Fundraising in Greater London, East Anglia and Kent

John Parker knows from first hand experience how EB affects lives, as he was born with EB simplex.

He is therefore extremely passionate about his job of regional fundraising manager for Greater London, Kent and East Anglia, helping to raise vital funds for DebRA.

John's region stretches from Oxford in the west to the Norfolk and Kent coastlines in the east, taking in the whole of London.

John is always willing to support groups who wish to organise their own events but if you would like an alternative way to support DebRA then why not volunteer to be a collector - John would love to hear from you!

Can you help, please?

Collection boxes across the country can raise many thousands of pounds for DebRA. Do you know of a local shop, pub or club that would have one of our boxes? If so, perhaps you could let me know and we can arrange for one to be put in the post - and perhaps you'd be kind enough to look after it for us. Payroll Giving is a wonderfully easy way to support DebRA. Regular donations can be taken from your pay before tax thereby enabling your donation to cost you less - it's almost magic! Please contact me if you'd like to know more about giving this way.

We do need some help with raising awareness though, so if your club, school, company or church would like me to come along to one of your meetings to tell you more about DebRA and EB, please let me know. I look forward to the possibility of meeting you before too long!

Call him on 01707 879887 or email john.parker@debra.org.uk

Forthcoming events

The Cuffley Players present 'Roleplay', by Alan Ayckbourn (in aid of DebRA)
24-27th March, Cuffley Hall, Maynard Place, Cuffley
Performances start at 8pm with a Saturday matinee at 3pm. Tickets are available from John Parker (07786 575513) or through the DebRA Shops in Cheshunt and Hatfield shops.

Tesco - Kew Village

Thank you to Maureen and her team and the supportive customers for raising £1040. Photo is of the winner of the prize hamper.

Intercontinental Hotels Group

Thank you to the Sports and Social section (nominated by Fiona Merwood nee Shave who worked for DebRA 7/8 years ago doing PR) for raising £169

A special thank you to Starbucks from Connie Johnson

Click here to view Connie's poster.

Cock and Hen - Fulham

Thank you to the Cock and Hen in Fulham for holding a Star Wars evening and raising £144.

Susan Wicks

Thank you to Susan Wicks for raising over £1,000 for DebRA in memory of her son Calvin, who was tragically killed in a car accident. Susan held a disco and buffet with a very welcome visit from Santa!

D R Response Ltd

A big thank you to Charlene and all at D R Response for their fundraising activities which raised £220.11 for DebRA.

Starbucks - Kew

Thank you to Andrew (District Manager) and Luca (Store Manager) and staff at Starbucks Kew for organising a raffle and raising £528.20 for DebRA.

Knights of St Columba

Thank you to the Knights of St Columba for raising £250.00 for DebRA. DebRA was nominated by Joe (whose daughter has EB) and his family.

The Blue Falcons Display Team

Thank you to Mick and The Blue Falcons Display team for raising £1,000 for DebRA. Also congratulations on achieving the world record for 6250 vaults in one hour by a team of 10.

Debbie Cooper

Thank you Debbie for organising the Fiona Memorial bike ride and raising £1,220 (plus gift aid) for DebRA. With the support of friends and family and work colleagues at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTI).

Charles Chambers

Thank you to Charles Chambers for organising a Jazz evening (Charles Chambers Trio and George King) and raising £5,244 for DebRA. The photo is of Daisy May Pearson and her father Michael presenting Charles with a DebRA teddy bear. It was a true family affair as Daisy May's Grandmother, Christine persuaded Charles to hold his last Jazz event for the benefit of DebRA.

 

Starbucks Fulham Broadway Raffle - £1,006

Thank you to all the customers of Starbucks in Fulham Broadway in helping to raise funds for an EB nurse. Thank you also to Fernando & Aman and their team for their support and to David Lloyd, Vue Cinema, Pizza Express, Krispy Kreme and Borders at Fulham Broadway for filling the Hamper which was won by Anna.

 

Kew to Richmond Walk

Congratulations and thank you to Duncan Copplestone and Connie Johnson, who completed a 10km sponsored walk (with Duncan walking backwards) along the Thames from Kew Bridge to Richmond Bridge. They raised £612.

London Welsh Centre-Grays Inn Road

Thank you for raising £308 for DebRA.

