This week’s community photo comes from one of the causes from Cash for Causes 2012 – the Guernsey Boys Brigade.
Local Hero- Cycling Grandad
Macmillan Cancer Support Logo
Our Local Hero today is a cycling Grandad who is undertaking a 400-mile bike ride for charity. 62 year old Roy Egan, will be carrying out the ride on a fixed bike at Urmston Leisure Centre, Greater Manchester, throughout the week to raise cash for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Roy has completed many challenges in the past to raise money for charity including; biking around Brazil, China and South Africa along with running all the way from Blackpool Tower to the Eiffel Tower.
We felt Roy deserved a shout out and wish him the very best of luck with his challenge. It is great to see people raising money for great causes!
Good News- Icknield Special School
Today’s good news focuses on Icknield Special School, one of the 400 causes we helped in 2012.
Icknield is a Special School in Hampshire for children between the ages of 3-19 with severe learning difficulties. The children have a wide variety of diagnoses and some are wheelchair dependent.
The school has recently purchased a Smart Platform, which was only achievable through the generosity of donations, including the contribution from Kumho’s Cash For Causes campaign in 2012.
Smart Platform is an ingenious mobility aid which allows a manual wheelchair to be loaded via ramps onto the platform, instantly converting it to a powered chair – giving the children more independence and movement.
Meriel Tobin, Admin Assistant at Icknield Special School said; “The Smart Platform has greatly improved the independence of these children, and the delight on their faces when they realise their movements are causing the platform to move is a wonderful reward!”
Local Hero- Manchester
Image from MEN News
Meet the Burns Family, who we think deserve recognition as a local heroes. Jason Burns and his family are taking part in the 10K Great Manchester Run but with a difference; Jason is going to push his wheelchair-bound wife Caron with him as he races on Sunday.
Caron Burns was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nine years ago, but the family have refused to let this get in the way of family-time which includes them all taking part in the 10K run; Children Tara and Calum are also participating in the junior event.
The family are taking part in the event to raise awareness for charity Parkinson’s UK and encourage people to donate money. We think the whole family are doing a great job of this and deserve recognition as Local Heroes.
To donate visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/jason-burns/eurl.axd/13150959fd77bb45a7a8e7b583d5ec51
Good News!
Today our good news story is focused on a cause we helped in our 2012 campaign.
Last year we gave a share of the £100k to 1st Sandleheath Sea Scouts. The great news is that Sandleheath Sea Scouts have now purchased new tents enabling them to take even more scouts on camp.
The Cash for Causes donation is being put to good use!
This great picture shows the new tents in action. The scout group have also purchased some smaller tents perfect for the team doing their Duke of Edinburgh. We wish them all the very best of luck with their expeditions.
It is great to see the Cash For Causes donation going to such good use; let’s hope we can do even more this year!
Fundraising Fun
There are many ways people help local causes and charities, some people give their time, others money and some do crazy things in order to raise money and awareness for their chosen cause. This blog post will showcase three of our recent favourite fundraising stunts.
Over the years many celebrities have done things in order to raise money for Comic Relief or Children in Need. This year singer songwriter Jessie J shed her locks on national TV in order to raise money for Comic Relief.
Next up on our list is a slightly crazy stunt which appears to have taken inspiration from Disney’s UP. Matt Silver-Vallance flew from Robben Island to Cape Town, using only helium balloons, in order to raise money to build a local children’s hospital.
Finally in this week’s rundown, is a young man named Carl, who decided to cycle 5km a day for 50 days, that’s 250km in total! However, the valiant fundraiser didn’t do it on a normal bike, no, he took to one wheel and did it on a unicycle.
If you’re doing something fun and exciting to raise money for a local cause close to your heart, be sure to let us know via Facebook or Twitter, you never know we might feature you on our blog.
Community Photos – 16th May
Every week we share a brilliant community photo. This week we’ve pulled three together from one of the causes we helped last -the Tweedmouth Salmon Queen and Feast. Our donation has helped to keep this age old traditional event going by helping with the cost of equipment hire and general funding.
