Fundraising Superstars!

This weekend, a team of fabulous fundraisers hit the streets in Coventry, running the half marathon and raising donations for Guy’s Gift.

A huge THANK YOU and congratulations to the team involved, at the time of writing they have raised almost £1000.

This is an incredible total, and we’re so appreciative of the team out there running and raising donations and awareness of Guy’s Gift. This support means many more families will be able to access support when faced with a bereavement.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/lauras-half-marathon-2024

Gregg Rowley memorial rugby match

On 4th February I headed up to Manor Park RFC’s ground to watch a rugby match organized by Rachel, in memory of her husband, Gregg, who died in 2022. Gregg was a Police Inspector and a life-long rugby player, fan and member at Manor Park, and so it was fitting that the memorial match was between Manor Park and a West Midlands Police XV. It was a lovely touch to see Gregg and Rachel’s children, Millie and Ethan lead the sides out for kick off. Both teams were made up of friends, colleagues and team-mates of Gregg’s and it was a fitting tribute to Gregg that both sides fielded full teams with plenty of substitutes keen to get on the pitch and play their part.

The match was played in great spirit, with a close-fought first half finishing with the teams very evenly matched. The second half saw Manor Park, who possibly had the advantage of local knowledge when they played up the slope in the first half, gradually using both the slope and the wind to their advantage, against some tiring policemen, in the second half. Manor Park eased ahead, ending with a comfortable win. The score mattered little, as everyone enjoyed the afternoon, before the teams retired to the clubhouse accompanied by the sizeable crowd to enjoy an evening of good company, food, music and the odd drink, in memory of Gregg.

Rachel organised a great tribute to Gregg and the number of players, as well as those watching high-lighted the esteem Gregg was held in. The event also raised a significant sum of money, which was shared between three charities. A donation of £550 was made to Guy’s Gift.

Thank you Rachel, Millie and Ethan for holding a great event and fundraising for Guy’s Gift.

Mamma Mia! A fundraising night hosted by Royal Leamington Spa Rotary Club

On 1st June 2023, Royal Leamington Spa Rotary Club are hosting a Mamma Mia cinema experience at The Spa Centre (Newbold Terrace, Leamington)

Tickets are on sale now, for £10 each, and all money raised from the event will be donated to Guy’s Gift.

It looks set to be a fun night, experiencing the magic of the Greek Islands, set to the music of Abba.

If you’d like to enjoy a fun evening, whilst raising funds for Guy’s Gift, you can purchase your tickets here (external link).

THANK YOU to Tamworth Baptist Church

Recently, Tamworth Baptist Church held a Hot Chocolate Fundraiser.

Sounds like a great way to raise funds to us! Hot Chocolate is like a grat big hug in a mug, isn’t it?

Thank you to everyone involved, for raising £180.14 for Guy’s Gift. Your donation makes a real difference for the families we support.

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If you’re inspired by this fantastic fundraiser, why not set up your own event over on our Just Giving page.

email fundraising@guysgift.co.uk for more ideas and inspiration, or support in setting up your fundraiser.

Steve's Ultra Event

Over the weekend, another fundraising superstar took part in an awesome fundraising challenge.

This time, it took the shape of a 100km walk from London to Brighton. It’s called an Ultra Challenge, and we can see why!

This is the second time Steve has undertaken this challenge, and sadly this time he had to retire at 75km. A briliant achievement to get that far through the challenge, and it comes with a HUGE thank you from all of us here at Guy’s Gift.

Through the challenge, Steve has rasied a wonderful £465 towards the work of Guy’s Gift - and what a difference a total like this makes. Thank you!

Welsh Three Peaks - Fundraising Challenge Success

As you’ll know from a previous news story, a fantastic team of fundraisers from The Midcounties Co-operative recently embarked on the Welsh Three Peaks challenge.

After completing the challenge last week, team member Laura Stewart-Hammond told us ‘the team did brilliantly, we are all so pleased that we completed the challenge, lots of aches in the team but a huge sense of pride too’.

We think the whole team did brilliantly, and we are thrilled with the brilliant fundraising achieved. At the time of writing, the team have raised £2,184.

Laura shared that they began the challenge by setting off on the Pyg track on Snowdon at 5:15am (!) and made it to the top in good time. They then returned using the Miners Track. The completed the summit and return in 5 hours and 15 minutes.

From here they made their way to Cadair Idris and completed this mountain in 5 hours and 30 minutes. This was the mountain the team were most concerned abou, with its reputaion for being a tougher trek than Snowdon.

Next, after a rest to refuel, was the journey on to Pen Y Fan. The team arrived here at dusk and completed this climb in the dark. Thet got back to the base of the mountain at 11:30pm.

What an incredible challenge. This is a fantasitc achievement, and we’re so pleased that you have supported Guy’s Gift in your endeavours.

WELL DONE and THANK YOU to you all!

Midcounties Co-operative Fundraising Events

We’re really enjoying seeing the training photos from a couple of fundraising teams at Coop MidCounties.

Both events are taking place in May, and if you feel able to donate to their Just Giving pages, I’m sure it will give them another boost to succeed in their challenges.

First up we have Laura and co who are completing a Welsh Three Peaks Challenge.

The team will start at Snowdon on 18 May, from there they will be up and down at lightening speed before travelling to Cadair Idris and then finish the challenge at Pen-y-Fan. Three mountains, walking a total of 17 miles with a view to completing the challenge in less than 24 hours.

We’ve been enjoying seeing the teams updates whilst they’ve been in training, and we’re equally really looking forward to hearing how the team get on. We know they will appreciate your donations to spur them on. If you would like to donate to this fundraising team, head over to their Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mccwelshthreepeaks

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Another Midcounties Co-operative team member is taking on the London2Brighton Ultra Challenge on 28/29 May.

Steve will be setting of from London on the morning of 28th May and walking all the way to the coast. The full 100 km route heads over the South Downs before the welcome sight of the Brighton coastline comes in to view.

Steve has shared on his Just Giving page that he has attempted this challenge once before, but had to pull out with an injury. We’re all behind you Steve, and hope this year is your year!

If you’d like to donate to Steve’s challenge, his fundraising page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stevengraham2022

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If you’re inspired by these fabulous fundraising adventurers and you think you’d like to fundraise for Guy’s Gift too then please check out our fundraising pack, which you can download here, or send Brian an email at fundraising@guysgift.co.uk

Award from The National Lottery Community Fund

We are thrilled to share with you the news of a fabulous donation of £460,624 spread over three years, from The National Lottery Community Fund which enables us to continue our support of bereaved children and young people across Coventry and Warwickshire.

This fund also allows us to grow additional areas of support, and we'll be listening to the voices of those accessing Guy's Gift to know what our local community want from us.

Back in October 2021, a group of our volunteers joined us in celebrating this award, and we were able to start talking with our team about what happens next. Rest assured, all the things you love about Guy’s Gift will be continuing, but with a larger team and new projects on the way!

We look forward to sharing more updates on this project with you all over the coming months, so keep an eye on our website and social media platforms to see how you might be able to get involved too.

Lilly's cake sale fundraiser

Today we are giving a shout out to Lilly and her friends after Lilly’s mum got in touch to let us know about a fabulous fundraiser they did in aid of Guy’s Gift.

Lilly’s mum told us: ‘My daughter held a cake sale on our drive along side her friends and sister, Lilly planned, made flyers and delivered them, shopped for all the ingredients and spent 4 hours cooking and decorating with our support, as she wanted to say thank you for all the help and support that she had received from  Guys Gift after my mum passed away.”

We are so pleased that you were able to support Guy’s Gift and don’t those cakes look great!

Thanks!

Fab Fundraising event by Rotary Club of Coventry Jubilee

Back in February, the Rotary Club of Coventry Jubilee held a Murder Mystery evening to raise funds for Guy’s Gift. A fantastic £601 was raised to go towards supporting us to provide bereavement support for children and young people across Coventry and Warwickshire.

President John said: “A good many people seem to know or know of children who have struggled with bereavement, and the needs of Guy’s Gift strikes a chord.”.

This recognition of the importance of the support we are able to provide is great, and we’re pleased to be able to provide that professional support across the county. This donation goes a long way to continue doing just this.

A great big thank you to everyone involved in what sounds like a good evening raising funds for us here at Guy’s Gift.