen in children are usually very different to those seen in adults and “childhood” refers to any child aged between birth and fourteen years old.

There are twelve main types of childhood cancer:

*Leukaemia

*Soft Tissue Sarcomas

*Kidney Tumours

*Brain and Central Nervous System (CNS)

*Bone Tumours (Like the one Georgie had)

*Carcinomas and Melanomas

*Retinoblastomas

*Gonadal and Germ Cell Tumours

*Liver Tumours

*Sympathetic Nervous System Tumours

*Other and Unspecified Tumours

Childhood cancer is quite rare and makes up 5% of all cancers. Around 1,600 children in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every year, which roughly works out at thirty one children per week. Around one in every five hundred children in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer.

The UK’s childhood cancer rates are amongst the lowest in Europe, with Northen Europe having the highest incidence rate.

Leukeamia is the most common childhood cancer. Two thirds of all childhood cancers are  leukeamia, brain and CNS tumours and lymphomas.

Surviving Childhood Cancer:

More children then ever are surviving cancer. The survival rate has doubled since the 1960’s and at least 5,600 MORE children now survive for more then five years after diagnosis.

Around 33,000 people in the UK have survived a type of childhood cancer and almost three quarters of children with cancer can now be cured of the disease.

For every ten childhood cancer sufferers – eight will now survive for more then five years after their diagnosis:

*Nearly all children diagnosed with retinoblastoma are cured.

*Survival rates for Hepatoblastoma have doubled since the 1960’s.

*Around six out of ten children diagnosed with neuroblastoma are cured.

*Eight out of ten children with kidney cancer survive the disease.

*Rhabdomyosarcoma survival rates have doubled since the 1970’s.

Childhood cancer deaths:

Cancer is the UK’s leading cause of death (from disease) in children aged up to fourteen. A fifth of all childhood deaths are down to cancer.

Brain and CNS tumours are the most common fatal type of childhood cancer.

Around two hundred and fifty children die from cancer every year in the UK.

Childhood cancer death rates have halved since the 1960’s.

Causes of Childhood Cancer:

We don’t know much about what causes childhood cancers but there are several things we do know:

*Rare genetic syndromes such as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (what Georgie had) can greatly increase a child’s risk of developing cancer.

*Children with Down ’s syndrome have a greater risk of developing leukaemia.

*2/5 retinoblastomas are linked to a faulty gene that has been inherited.

*Children that have had radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the past are at greater risk of developing a second cancer (As Georgie did)

Blog Posts About Childhood Cancer:

Georgie Pantziarka – http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/georgie-pantziarka-xx.html

Mitchell Huth – http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/mitchell-huth.html

Harry Moseley - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/childhood-cancer-awareness-month.html

Little Star Awards - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/twinkle-twinkle-little-star.html

Retinoblastoma - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/katy-bishop-petition-to-publish-signs.html

Joss Searchlight - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/joss-searchlight.html

Ellie’s Fund - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/ellies-fund.html

Li Fraumeni Syndrome - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/blog-post-100-tp53-and-li-fraumeni.html

Georgie Hillman - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/georgia-hillman-little-star.html

Neuroblastoma - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/cancer-types-neuroblastoma-in-children.html

CLIC Sargent - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clic-sargent.html

The George Pantziarka Especially For You Fund - http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-george-pantziarka-especially-for.html

Having watched a loved one fight childhood cancer, my heart breaks for every family going through the same thing. Sending lots of love to all the incredible children out there fighting cancer. 

xxx

Events, Events, Events

Morning all!

We're in the middle of November already - how scary!!!

December is jam packed full of events to make sure 2012 ends with a charitable bang!

I thought I'd remind you all of the upcoming events!

Volunteer Christmas Meet Up:
I have arranged a Christmas meet up for Cancer Research UK Volunteers. I am lucky enough to call many volunteers my friends and would like to get as many people together as possible to have a good catch up and celebrate a very successful year of volunteering. All volunteers are more then welcome to attend - if you could please let me know if you are planning to attend, I can make sure you have a cupcake! Please email pennyschristofi@gmail.com or let me know on Twitter and/or Facebook.