Health Campaigners Praise Angelina Jolie
Image courtesy of guardian.co.uk
Prior to this week, one topic that would not generally spring to mind when you think of Hollywood star, Angelina Jolie, is breast cancer- that has just changed.
Angelina Jolie, one of the most influential women in Hollywood, released details of her double mastectomy. Jolie wrote a New York Times announcement and commented; “I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer.”
With an 87 per cent risk of developing breast cancer, and a 50 per cent chance of ovarian cancer Ms Jolie took the brave decision to have the removal- she is also due to have her ovaries removed later this month.
Jolie’s decision to go public to raise awareness of the screening, which reduced her chances of breast cancer to 5 per cent, is fully supported by health campaigners.
Clinical Director of Breast Cancer Care, Emma Pennery, has welcomed Angelina’s comments, saying: ‘Angelina’s experience will resonate with the many women we support each day. Her comments highlight this important issue and encourage women in a similar situation to seek support. It is positive that Angelina feels surgery has not reduced her femininity, though we know that people’s experiences of surgery will vary.’
Brad Pitt, Angelina’s partner, also commented on the decision to go public; “it was really important to her to share the story, and that others would understand it doesn’t have to be a scary thing. In fact, it can be an empowering thing, and something that makes you stronger, and us stronger.”
Campaigners work tirelessly to raise awareness of the screenings and options available to those at high risk of genetic defects; Ms Jolie’s decision will further support this. The operation will not be appropriate in all cases and it important to assess all options when discussing defected genes with your doctor. It is clear however, that more recognition of preventative operations is necessary.
The light shed on this area by Angelina Jolie is nothing but positive. The news will hopefully encourage other women to take the screening and reduce their own chances of cancer through preventive steps.
As Angelina said in the closing lines of the NY Times letter; “Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.”
We think that Angelina’s story is really inspirational and hope it helps raise awareness of the benefits to screening. Last year, through our Cash for Causes campaign Kumho Tyres helped several cancer causes including Breakthrough Breastcancer and Cancer Research UK. We hope that, with your support and votes, our 2013 campaign will be able to support even more great local causes throughout the UK.
Local Heroes – Hillingdon
At Kumho we know how important people are to local communities, without them communities just don’t exist! As such we want to showcase some of the amazing individuals who selflessly give their time to their community, via a new weekly ‘Local Hero’ feature on our blog.
The first person to appear is 26 year old Elliot Blain who is not just a hero to the Scouts he leads as part of the Hayes and Harlington District Scout group but is also nominated for a local award for his dedication and motivation.
Elliot makes a 21 mile round trip every Monday evening as well as dedicating most of his weekends in an effort to ensure that the boys he leads stay active. He also ensures that unlike other groups his band of scouts continue to meet up in the school holidays helping to give them experiences that they otherwise may not have.
To read the full story and hear how Elliot feels about being nominated click here.
If you know a local hero that you think deserves a big thank you be sure to let us know via Twitter or Facebook and we will see if we can try to include them in our feature.
A few things to make you smile from the seven days
Today’s breakdown of some of the good news stories from the past week shows just a couple of the great things people are doing to help their community here in the UK.
In Cornwall a group rowers took to the English Channel to raise money for the local charity Dare to be Daniel. The team managed to raise £2,000 for the charity, which was set up by neighbors of young Daniel Farlow who has cerebral palsy, and aim to help Daniel’s family cope financially following his recent spinal surgery. Read more about Daniel’s neighbors efforts here.
A bit further North Hull’s Children’s University is receiving much deserved recognition for it’s work, after a local newspaper donated £10,000. The Children’s University has allowed more than 30,000 school pupils to experience a world of education outside of the classroom. Through modules that range from visiting local farms, to trips to the House of Commons, the children are provided with the motivation to learn and to value their education. It’s brilliant to see local charities helping to inspire the next generation of thinkers on such a large scale.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, fighter pilot Matthew Krivohlavy found didn’t let distance stop him attending his brother’s Texas wedding, despite being on tour in Afghanistan at the time. Via a pre-recorded video message from the cockpit of his Harrier jet, Captain Krivohlavy used flashcards to send a heartfelt message to his brother and sister-in-law, which reduced the newly married couple to tears. Why not check out the video below, and the story here: