HURSTWOOD PARK

NEUROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT

IS THE CHOSEN CHARITY FOR 2010

A DONATION HAS ALSO BEEN MADE TO THE UCKFIELD SCOUT BAND

VARIOUS EVENTS WILL BE TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR SO PLEASE SUPPORT THIS.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY FUNDRAISING IDEAS FOR THE CHARITY PLEASE CONTACT A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE

 This years Charity Fundraising

 About a year ago the committee decided that the charity would be Uckfield Hospital.

As most of you are aware this is a GP led hospital.  What a lot of people do not realise is the amount of areas that the hospital have.  The surgical ward, which have visiting surgeons from Eastbourne, Tunbridge Wells and Brighton to name just a few.  Out patients appointments so that people do not necessarily need to travel to the large hospitals.  The medical ward and also Minor Injuries.  Podiatry clinics, baby clinics and this only names a few of the things that go on in our local hospital.

After speaking to Senior Sister Heather Green it was decided that an orthopaedic bed was needed, one that can be raised, lowered and generally adjusted by the touch of a button by the patient themselves and also an INR measuring device.  This machine measures the blood, this is used for any patient using anti-coagulants, commonest being Warfarin, usually after a heart attack or stroke.  If the blood is too thick then there is chance of a clot forming, if it is too thin there is a chance of haemorrhaging.

We therefore set ourselves a target of £4500.  With your help we are close to achieving this.

Our first fundraiser was our Christmas Raffle and Christmas Auction.  These two events raised over £3000.  We would like to thank the following people and companies who generously donated either cash or prizes for these events:

Parker Buiding Supplies, R J Tanner, Electrical Solutions, Trading 4 U, Somerfields, Selbys Chemist, Now, Radjhani Indian Restaurant, Pets at Home, Scuba 2000, Kandy, Carlsberg, Skin Deep, Archway Complementary Therapists, Southern Trains, Horam Golf Club, Brighton & Hove FC.

At Easter we had guess the amount of bottle tops in the container.  This raised over £150.

In our current economic climate all of the members need to pat themselves on the back for your generosity.  THANK YOU.

In February during a meeting discussing entertainment in the coming year, Diane Ward said that she had an idea to raise money, she then said she would go on a sponsored slim, after a few jokes, a few sniggers and a few comments she was then asked if she was serious, yes she was.  So on 31^st March she was weighed and every fortnight she went back to the hospital and got weighed.  This went on until 30^th June.  She lost in total 7.8kg or 17.2lbs.  This will raise around £200.

Our final fundraiser is August Bank Holiday Sunday (30^th August).  We will be having our Fun Day, full details will be on the notice board and on the website shortly, suffice to say our Fun Days in the past have been a success and we see no reason why this should be any different.  We have amongst other things a Surf Simulator, Bouncy Castle, Stocks, Operation, Giant Jenga, Bar-b-q.  In the evening we will be holding a disco.  At 8.30pm we will hold a charity auction including Framed Arsenal picture, framed boxing picture, Nottingham Forest shirt, clay shooting, details will be on the notice board and website soon.  At 9.30pm we will be presenting the cheque to the hospital. 

We hope that you will come along and support this day and make the final push to raise our £4500 target.

I have been asked to write a few words about my sponsored slim.

Firstly thank you to everyone who sponsored me and those who gave me encouragement.  Also to those who said I would never do it, you made me want to prove you wrong, and I did!!!

I have been asked was it difficult and what did I miss.  Yes it was difficult but knowing that the charity would benefit it spurred me on.  Did I miss anything oh yes, there was chocolate, biscuits, chocolate, cakes, chocolate, sugar oh and also chocolate.

How did I do it, well I ate breakfast, something I didn’t do before, a bowl of cereal.  Took a salad to work and had something when I came home but tried not to have any carbohydrates in the evening.  I also did not have any alcohol in those three months (I can hear our beloved treasurer saying that people don’t have to follow that example!!!)

It has been hard, but it has been worth it.  Once again thank you to everyone who has sponsored me.