Cabbage Patch Pub - Twickenham

Thank you Stuart for holding a raffle and raising £304 for DebRA.

DebRA Dinner and Quiz 3rd September 2009

A big thank you to the following for making the Dinner and quiz (including raffle and auction) so successful. Nearly £1,000 was raised for DebRA.

Livio and his fantastic team at Marsaniello's, 22 Church Street, Twickenham.

Monica Boxley, Church Street, Twickenham www.monicaboxley.co.uk

Mette Mitchell of La Chance Jewellery www.la-chance.info

Susan Kramer, Lib Dem MP for East Sheen (pictured)

Mr & Mrs Chris Langley, Warren Ave, Richmond

Laurel's Hairdressing, Twickenham

Sophocles Alexiou

Paul's, Richmond (Carol)

Jeff of Amanda Flowers, Richmond

And to Duncan for the quiz and Brian for the auction.

Peter Harris District Governor of Rotary 1080

Thank you to Peter and District 1080 forsupporting DebRA as charity of the year and raising £15k.

Thank you to Sheila Chivers

For opening your gardens to the publicon 28th June. By selling plants and homemade produce Sheila raised £529.10 for DebRA.

Rotary Club of Gorleston on Sea

Thank you to Bob Catchpole and members of the Rotary club of Gorleston on Sea for raising £1200.00. Thank you also to Bob's wife who raised a further £500.00

Natasha and Adam Monk (and family)

Thank you for raising £75.00 at your local school fete.

 

Sainsbury's, Putney - Bucket Collection

Well done and thank you to Connie and her team of supporters in raising £774.16 over 3 days of bucket collecting at Sainsbury's in Putney. They were accompanied by local musician Robert who is pictured here.

Thank you Mark Anderson

Well done and thank you to 41 year old Mark Anderson who is blind for raising £500 for DebRA by swimming 80 lengths in 1 hour. Mark knows Melissa Smith who has EB and so was very pleased to be able to raise the money to help with further research.

Bupa London 10,000 25th May 2009

Congratulations and thank you to Nicola Riley for completing the BUPA London 10,000 and raising £500 for DebRA.

Borehamwood Festival Parade

Well done to Nicola Riley for receiving £50 for winning 2nd Prize in the Borehamwood Festival parade as the best walking entry.

Richmond Station (Bucket Collection) 5th June 2009

Well done and thank you to Helen, Jade,Duncan and Susan Kramer (MP) who helped Connie Johnson raise £467.50 at the bucket collection at Richmond Station.

Congratulations to Connie Johnson

Well done and congratulations to Connie on reaching her fundraising target of £20k for her New Zealand trek. Connie would like to say thank youeveryone who gave her support. See below for Connie's account and photos.

Trekking in the Coromandel ~ New Zealand December 2008

Leaving the UK on the 2nd December 2008 to start trekking through the Coromandel Forest to raise £20k for a specialist nurse in the UK and to raise awareness for the charity was a challenge.

Starting point was Thames, to follow the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail, which traverses very steep and rugged rainforest terrain. Crossing rivers which are not bridged made it to the Billygoat landing where one has a breathtaking view of the Falls as well as seeing evidence of the incline, a masterpiece of engineering which bypassed the falls and made it possible to extract the remaining kauri in the Billygoat Basin.

At higher altitude the vegetation has been reduced by repeated fires to shrubland with pockets of taller forest in gullies. Making it up to Hydrocamp was therefore not as slippery however extremely steep and exposed to the merciless heat.

Continuing to the Pinnacles Hut, the only hut which now stands in the Coromandel what an experience, just don't expect to find a Starbucks there.

We continued up the Pinnacles, from the summit are amazing views of the bush, mountains and coastline of southern Coromandel. Climbing up was not the main problem, even though the water bottle, strapped to the front, decided to seperate from the owner and fall hundreds of metres somewhere into the bush; which reminded me of my fear of heights. We made it to the top, took photos and admired the view. On the descend it was another matter... I was clinging to one of the monkey bars, which are positioned in the rock formation, all of a sudden I found myself overtaken with fear- unable to extend my arm to the next bar one arm length away; my fear of heights took over, I found myself clinging to the rocks tears streaming down my face. Had it not been for Natalie, I would have remained up there, I think ...