The details for the evening are:
Venue - The Slug and Lettuce County Hall (Waterloo, overlooking the London Eye)
Time - From 7.30pm onwards
Date: Friday 7th December 2012

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CLIC Sargent Big Bucket Collection 2012
I will be taking part in my second Big Bucket Collection this year and would really appreciate some help if anyone can spare an hour or two! I have ordered balloons, banners, badges etc.... to really make the collection a success and the money raised will be donated to CLIC Sargent through The George Pantziarka Especially For You Fund to help young people and their families deal with cancer in Georgie's memory.

Please do get in contact if you would like to help out.

The details for the event are:
Venue: Morrisons, Dagenham
Time: 9am onwards
Date: Saturday 8th December 2012

If you are unable to help or attend and would like to donate money - please visit my virtual bucket collection at  http://www.justgiving.com/Penny-Christofi

Many thanks for all your continued support and geneorsity - 2012 has been a fabulous year charity wise and I intend to finish it with a huge bang!

xxx

The George Pantziarka Especially For You Fund

Before I start this post, I just want to mention my lovely friend Hayley Q as she is having a tough day today. I can only say that she is one of the loveliest and most supportive friends in the world and her dad will be very very proud of the amazing woman she is. Lots of love missy.

Today marks 18 months since Georgie passed away. A year and a half. Scary how time flies really.

As anybody who reads this blog regularly will know – I do some fundraising for CLIC Sargent as they helped my cousin when he was ill. I’m not the best fundraiser in the world but I do like to give something back to this amazing charity when I can.

The charity recently contacted me about setting up a special fund so that my fundraising will be done in Georgie’s name, and with my uncle’s permission, this fund has been set up.

So I can proudly announce that we now have set up “The George Pantziarka Especially For You Fund” to raise money for children with cancer in his memory.

Any fundraising I do for CLIC Sargent will now be done using this fund – including my Big Bucket Collection on December 8^th.

Please do take a moment to look at our fund’s JustGiving page and please do feel free to contact me if you wish to join the team and do some fundraising!

CLIC Sargent is a brilliant charity, and one that has definitely helped my family at a time when help was needed the most. It is a great feeling to know that Georgie’s memory can live on, not just with The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust but also by helping children in a similar situation to the one he was in not so long ago.

Thank you for all your support.

 https://www.justgiving.com/teams/georgepantziarkafund

xxx

Coming Up This Winter

Hi all,

Regular readers will know that I took part in CLIC Sargent’s Big Bucket Collection during December which is childhood cancer awareness month in the UK. I spent a freezing cold, rainy Thursday outside Tesco’s in Woodford Green and managed to collect £200 for the charity. It was my first ever fundraising experience. It was originally supposed to take place on the Friday but Tesco’s moved it at the last minute, which sadly meant none of my helpers, could attend and I had to do it alone. I prefer campaigning to fundraising and I am conscious of always asking people for donations so I only do a few fundraising events every year, but this is definitely on I feel is hugely important.

I will be taking part in the collection again this year and can proudly announce the details of my collection.

On Saturday 8^th December 2012 I will be at Morrison’s in Dagenham from 9am in the morning collecting for CLIC Sargent.

If you are interested in getting involved and helping me out then please do email me on pennyschristofi@gmail.com

My family live in Kent, Surrey and Cyprus and I am in Essex so they probably wont be able to come down and support me on the day which is why I have set up a virtual bucket collection for anyone that wishes to donate but can’t make it on the day. All donations are very very gratefully received. I will post the link next week.

Childhood cancer awareness month is a cause very close to my heart. CLIC Sargent is a charity very close to my heart. I watched a child I love suffer through cancer and Georgie was helped by CLIC Sargent which is why I’m passionate about giving something back to the charity and helping other children in Georgie’s situation.

To read more about CLIC Sargent please click here: http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clic-sargent.html

To read more about Georgie please click here: http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/georgie-pantziarka-xx.html

Thank you  xxx

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i will also be braving the cold to take part in Cancer Research UK and Tesco's Every Penny Counts Collection - very apt when you consider my name!!! The details are as follows:

Saturday 27th October 2012 from 9am to 12pm at Tesco's in Barking, Essex.

I don't think I need to go into details as to why I'm taking part in this - my love for CRUK is well documented!!!

