Manchester 10K Run

On May 16th I ran the Manchester 10K for CICRA, a charity close to my heart.  In 2006 I was diagnosed with Crohn's and decided that after four years with the disease I would take part in the Great Manchester Run to raise awareness and funds for CICRA.  Living with Crohn's disease has been challenging enough for me, being diagnosed as a child is something that I cannot imagine having to go through.  On the day of the run I managed to finish the gruelling challenge in 61 minutes and 32 seconds proving that running 10Km with  Crohn's disease is possible!  My thanks go out to CICRA and everyone who sponsored me and I hope that the amount raised can help CICRA continue their great work in helping people, especially young people, who live with Crohn's.

..Andy Green

Well done Andy!

London to Paris Bike Ride

Day 1 - London to Newhaven leg, we were blessed with the merest of winds and drenched in the glorious Spring Sun.

Day 2 - Started at 04:00 with my frost bitten fingers wrapped up in yesterdays festering socks. (Note to self, must pack gloves in future!). Not such a good start here then.

The sun did eventually come out and the last leg into Paris saw us hurtle down the “Champs Elysees” bathed in a positively balmy 20 degrees!! (no sun cream, so full on "Rudolph" for me )

Elation at finally completing this ridiculous, leg burning, bottom bruising challenge was matched only by the satisfaction gained in helping to raise a fantastic £1,450 so far for Crohns.

..Marcus Osborn

Congratulations to Marcus and thank you from all at CICRA

Four Legged Friends go Walkabout

Horn Arnarsdottir along with her friends Jane Cruikshank and Fiona MacPherson are three enterprising 13 year olds from Aberdeen, who wanting to do a sponsored walk decided on a slight twist.  They made it a four legged walk as they tied themselves together at the knee, and set off along the 10km Old Deeside railway line from Duthie Park to Peterculter which took them 3 1/2 hours.  The girls raised a fantastic £443 in sponsorship plus another £27.85 collected along the way.  Added to this was another £200 very kindly donated by Jane's piano teacher Mrs Robertson.

Gig in the Garden

Steve and Liz Tee managed to secure some fantastic weather for what is now becoming an annual fundraising event for them, aptly entitled 'Gig in the Garden'.  Family, friends and neighbours all get together for this event that includes a live band, support acts, children's activities, BBQ, cake stall and raffle.  The proceeds are split between 3 charities, and money was even donated by people who could not attend but enjoyed the music from their own gardens! Thanks to the hard work put into this event CICRA benefited to the tune of a most welcome £420.50.

All Steam Ahead at Leigh Valley

Malcolm Morgan has been a wonderful supporter for many years.  Once a year he holds an open weekend at the delightful Leigh Valley Light Railway which runs around his garden.  Malcolm's son Leigh unfortunately suffers from Crohn's, and the proceeds of these well supported open days are split equally between CICRA and The Milestone School.  Many locals came along to the event in July and thanks to their generosity Malcolm was able to send us the handsome amount of £575 for which we are most grateful. We take this opportunity to wish Leigh improved health for 2010.

Kids for Kids Get Dancing

Kids for Kids Discotequer's are a wonderful group of young people who use thier talents to raise money for other children.  In July last year they held their 17th Annual Disco dance competition which was attended by 220 solo dancers and 36 teams which attended from places as far a field as Bingley, Leeds, Morley, Skegness, Sunderland, York and Wales.  The dancers competed in various sections throughout the day and the judging panel had great difficulty selecting the winners.  Nathan Humphrey's who suffers from Crohn's kindly received the cheque totalling an amazing £1521.00, and we offer our thanks to Group Lead Val Cust and all who took part in the amazing event.

Lloyds Colleagues Banking on a Good Result

25 Staff members of Lloyds TSB Bank abandoned their warm offices and instead headed for the Lake District and a tough 20 mile walk.  Heading off at 6am in poor weather over Steel Fell, Calf Crag and Sargeant Man and down into the valley for lunch provided by the support team with the first 10 miles completed.  As the rain poured down the walkers set off again up Lingmoor Fell along the top and down into Elterwater Village.  After a quick tea stop, 18 hardy walkers set out on the final 5 miles up Silver Howe and then descending down into Grasmere at 6pm for celebratory champagne and cake.

