Annual Review 2017

The annual review allows me to look back at what was the 9th year of the charity. The team of Trustees are becoming stronger; as the charity grows their support and hard work has become increasingly appreciated.

Doug Bentley, Tony McInally, Jack Edge, James Thorp, Jack Emery and Neil Welsh, thank you so much for your efforts. Most of all, thanks to Stuart Patman who has been involved since the very start and walked every mile of the 360 Dorset miles to date.

In terms of fundraising, it is pleasing to report another excellent year! In total we have raised a staggering £31,939 through a number of charitable events. Meaning, over the past 9 years we have now raised £141,939. In 2018 we are on course to break the £150,000 mark.

How did we raise the money?

Dorset Walk 2017

This year saw record breaking numbers with 165 walkers taking to the Dorset coastline – all contributing to the £20,000 we managed to raise!

This year, we were kindly sponsored by several different companies. A huge thanks to Standen who sponsored the t-shirts for all 3 days, All-undercover for the donation of a marquee for the weekend and to Tescos and Morrrisons for their donation of food and drink for the participants.

Highlights of the year were the introduction of Facebook Live, which created a fantastic interactive dimension between the walkers and their supporters, and the first time a lodge had been rented by some participants, which enabled some to use the hot tub!!

Again, the two major schools that contributed to the numbers were Ely College and Prince William. There was a strong contingent of ex-Ely students from Hills and Long Road. Unfortunately Rushden Academy dropped out at the last minute.

Rookery Waters Fun Day

Rookery Waters in Pidley, for the second year, ran a free family fun day. This year The Malcolm Whales Foundation helped out with the organisation and in return, any donations were gladly given to the charity, enabling us to raise £520.

Barnham Broom Golf Day

The Charity golf day took place at Barnham Broom in Norfolk on 25th August. A number of teams across the region took part in the 4 BBB format. The weather was better than we could have possibly hoped for and with some generous donations the event raised £6319.

Charity Rock Night

In June, Jay Fullarton as part of his Extended Project organised a music event at the Blue Moon in Cambridge. Thanks to his efforts he managed to raise £220.

12 hours sport

On the 8th December both Ely College and Ken Stimpson hosted their 12 hours of sport on the same day. Both schools managed to involve 100 students from their respective schools, enabling a staggering £4000 to be raised in just 12 hours. Unfortunately, Rushden Academy were unable to participate in December and hope to host the event in early 2018.

This year’s TMWF donations

Edgars Gift

• £1500 to provide free holidays for any families affected by cancer. These are available at Edgars Gifts caravan on the Lincolnshire coast.
• £500 for wishes that can be used at any time.

Sailability

• £7,500 to buy a new sailboat that can be used by people/families affected by cancer or other serious disabilities.
• The boat is to be called ‘The Malcolm Whales’ and will be available at Grafham Water from early 2018.

Climbing Out

• £10,000 was paid to provide a full week for cancer sufferers to come together and for Climbing Out to work its magic.
• This year we received thank you letters from the participants, which testified to the incredible impact that Climbing Out has and their appreciation for our support.

Christmas donations

• Following the 12 hours of sport on 8th December – Ken Stimpson donated £500 to the Peterborough Hospital for their Christmas appeal. Ely College donated £500 to the Children’s cancer ward at Addenbrookes.

The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust

• A charity supporting people affected by Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS). We hope to have donated £2500 to support their research through Dundee University.

Family support donation

• For the first time this year we gave a grant of £250 to enable a family affected by cancer, to have a holiday away.

Press coverage

We have again had some excellent press coverage, The Ely Standard in particular continues to be a keen supporter.

Spotted in Ely has also given us some fabulous coverage across social medias.

The Dorset Echo wrote a very nice article to raise awareness down in Dorset.

Patrons

Current Patrons – Andy Emery, Liz Whales and Geoff Bonnett. We hope to add a couple more in January 2018.

T-shirts on tour

This year’s destinations included:

South Africa – Jack Edge
Kenya – Abi Haynes and co
Cyprus – James and Clair German
Canada – Oscar Edwards
Portugal – Frazer Hutton
Cyprus #2 – Dom Hunt & Sophie Woodbridge
Spain – James Gould
Isles of Scilly – Adam Tucker
Italy – Stuart Patman
Spain – Team Haynes
Portugal – Ben Gibbs
North Sumatra – Jason Coe
Cape Verde – Team Emery

Other news

• The year saw us invest in our infrastructure for the walk. We are continually trying to and make improvements to the event. Simple things like tables, chairs, banners, flags etc were bought this year.
• For the first time we have regular monthly finacial contributors – Ben Gibbs, Karen Sutton and  Lorna Stanley all donating a monthly amount. Many thanks!
• Neil Welsh, one of our trustees, has had a family cancer scare. Alan, Neil’s dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early enough and following surgery the signs are looking good. We would like to wish Alan a speedy recovery.

Finally, thanks to everybody who has supported us financially, or through time and effort. It is appreciated enormously.

Onwards and upwards!

Damien Whales
TMWF Chairman

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