If you would like to know more about Cancer Research UK then please click here: http://pennysophia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-amazing-cancer-research-uk.html

Lovely People Fundraising for Georgie

Some of my Uncle's work colleagues are doing a fundriasing event for CLIC Sargent in Georgie's memory.

I wanted to share the page here just in case some of you lovely people wanted to show them some support.

Thank you so much for remembering my cousin in such a lovely way and good luck with your challenge!

http://www.justgiving.com/Clarendon-for-George-Pantziarka

CLIC Sargent

Last December I took past in CLIC Sargent's annual "Big Bucket Collection" and managed to raise £200 for the charity. I will be doing the same again on December 8th this year and wanted to let you know more about the charity and why I am so willing to spend a freezing cold December Saturday raising money for them.

Every single day in the UK sees about ten children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer. That's about three thousand, six hundred a year with forty four per cent of them being aged fifteen or younger at the time of diagnosis.

Being diagnosed with cancer at any age would obviously be a huge shock and a very emotional time but to see children and teenagers faced with their own mortality before they've really had a chance to live is horrific. CLIC Sargent focus on helping these children and young people as well as their families and loved ones deal with this bombshell, aiming to provide them with support to meet their needs.

CLIC Sargent do several things to help:
*They provide practical clinical and emotional support

* They provide grants and benefit information to help with the financial implications of cancer

*Lots of young sufferers require care in hospitals far from home so the charity provides free accommodation near specialist hospitals with their Home from Home service

*They arrange free mini breaks to allow families the chance to spend quality time together away from hospital and the every day reality of childhood cancer

*They provide over two hundred medical professionals including nurses and social workers to provide various forms of support for young cancer patients and their families.

*They have a wide range of practical and clear information on childhood cancer

Facts and Figures:
In 2011/12 CLIC Sargent helped families in the following ways:
*38% of the charities expenditure went towards maximising the amount of time young cancer sufferers can spend at home whilst undergoing treatment

*34% went towards trying to reduce the financial impact of cancer as well as the practical impact

*18% was spent on making sure the emotional well-being of young cancer patients and their loved ones is looked after and that they are supported emotionally

*10% went on helping young cancer patients towards reaching their full potential by helping them get access to education and employment opportunities

£21.24 million was raised in 2011/12 with over £7 million of that coming from local community fundraising as well as national events and challenges. £3.5 million was left to the charity in people's wills. The rest came from corporate partnerships, trusts and donations, products being sold online and in their shops and donations from individuals.

Major Achievements and the Future:
A major achievement for the charity in 2011/12 was the launch od the "Counting the Cost of Cancer" report. CLIC Sargent discovered that around two thirds of parents with a cancer stricken child were finding themselves plunged into debt whilst looking after their child. CLIC Sargent campaigned to protect the benefits for young cancer sufferers to ease the financial impact of the disease.

14% of young cancer sufferers are aged between sixteen and eighteen years of age and CLIC Sargent are looking to find ways to offer this age group more help and support as gaps have been discovered in the support available to this age bracket.

I speak from experience when I say childhood cancer has a massive, heartbreaking impact on the sufferer and their loved ones. Georgie and our family received invaluable support from CLIC Sargent and I am very proud to be able to give back to them by having a Big Bucket Collection every year and raising money to help enable them to carry on their fantastic work. The charity does AMAZING things for families affected by childhood cancer and I urge you to take a look at their website and look at ways you can get involved and help them make a difference to the life of a young cancer sufferer.

I'm really looking forward to my collection in December and remember to keep an eye out for a Big Bucket Collection in your area this December - dig deep if you can!!!

xxx

Cancer Types: Neuroblastoma in Children

As a twitter addict, I get to know lots of people, many of whom have been affected by cancer in some way. Lately I have noticed that a lot of parents are tweeting to raise awareness and fund for children affected by neuroblastoma. Now I’m not exactly clueless when it comes to childhood cancer but I don’t know much about this specific type. It does seem to affect a lot of children which makes it one of the most cruellest cancers around, in my opinion. So this post is dedicated to all the children that have been affected by neuroblastoma; those that have survived, those that are still fighting and those that have sadly been lost. You are all in my thoughts xxx

What is Neuroblastoma:

Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid tumour found in children and most of the children diagnosed are under five years old. It is a cancer that affects the specialised nerve cells known as neural crest cells. These cells play an important part of the development of the nervous system. Neuroblastoma can occur anywhere in the body but it is most often found in the adrenal glands, which are found in the abdomen. These glands are very specialist and can be found above the kidneys. The release hormones that are used for maintaining blood pressure and enabling us to respond to stress. neuroblastoma can also occur in the nerve tissue along the spinal cord in the neck area as well as the chest and pelvis to name a few.

