Fundraising
One of my main aims for setting up my website in
2005 was to raise money for charity. The
C-H-O-C stands for charity helping other children. Since late 2004, I’ve raised over £100,000 for
various charities including CLIC, Demelza House and RDA (Riding for the
Disabled Association). In 2006 I set
myself the target of raising £30,000 for King’s College Hospital, which I
managed to reach and you can read more about it, and what the money has bought,
on the ‘Nicole’s Sweet’ link.
Now I’m raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust, an
amazing charity very close to my heart.
My target is to raise £100,000 to fully equip one patient’s bedroom on
the new Teenage Cancer Trust unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey. You can read more about Nicole’s Fund, which
I’ve set up with TCT, by visiting the Nicole’s Fund link.
To
help me reach my target, please make a donation online at:
Or by sending a cheque made payable to Teenage
Cancer Trust to:
Teenage Cancer Trust, Nicole’s Fund, PO Box 702,
East Grinstead, RH19 3WX.
Thank you! xx
Here I will keep you up to date with my fundraising
activities, and the events which are helping me to reach my target.
2008 Events
My first donation to help set my target off was on
3rd July 2008, but unfortunately it was raised at my Grandad’s funeral. Guests were asked to donate to TCT instead of
buying flowers, and £250 was raised.
Thank you if you were there and donated.
RIP
Grandad 25.09.1917 - 26.06.2008
In July 2008 my nanny’s local pub held a quiz night,
and her team won! The £32 raised on the
night was given to me for my new target, so thank you very much to the Yew Tree
pub.
The Rotary Club did some fundraising for me to pay
for my dream trip to New York in July.
They had some money left over which they very kindly donated to Nicole’s
Fund, which totalled £385.61,
and which brought me over the first £1,000 mark of my £50,000 target. Thank you very much to everyone who was
involved.
In August Izzie, who read my book and wanted to help
with my fundraising, did a flute-a-thon to raise money for Nicole’s Fund. It involved her playing her flute for half an
hour every day for two weeks, and she raised £30, so a big thank you to Izzie.
On 15th October I had a coffee morning at a friend’s
(Gill) house, which raised £561. There were cakes, crafts, a raffle and Gill
made some lovely dolls and teddies to sell. Thank you to everyone who came
along.
My nanny’s local pub held another one of their quiz
nights in October to raise money for charity, and whenever my nanny’s team
wins, they pick my charity to receive the money. Her team won again in October, and the £30
raised on the night was given to me for Nicole’s Fund - thank you!
On 28th November I did a book signing at the
Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable. I also took along some Teenage Cancer
Trust Christmas cards and merchandise, and raised £59 for my fund. Thank you if
you came along to the signing and donated.
My auntie’s best friend, Alison, and her husband,
Michael, donated £300 to Nicole’s Fund instead of buying Christmas presents for
their nieces and nephews, and my good friends Evelyn, David and Alex donated
£250 to Nicole’s Fund instead of buying main Christmas presents for most people
this year, so a big, big thank you to you all. I appreciate it so much,
and it helped me reach the £3,000 mark of my new target.
On 20th December my friend Diana had a sing-along of
Christmas carols outside her house with friends and neighbours, and had a
collection which raised £90 for Nicole’s Fund. Thank you Diana!
2009 Events
January - Launch of TCT Teen 2009!
A way you can help Nicole’s Fund (if you’re young
enough!) is by registering for TCT Teen 2009. Helen, who is the main
person I work with at TCT, has created ‘TCT Teen 2009’ to raise money for
Teenage Cancer Trust, and we are looking for 2009 teenagers and young adults
willing to raise at least £50 for TCT.
If this is achieved over £100,000 will have been raised, so please sign
up! Every day in the UK six young people are diagnosed with cancer. That’s over 2,000 new cases of cancer a
year. To get the same number of young
people raising money to help people their age fight cancer would be amazing. To
register please email: julie.frost@teenagecancertrust.org
or call 07534 261245, and please
state that you’re raising money for Nicole’s Fund. If you need any help
with ideas of how to raise your £50, just send me an email and I’ll be happy to
help. Thank you!
On February 14th
my auntie’s best friend, Alison’s mum, Margaret, did a ‘guess the name
of the teddy bears’ stall at her house and raised £330. She also raised £55 through collection tins -
thank you Margaret!