An extremely tough walk was completed in 12 hours thanks to determination and a great support team.  Thanks to generous sponsors and matched giving from Lloyds TSB Foundation an amazing total of over £10,000 was raised and our sincere thanks go to all concerned.

Amy Fundraising Tunes

Rebecca Parkin is a determined young lady who has been fundraising for us for some years now.  She loves organising events but this time though it was her sister Amy doing the work as she organised and sang 'Songs from the Musicals' accompanied by a professional pianist..  A very enjoyable evening raised £495, added to which was a £50 donation from Darlington Rotary Club.  Our thanks to Amy and Rebecca for another great idea. 

Darren gets pedaling to Brighton

Darren Hooker has also been out and about on his bike again raising money, and took part in the London to Brighton cycle ride.  This is a massively popular event which involves travelling over some very steep hills, but Darren was up for the challenge and found his way safely to Brighton having raised a very handsome amount of money totalling over £1500 in the process.

Jackie and Jack Brayshaw

The thoughts of grandparents Jackie and Jack Brayshaw of Torpoint Cornwall were to try and raise funds for research when they watched their Grandson Jack battle against Crohn's.

Jackie and Jack enjoy a very busy social life as members of their local dance clubs, so at a time of distress friends rallied round to help, holding dance weekends, birthdays, weddings, raffles, Christmas parties, donations, collection boxes etc.  In May 2009 Trustee Rod Mitchell travelled to Torpoint to meet the Brayshaws and receive a cheque from the Torpoint Wives Group who had chosen CICRA as their charity of the year.  In total £4,481 has been raised in just over a year and we are extremely grateful to Jack and Jackie Brayshaw and to their friends at White Mountain Western Dance Club, The St. Day Linedancers, The Jade Strutters, The Texas Rose Line Country Music Club, Stagecoach Promotions, Golden Garters Country & Western Club, JR's and everybody involved in supporting Jackie and Jack.

Eddie and Ginny Spackman

When Eddie and Ginny Spackman retired in 2002 unfortunately they both suffered illness for the first year.  Since then they have spent their time fundraising for various charities, choosing two each year.  In 2009 CICRA were fortunate to be chosen as one of those charities.  Despite this being a very difficult year for fundraising Eddie, Ginny and their daughter Tracy raised £1,000 for CICRA by selling handcrafted items at Craft Fairs, Table Top Sales, Car Boot Sales and organising quizzes etc. We are very grateful to this wonderful couple for their empathy with children with IBD and supporting research.

Welsh Friends Cycle Off for Good Causes

Colwinston Cyclists are a like minded group of friends from a small village called Colwinston in the Vale of Glamorgan.  Recently fourteen members of the club took part in a 55 mile sponsored ride along the 'Taff Trail' in order to raise money for their three chosen charities.  CICRA were very pleased to subsequently be the recipients of cheques totalling £1300, and we offer sincere thanks to all who took part or gave money.

Sam and Brian Cooke Get on their Bikes

Sam Cooke has been back in the saddle once again, and never one to do anything by halves this time he decided to tackle the famous Lands End to John O'Groats route.  With support from his Mum and Dad, Sam managed to complete the gruelling 960 mile ride in just 6 days. Whilst Sam admits it was very lonely at times, he is justifiably proud of the £1374 he raised in sponsorship.  Sam raised money as his sister Louise who is a CICRA Trustee has suffered with Crohn's  for some years.  Thanks Sam for another great effort.

Brian Lamb is another super fit man who enjoys his cycling, and like Sam decided to set himself the ultimate challenge by taking on the tough Lands End to John O'Groats route.  Brian's son William suffers from Crohn's disease, and his daughter Diabetes, so he used his ride to raise money for the two support charities.  As a result of Brian's fantastic efforts we were pleased to receive the massive sum of £1557.  Thank you Brian.

     
Sam Cooke                                                     Brian Lamb

Dad and Daughter head into the East

Zoe Keir decided to do some fundraising as her boyfriend suffers badly with Crohn's disease, and despite having never attempted anything like it before, she entered the Perkins Great Eastern Run.  As training on your own is never much fun, Zoe enlisted the help of her dad Stuart who signed up for the race as well.  Dad and daughter put in a sterling performance as all their training paid off and they together raised in excess of £420.00.