OUR NEWS
Hospital Support Packs delivered
On 14th March, we were delighted to see our Bereavement Support Packs delivered to Jackie Hobson and Debbie Sherwell at Warwick Hospital.
A huge thank you to Leamington Spa Rotary for their fundraising last year, and to Anna Lapworth, Mel Ayers and the team at EA Games in Southam for volunteering their time to put the packs together and deliver them to McGregor ward.
Sophie Peel (Delivery Team Leader - Groups and Support to Support) went along too, representing Guy’s Gift. Sophie will be supporting the team at the hospital further, with guidance on using the resources to help bereaved children and families.
Sophie shared that it was clear how passionate the team at the hospital are about the support Guy’s Gift are able to provide, and grateful they are to have resources to hand for when they are needed.
Remember, support with Guy’s Gift can be accessed by any child who has experienced the death of someone important to them. To make a referral, you can call us on 0845 467 3035 or complete the contact form here and one of the team will call you back.
Gregg Rowley memorial rugby match
Back on 4th February, the Rowley Family held a fundraising event in memory of their dad, Gregg.
The entertaining rugby match was played between Manor Park RFC and West Midlands Police RFC, and
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.
Giving Tuesday 2023
Giving Tuesday is a perfect opportunity to reflect on what you’ve given to charity this year, or what you would like to do moving forwards. It’s more than just a day to donate,. Perhaps you’ve volunteered time or expertise, shared information about Guy’s Gift with others, …
We couldn’t make a post about Giving Tuesday without acknowledging the wonderful support and donations that our local community have made over the last year. We’re always grateful for the support you show Guy’s Gift, and the difference you make to children and families across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Giving Tuesday is a global day of ‘doing good’. It’s a reasonably new tradition which originated in the USA following on from Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It’s always on Tuesday straight after Thanksgiving.
Giving Tuesday can take on many forms, and it’s an opportunity for you to think about what ‘doing good’ means to you.
In its simplest form, you might consider making a donation to charity. As a small and local charity, you can be assured that if you donate to Guy’s Gift, your donation makes its way directly to the core of what we do – providing support for bereaved children and young people.
Other ways you might decide to show your support could be volunteering your time and/or expertise. We are always looking for volunteers to join our wonderful volunteer team, and if you’d like to find out more about opportunities you can get in touch with us on volunteering@guysgift.co.uk. You can also sign up to our monthly newsletter which keeps you up to date with volunteering opportunities.
Perhaps awareness campaigning is more your thing? Every time you tell a friend about Guy’s Gift, or like/comment/share a post on our social media pages, that means that another family might know about what we can do to support them. Afterall, bereavement support isn’t something which is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. When the unfortunate time comes that a family find they could do with support for their children following the death of someone important, they may not know where to look. Word of mouth is a wonderful way to make sure that families know about what support is available when they need it.
Maybe you’d like to hold a fundraising event for Guy’s Gift. This is a wonderful way to not only fundraise and be able to make valued donations, but also another great way to let people know about us.
We LOVE hearing from you when you’re supporting Guy’s Gift. Big or small, shout about it and let us know!
Community support from Dunelm in Rugby
We were very excited to hear from Abi at Dunelm in Rugby recently, to let us know that Guy’s Gift have been put forward for their Delivering Joy Christmas project.
We were very excited to hear from Abi at Dunelm in Rugby recently, to let us know that Guy’s Gift have been put forward for their Delivering Joy Christmas project. If you’re not familiar with this project, you’ll find a Christmas Tree inside the Rugby branch of Dunelm. This Christmas Tree will contain lots of tags giving details of things local charities (Guy’s Gift included) need at the moment. As a customer, you can select one or more of the tags and purchase the items needed. Once you have the items the charity needs, you then drop them off at a collection point inside Dunelm. We then receive the items before Christmas, ready to use in support sessions with children and young people.
The tree is now up in store, so if you’re in the area we’d love it if you could head in to store and select one or more of our tags and donate the items listed.
We can’t tell you how much of a difference things like this make to small charities like Guy’s Gift, and every single donation makes a difference to the support we provide for children and young people dealing with the death of someone important to them.
Thank you to all involved in this brilliant project, and we look forward to seeing the donations at the end of the year.
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)
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?
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.
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
Steve Graham from Midcounties Co-operative took on an Ultra Challenge to raise funds for Guy’s Gift.
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
The Midcounties Co-operative complete the Welsh Three Peaks challenge in aid of Guy’s Gift.
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
Read more about the fantastic fundraising challenges the team at Midcounties Co-operative at taking on.
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
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
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.
We rely on donations to be able to provide support for bereaved children and young people across Coventry and Warwickshire.
If you would like to support Guy’s Gift either through a donation, volunteering with us or by creating a fundraiser please get in touch. You can find out more about supporting us here.