During that night I saw a shooting star and made a wish... Let us all pull together and find a cure for EB in the not so distant future.

Our trek took us to Te Puru, Coromandel Town, Cathedral Cove which has the most stunning rock formations and beaches and finally to Hot Water Beach where one can dig its own spa pool into the sand, after all the peacefulness in the forest range it was quite a shock to the system to be faced with so many tourists.

Not a single blister to report even though I trekked for two days in wet shoes, then discovered the importance of swingbridges, but a lot of sunburn and aching limbs.

Unable to walk for two days after the trek .... I can only say it was awesome, the best experience ever and it was worth it. I would do it again - double the sponsorship money. All of the money raised goes to DebRA! No agency was involved, hence nothing was taken away from the sponsorship money.

I am extremely thankful to Dr Natalie Griffiths, for her tireless efforts, stamina and support for the charity and myself, as without her this would not have been possible, as well as Ingrid, Kim and Dan in Auckland.

The following businesses provided us with generous prizes for auction and they continue to show their support for the cause:

Starbucks Teams in Richmond and Hammersmith; Fulham Broadway and Putney as well as Ash the district manager; Belushi's Fulham Broadway and Hammersmith;Youngs Brewery; Dan and his team at the White Horse in Parson's Green; Ania and the team at the Hop Poles in Hammersmith; Prince of Wales in Putney; Andy who organises the best quizzes around; the fab quiz master Alex, Addy, Sarita and Andrew who volunteered with the Sainsbury collection; Tom at the RED COW; Tom at the Fox in Twickenham, the team at The Bear in Twickenham; the staff at the Cabbage Patch in Twickenham; Rachel and the team at the PRINCESS HEAD in Richmond; Mike and Amy at White Stuff in Richmond; House of Chocolates; Feather and Stitch; Pauls Partisserie; Enchanted Forest; Creative Toys; Sophoclies Alexiou; Tolley and Partner; ESJ Jeweller; Oddbins; Body Toning Studio; The Party Palace; Sheen Sports; ;Flower Yard in Putney and all the other shops, restaurants and individuals who have supported DebRA through direct and indirect sponsorship.

If you are not one of the mentioned above, please go to www.justgiving.com/conniejohnson1 and make a difference... today

Read Connie's blog at http://connieandlyn.blogspot.com

DebRA Post Trek Party Night at Cafe Strudel, SW14 - 27th February 2009

Blues Man Franck Ash played the Blues while guests enjoyed a sumptuous 3 course dinner at the renowned Viennese Restaurant near Richmond upon Thames and the event raised over £1,350.

Thank you also to Starbucks in Parsons Green (Ash, Milan, Arthur and Team) for your ongoing support of DebRA.

Bungay Inner Wheel and Rotary

Thank you to Bungay Inner Wheel and Rotary for £800 that was raised at the race night organised by Jacquie McDaniels (pictured)

 

DECADES quiz nights and London city tours

DebRA supporter Stevie Dixon is offering to run special DECADES Quiz Nights in London (in locations close to Underground stations) to raise funds for DebRA.

You choose a decade - 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s etc - and Stevie will produce a quiz comprising of questions from that era, including TV, Movies, Music, News and Trivia from the chosen decade.

The quiz night can also be combined with a disco playing music from your selected decade - and guests are encouraged to get in the party mood by donning the Fancy Dress of that decade.

Stevie's quiz nights are no ordinary quiz nights! He utilises various audio visual systems, including music, picture and video rounds.

If anyone in the London area would like to hold a fundraising event for DebRA then please contact Stevie Dixon on 07952 589516 or email Stevie at GREATBRITTONS@aol.com(ensuring you write Stevie's Trivia Challenge Night for DebRA in the Subject block at the head of the email).

Stevie also conducts Free Guided Walking Tours of the city for visitors to London YHA hostels, with all donations from the tours going to DebRA.

Anyone who is planning to visit the city who would like an entertaining and interesting tour of the city, should please get in touch with Stevie using the email address above.

Stevie's tours range from general tours such as Royal London, Beatles London, Old City Tours, and for the fearless even a Jack The Ripper Tour. There are also the Pirates, Pioneers and Pilgrims Tour, Historic Inns and Taverns Tour, the Infamous Murders Tour and Rock Legends Tour.

All donations for tours will go to DebRA.

For more information, please contact John Parker.