Causes, Signs and Symptoms of Neuroblastoma:

As with most cancer types, the exact causes of neuroblastoma are no yet known. The first symptoms are usually quite vague and it can be difficult to know something is wrong. These symptoms include loss of appetite, tiredness and a pain in the bones. There are other symptoms that may occur too:

* If the tumour is affecting the abdomen that the stomach may be swollen, the child may be suffering from constipation, they may also have difficultly weeing and they may have high blood pressure.

* If the tumour is affecting the chest area then the child may be breathless and have difficulty swallowing.

* If the tumour is affecting the neck then the child may have a visible lump and they may have difficulty swallowing or breathing.

* If the tumour is pressing on the spinal cord then the child may have weak legs and an unsteady walk. If they are not yet able to walk then they may have reduced leg movements and not crawl as much. They may also suffer constipation and pass urine infrequently.

* Sometimes small, blue coloured lumps will appear on the skin. These are deposits of neuroblastoma.

* Very rarely, children may suffer from jerky eye and muscle movements and generally be unsteady on their feet.

Diagnosing Neuroblastoma:

If a child is suffering from suspected neuroblastoma, they will have to undergo a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis. These tests can include blood and urine tests, bone marrow tests, x-rays, CT’s, MRI’s and MIBG scans. The tests will allow the doctors to discover if there is neuroblastoma present, what area of the body it affects, whether it has spread and the grading of the tumour. This is known as staging. Treatment will depend on the stage. The stages of neuroblastoma are:

Stage one: The cancer is localised to one area of the body and there is no evidence that is has spread. It can be completely removed by surgery.

Stage Two A: The cancer is localised and has not yet started to spread but complete removal by surgery is not possible.

Stage Two B: The cancer is localised but has begun to spread to nearby lymph nodes

Stage Three: The cancer has spread into surrounding organs but has not spread to distant areas of the body.

Stage Four: The cancer has spread to distant lymph nodes, bones, bone marrow, the liver, skin or other organs.

Stage Four S (Special Neuroblastoma): This is found in babies under one years of age. The cancer is localised at between stage one to two B but it has started to spread to the liver, skin or bone marrow.

A newer staging system has been developed and introduced by the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) and is beginning to be used more widely. It is designed to look at “image defined risk factors” and whether or not they are present in tumours. These factors are detected by scans and help doctors to understand the extent of the disease. A doctor can obviously explain this in more detail.

Treatment:

Treatment will depend on the size, biology and position of the tumour, whether  grading and staging of the cancer and the age of the child. Surgery is usually the option for localised tumours whilst chemotherapy is also an option. High dose chemo with stem cell rescue is also used and so is monoclonal antibody treatment. Radiotherapy and Photo Dynamic Therapy are also option. This can be explained by a doctor.

Watching a child suffer from cancer is one of the worst things you can ever experience. There are so many different emotions involved and it is an exhausting process, both physically and mentally. Help and support is available so please do take advantage of it should you ever find yourself in this horrific situation. Some support groups and organisations for neuroblastoma are:

CLIC Sargent: I love this charity and take part in their yearly big bucket collections. They were very helpful and supportive to our family whilst Georgie was ill and are genuinely a fabulous charity for children with cancer and their loved ones. They offer very practical help and support to children and young people under the age of twenty one. http://www.clicsargent.org.uk/Home

Neuroblastoma Society: This organisation offers the chance for parents to give each other mutual support and help as well as comfort. They have a very useful information booklet which you can download straight from their website. http://www.nsoc.co.uk/

Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG): the CCLG provides research and care for children with cancer and their parents. They have twenty one specialist centres across the UK. http://www.cclg.org.uk/

If your child or a child that you love is diagnosed with neuroblastoma then my heart goes out to you. There are so many families in this horrific situation across the UK. Please know that there are lots of people out there trying to find ways to help these children survive their battles. Neuroblastoma is a very cruel cancer and I sincerely hope ways of beating this disease and preventing it from occurring in the first place are found in the near future.

xxx

My Big Bucket Collection - The Result!

So my Big Bucket Collection for CLIC Sargent was supposed to take place on Friday 16^th December 2011. I managed to get quite a few helpers and I even got some publicity in my local newspaper, the Ilford Recorder.

However on the Monday before the collection Tesco decided to move my collection date from Friday to Thursday. To say this was a nightmare is a slight understatement. This meant I has absolutely no helpers and had managed to give Tesco publicity for their own charity event which they had decided to do on the Friday instead.

So on Thursday 15^th December, I stood outside Tesco in Woodford Green from 9.30am until 4pm. I had to stand in the lobby area which was a wind trap and extremely cold! I wasn’t given the table I was promised so I had to hold a bucket in one hand and keep the other hand on the box full of my equipment and my handbag. It was an experience to say the least!

Collecting money for charity has a way of making you despair of people whilst also amazing you with people’s generosity. Doing the collection on a Thursday day time rather then a weekend meant I didn’t see as many people as I could have done. It was mostly retired people to be honest.

Some people were incredibly generous, I had two people put £10 notes in my bucket, and some were incredibly rude. I had a sign behind me to say I was collecting for children with cancer and at one point I was pushed out the way by an old lady who wanted to pet a dog standing near me!

I had big plans for my bucket collection and I didn’t turn out the way I has hoped. Nonetheless it was a brilliant experience, one I shall be repeating numerous times next year.

I’m proud to say I managed to raise £200 for CLIC Sargent which will go towards helping children with cancer in the UK. Thank you to everyone who helped out and everyone who donated! See you all again in 2012!

xxx

Tweet Tweet Part One

Hi Everyone!

I thought I’d recommend some fellow Cancer campaigners and fundraisers and shine a spotlight on them. Twitter is amazing; I have got to know so many fantastic, like minded people and I am so grateful for that. My family have been through so much and it is hard for them to constantly hear about cancer, even if it is about the positive things I’ve done in my quest to help beat the disease. The life of a cancer campaigner is a bit lonely, especially as a 22 year old. Let’s face it; it’s not a very cheerful subject!

There are some people who are so supportive to me and so magnificent at their own campaigning and fundraising that I wanted to dedicate a post to them and hopefully shine a spotlight on the fantastic work they do:

* Nancy Scott (@CRUKWalton). Nancy is superwoman. She has a heart of gold and is an avid fundraiser and campaigner as well as a loving mum of three. The list of charities she supports is probably as long as my arm and she does wonders for them all. Nancy and her friends formed a Cancer Research UK Fundraising Group in their hometown of Walton, Surrey after losing a dear friend to Cancer in 2008. Their events include “Little Legs for Life” which is a Race for Life for children and the Pink Party, a yearly fundraiser in their local area.Nancy is a huge support to me and a very dear “Twitter Friend” I look forward to getting to know her better and hopefully fundraising alongside her one day soon.

* Karen Stafford (@kaz_staff). Karen is a lovely, supportive lady working hard for CRUK. She always has lovely things to say and always seems to be doing something interesting She is involved with the fantastic “Little Star Awards” which was featured in my blog not so long ago. Karen lives in my local area and I really look forward to doing some events with her in the future.

* Callum Fairhurst (@blackpigsweets). Callum may just be the hardest working and most charitable teenager ever. He lost his brother, Liam, to cancer and is now working hard to launch a charity in his honour. Both Liam and Callum are former recipients of the “Britain’s Kindest Kid” Award and Callum is a frequent visitor to parliament. He has raised astounding amounts of money for various charities, including the fab CLIC Sargent. I’m backing Callum’s charity The Liam Foundation all the way and I’m really excited about it’s launch next year, I’ll be getting out my buckets to fundraise for them soon!

* Matt Wells (@Run4Cancer2011). Matt is an avid runner and has just completed a 109 mile run of The Cleveland Way to raise money for CRUK. He managed to do it in four days and is now recovering! As a lazy person, I salute him!

