Monday 7th November 2011
Hospice Angels 2011
We set off the year with a target of £27,000 (£1000 for each year the Hospice has been open) and had grave doubts of achieving this due to the present economic climate. So the following events occurred through the year and the money trickled in. We would like to thank all the Grosmont Musicians who played a concert in the Nave and the Angel Inn and the Post Office for having the collecting cans, proving once again the generosity of the people in Grosmont.
I gave a presentation to the Herefordshire Country Fair and a lady was so impressed that she told her husband and later, when he was elected Mayor of Ledbury, he chose the Hospice Angels as his year’s charity. So I have spent sometime in Ledbury; a concert at the Baptist Church where we served the refreshment in the interval and the Mayor’s Church Service where we had our bikes outside the Church doors and four of us took the church collection.
While we are on the subject of Mayors, I organised a Cabaret in Hereford and five Mayors attended (Hereford, Ross, Ledbury, Bromyard and Leominster), quite a collection of “chains” as they all wore their chains of office – the value would have run the Hospice for a year!
Another proud moment was a presentation I gave to the Aircrew Association, where some twenty were veterans of the Second World War and two had been shot down and been prisoners of war. Again this year the talks and presentations kept me busy and the money kept trickling in.
Our days bike ride visiting places with Hope in their title, hence we were called “The Messengers of Hope”, finished back in Grosmont where Pam and Ed Walker ran the BBQ, so a big thanks to them. This day realised the most money raised in one day, £3,335 and we had 73 bikes taking part. In Ledbury we took the Mayor and Mayoress for a procession through the town.
At the Hereford Courtyard we were with Charley Boorman (Long Way Round” and “Long Way Down” fame). We had a photo shoot on stage and again fundraising raised our total.
This year’s main trip was to Slovenia and we covered some 3,500 miles, riding through 8 countries. We would recommend a visit to Slovenia, especially the capital Ljubljana. Again the sponsorship raised a good sum for the Hospice.
Supermarket collections; attending Ledbury Motorcycle Club Grasstrack meetings; collecting and selling scrap metal (a lot of work but financially rewarding); talks to a variety of clubs; two teams in the Venus Challenge (1000 ladies walking 10kms around Hereford at midnight) and so many other events, too numerous to mention, has at last brought our total to £27,000.
£28,000 next year (?) – plans are already ongoing and a variety of events are booked.
Released on 07/11/2011 | Permalink