On March 4th I gave a talk to the 6th form students
at Sittingbourne Community College, and received £100 for my fund.
On March 10th I gave a speech at the Redbridge
Rotary Club in Essex, and received a £1,000 donation for Nicole’s Fund, which
one of the Rotarian’s very kindly said he’d match, so I came away with £2,000,
which brought me over the £10,000 mark of my target. A big, big thank you to everyone at the
Redbridge Rotary club, especially Eve and Dr Mohammad.
In early April my friend, Pam, retired from St
Nicholas’ School in Canterbury, and the collection for her retirement present
was given to Nicole’s Fund at Pam’s request, which was £106.26. On the 3rd April she had a retirement party
where people dressed in pink, or paid a £1 fine if they didn’t, and there was a
raffle and people donated to my fund.
The night raised £255, so a big thank you to everyone who came along,
and especially to Pam. Good luck in your retirement!
On April 15th Nicole’s Fund was officially launched
at No.11 Downing Street. There were over
100 special guests, and the event was kindly hosted by the Chancellor’s wife,
Maggie Darling. The party went very
well, with lots of people eager to help, and I also received a very generous
donation from a couple for £5,000. Thank you to everyone who came and helped me
launch my fund.
Stephen, my uncle, ran the Dumbarton 10K race on 4th
June in an impressive time of 49 minutes and 32 seconds. He raised £800 for Nicole’s fund. A big, big thank you to Stephen, and the
staff at HMNB Clyde (Faslane & Coulport) plus family who kindly sponsored
him.
On 8th June I visited Loreto College in St Albans,
Hertfordshire, where they had been raising money for Nicole’s Fund after having
my book as their ‘whole school read’.
The aim of this was that within the year, everyone from pupils and
teachers to dinner ladies and caretakers had to read the same book, and this
year it was mine! They raised an amazing
£2,500. A big thank you to Jan and all
the Year 10 students at Loreto College.
On 3rd July the members of the Dover orchestra
organised a ‘last night of the proms’ concert at Dover Town Hall, and raised
£1,820. Thank you to everyone involved.
On 25th July my friend Fiona organised a crabbing
competition for children on Margate beach.
32 children took part, and the event raised £60. The child who caught the biggest crab won a
trophy. All crabs were put back
afterwards! Thank you Fiona and everyone
who took part.
On 26th July a friend of a friend, Chiara, held a
coffee morning at her house in aid of CLIC Sargent, and she also had a raffle
there for my fund which raised £60.20.
Thank you Chiara!
My good friends, Ralph and Matthew Lombart,
organised a concert of easy listening music on the 6th August, in aid of
Nicole’s fund. There were several
performers, including Matthew who has a fab voice. It was a great success, and raised £2,824.33. A big, big thank you to Ralph, Matthew, all
the performers on the night and to everyone who came along to support the
concert.
On 8th August my friend Fiona organised a postcard
auction at Margate Harbour Arm. The
postcards had all been designed by artists and celebrities including Tracy
Emin. There were 100 postcards, and they
sold for a range of prices, many for over £100 each. Altogether they raised an amazing £7,000! A huge thank you to Fiona, the artists and
celebrities who kindly donated artwork, and everyone else involved.
September 12th was my chocolate ball at the Pavilion
in Broadstairs, and it was a great success.
The night included a drinks reception, a 3 course meal, two chocolate
fountains (including a pink chocolate one!), two auctions with some amazing
prizes, two fab dance groups - including Flava who got to the semi-finals of
Britain’s got talent in 2008, a live band, DJ, a tree of wishes and a hot pink
carpet! There was a lot of chocolate
involved, including pink chocolate plaques with ‘Nicole’s fund’ written in milk
chocolate for each of the guests, and some mini choc jengas too! The night raised £9,339 for my fund. Thank
you so much to everyone who made the night such a success, especially Mac and
Amanda at the Pavilion.
On Saturday 19th September ‘Write Women’ held a
poetry event at Ramsgate library and raised £70 for my fund. Thank you!
On 17th October I went to a Rotary Club conference
in Eastbourne to take part in a presentation, and I received a £500 donation
for Nicole’s fund. Thank you to all at the club!
Forthcoming
Events