* Ele Gibson (@ele_gibson). Ele is a community fundraiser for CRUK and has bundles of fun, creative ideas to raise money. Her job is to help as many people as possible have fun raising money to beat cancer. She inspires so many fundraisers with her brilliant ideas and amazing support. She’s brilliant!

These are just some of my amazing Twitter friends doing fabulous things for charity. If you have twitter then please check them out, if not then take my word for it: they are amazing and together we all will beat cancer! J

My Big Bucket Collection Details

Hi Everyone!



Hope you are all well and looking forward to Christmas and New Year!



My Big Bucket Collection for CLIC Sargent is taking place next Friday 16th December and I now have all my equipment ready for the big day!



If you are able to lend a hand, and would like to, then I would really appreciate any help!



All the details are as follows:



Place:  Tesco
           Southend Road
           Woodford Green
           IG8 8GE



Date: Friday 16th December 2011



Time: 9am - 5pm



Nearest Tube: South Woodford (Central Line)



We will be selling Mince Pies and Christmas Biscuits to anyone who wants them, all we will ask is for a small donation. We will also be offering to help customers pack their bags and will also be standing around with buckets hoping some kinds customers are willing to donate what they can
I'm planning on having some christmassy music and I have some santa hats and sashes for everyone to wear! I'm going to have some photos taken and the event will be featuring in the local press!



I'm hoping to raise as much money as I can and really make a success of the event. It's all in my lovely Georgie's name and I really want to do him proud!



If you have an hour or so to spare and can get to Woodford Green then please email me (pennychristophe@googlemail.com) and we can arrange a time for you to come down!



Thank you!



Penny xxx                                

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - A Shining Example

December is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Obviously childhood cancer is very close to my heart after what happened to Georgie and I do work hard to raise awareness.

I thought I’d write a blog post about a very brave young man named Harry Moseley. I’m hoping lots of people have heard of him. He reminds me of Georgie a lot and I’ve been captivated by his story for a while now. His mum, also named Georgie, reminds me of my Uncle; such strength and courage.

Harry was incredibly brave; he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2007 after having problems with his eyes. The tumour was in a dangerous place, deep in his brain, which made it inoperable. He had chemotherapy, which sadly didn’t stop the tumour. Harry made a friend, Robert Harley, whilst having treatment and Harley inspired Harry to do something to help brain cancer research. He began making and selling beaded bracelets. Sadly four weeks into Harry’s campaign Harley died. He was only 55.

Harry managed to keep his illness under control for two years but his health began to worsen in July this year. He developed a blood clot on his brain and had an emergency operation on 10^th August. Harry survived the operation but was in a coma for eight weeks before his family took him home to rest on 7^th October 2011. Harry passed away the next day in his mothers arms aged just 11

Harry has done amazing things for Cancer Research. He raised so much money and awareness, he did speeches and he brought out the best in the people around him. For him to die at such a young age is an absolute tragedy, I’m sure he would have achieved even more had he survived. Another young promising life ended by cancer. The world really is a lesser place without him.

Harry has inspired so many people. His legacy lives on through his mum, his siblings and his supporters. There are people cycling, running and writing to raise money for him as well as people working hard to make his bracelets. The Harry Moseley campaign lives on and I’m sure wherever he is, he is so happy and proud of the progress being made.

Like Georgie, Harry is a perfect example of why Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is so important. Seeing anyone suffering from cancer is a tragedy but to see a child suffer is heartbreaking. To have a young person snatched away is something that you can never recover from.

People are working hard in the fight against childhood cancer but there is still work to be done. As I have explained before I am taking part in CLIC Sergeant’s Big Bucket Collection, if you do see a bucket, please donate anything you can, it really will make a difference. We may have lost Georgie and Harry but we can all work together to save other children from a similar fate. It’s what they both would want.

For more info on Harry please take a look at his website:

http://www.helpharryhelpothers.com/

For more info on the groups fundraising for Harry please take a look at the following sites:

http://www.blogger.com/profile/13709582509566998842

http://www.justgiving.com/CyclingForHarry

http://www.cyclingforharry.blogspot.com