Archive for April, 2010
Pub Quiz – April 30th
We all like to test our knowledge from time to time and show off what we know so we have arranged a Pub Quiz.
Due to take place on Friday the 30th April at 7pm the quiz will be held at the Brunswick Hotel(199 Malmesbury Park Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8PX,01202 290 197).
The event will take no longer than 3 hours and will include the quiz, and a raffle with prizes up for grabs.
Entry is £5 per person and we are looking for teams of 4 people. Of course all funds raised will be going to the Sparkle Appeal.
If you like a good quiz or just want a different night out with a great group of people then drop us an email (ifihaveto@clove.co.uk) with your name and the names of your other team mebers.
Please spread the word, the more participants, the more money and the more we raise for a great cause.
Check out how to get there with Google Street view
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Donate to the Sparkle Appeal
Want to make a difference, but cant make one of our events?
Make a donation, it is quite simple, just downwload this form, fill it our and send it off!
The Sparkle Appeal
Having raised more than our desired target the If I have to campaign is now focusing its attentions to helping a new appeal that Victoria Education College themselves are running, known as the Sparkle Appeal.
Hydrotherapy and therapy play a vital part in the students development and the current facilities no longer meet their needs. The Sparkle Appeal aims to raise £5 million over the next 3-5 years to provide a new hydrotherapy pool and therapy centre comprising physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy suites.
The current hydrotherapy pool is over 25 years old and there are restricted changing facilities and poor hoisting provision for the students. Hydrotherapy plays an essential part in the children’s therapy and is a proven method of treatment to relax, stretch and stimulate as well as restoring posture and balance. The pool also serves disabled individuals across Dorset. Community disabled groups, mother and toddler groups, disabled children and local people learning to swim all use the pool.
At present the therapy teams are fragmented making communication difficult. Our exciting new state of the art therapy centre will enable all the specialist therapy teams to work together, in one place, to ensure the individual and very specialised needs of our students are met.
Working closely with Victoria staff and therapy teams a local architect has developed an exciting new contemporary building which will integrate the therapy units with the existing sports hall. The designs are truly inspiring – we now need to help raise £5 million to provide these new facilities.
We will bring you news and updates through this site, but you can too follow the Sparkle Appeal through their own dedicated website HERE.
If you are a user of Facebook, joing the Sparkle Appeal group HERE.
We trust we can count on you to do your bit!
If I have to update
We are pleased to say the final figure we raised for Greg and others is £17,200!! We are over the moon about this. It is a far greater amount than we envisaged.
We have finally ordered the Eye Gaze (Liberator). We had a machine to trial for a week in early January and Greg made some definite decisions and certainly seems capable of using it. The unit will be delivered and in use by the end of March.
We have also used some of the money to pay for a sailing trip for Greg and his two mates with the Jubilee Sailing Trust. Greg went on a day trip last October and enjoyed it. This trip goes from Portland to Southampton, Monday to Friday in May and Greg should be able to steer, go up the mast and participate in other activities. We hope you feel this will be a great experience for Greg.
We do have about £2000 spare. This money will either be used for more equipment for pupils or towards the Sparkle Appeal. This is the schools charity for a new hydrotherapy pool and therapy rooms.
So we would like to thank everyone again for the enormous efforts everyone went to again to raise the money for the Liberator, the sailing trip and more to come.
We are now aiming our charity events towards the Sparkle Appeal. Gregs Mum, Jill is appearing in a show on the 21st March, Aron Lucas (Clove employee) will be running the 26 mile London Marathon on 25th April (sponsor him HERE) and there will be a Quiz on the 30th April, all proceeds raised will go to the new appeal. We also aim to repeat the sponsored cycle ride again this year and the date will be the 11th July.
For more information on the events, you can visit www.ifihaveto.co.uk.
You can also follow the proceedings and pledge your support to the Sparkle Appeal.
2010 London Marathon
Aron Lucas, an employee of Clove Technology, and good friend to Jon Love, Greg’s eldest cousin, has pledged to run a massive 26 miles in the 2010 London Marathon.
Aiming to raise £1,500 Aron is in training for the event it is by no means an easy task we wish him the best of luck and hope that he exceeds his £1500 target, he certainly deserves too.
A number of the If I have to founders will be there supporting him along on the day.
Should you be an avid runner, have any training tips, have done the marathon before or wish to help Aron train, we are sure Aron would love to hear from you. It is his first marathon and he is not too sure what to expect.
You can of course pledge your support to Aron and the If I have to campaign by donating on the link below.
Great South Run
We are very pleased to learn that a group of people from JCA Coatings are looking to take part in the Great South Run in Portsmouth on the 25th Oct 2009. This is a 10 mile run around Portsmouth.
The Bupa Great South Run is Europe’s most popular 10 mile race and dates back to 1990.
The event started life in Southampton – before moving to its present location in nearby Portsmouth after just one year.
Dutchman Marti ten Kate and Alison Gooderham were winners of the inaugural event, which has gone on to attract the world’s top athletes.
One of the biggest highlights happened in 2008 when Britain’s Paula Radcliffe broke the British record in 51mins 11secs while the men’s race saw an equally dominant display from Kenya’s Bernard Kipyego, who won in a respectable time of 46:43.
The Bupa Great South Run is part of the Bupa Great Run series, devised by former Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist and BBC sports commentator Brendan Foster.
Taking part from JCA Coatings will be…
Steve West – Sales Director
Geoff Skillen – Regional Sales Manager
Gavin Hopper – Technical Sales Representative
Ian Shearer – Southampton Branch Manager
We really appreciate their support! You can also support them by going to the IfIhaveto justgiving page here
Josh Shaves His Head
There are a number of things that people will do for charity, and often the more extreme the ‘thing’ is the more money you raise. However for some people there are limits, and for most, shaving our heads would not be something we would do.
However, Joshua Chipchase did!
Take a look at the before and after pictures below. We are sure you will agree that Joshua was clearly mad…but all in the name of charity.
We thank him for doing such as it raised even more for the cause. So thanks Josh!
Big Little Theatre
The BIGLITTLE Theatre has kindly created a theme “Voice for Greg” and is supporting us through some of their performances which include a stage show and live singing performances in Bournemouth.
BIGLITTLE Theatre School trains students from 5 to 19 years in all aspects of the performing arts and boasts an excellent team of highly qualified and motivated teachers, inspirational and creative directors and choreographers, and a fantastic team of support and pastoral care staff. Many of the staff are current members of the profession and come direct to BIGLITTLE from work in the top levels of theatre and dance across the country. This gives BIGLITTLE students amazing access to the highest possible calibre of creative staff without having to travel to workshops or courses in London.
You can find out more about the BIGLITTLE Theatre here (http://www.biglittle.biz/).
Thanks to all involved for their continued support.
New Forest Cycle Ride July 2009
The first event that If I have to arranged and completed was a sponsored cycle ride, which took place in the New Forest on the 5th July 2009.
A great success, with over 65 riders taking part, the ride proved the dedication and commitment of many over the 20 and 30 mile routes. The weather was kind to us and Greg was there at the start to see everyone off and to see the riders, some with tired legs arrive back.
Many enjoyed it despite the aches and pains and stated how they would do it all over again.
A really positive start to the campaign, this has seen us raise around some £8,000 just from the one event and certainly is a massive step forward in achieving the target.
Check out some of the pictures from the day using the link below:
Who are Victoria Education Centre and Sports College?
Victoria Education Centre and Sports College (VEC) (a division of Livability (registered charity:1116530)) specialises in providing education, care and therapy for pupils aged 3-19 years with physical disabilities, predominantly cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. Some of the children’s difficulties are due to accidents, severe illness, tumours or strokes. VEC is the only charitable specialist school in Dorset that offers education, therapy and nursing (within an educational setting) for children with complex disabilities.
The school has a long term reputation for excellence in sport and was awarded Specialist Sports College status in 2007 and in 2009 OFSTED called our sports “outstanding”. Some of our students are currently training with Team GB and others represent Great Britain in International Events. As London prepares to host the Paralympics in 2012 our dream is to see students competing as part of Team GB.
As a school they follow the National Curriculum but they also include plenty of additional elements to make sure that the young people are given the very best start in life. Staff want to see their students reach their true potential as learners, as athletes and as community members. They use every opportunity, both in and out of the classroom, to develop the confidence and skills for independent adult life.
