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Support our fundraisers in 2012 |
Join us on London walk to fund researchNN is putting together a team of 30 people to raise £7,500 by walking around London after dark. The charity Fight For Sight will match our £7.5k to create a £15,000 nystagmus research grant. The Carrots Nightwalk walk takes place on Friday/Saturday, September 21, 2012. You can join either the six mile or the 15 mile route. Click here for a registration form or email info@nystagmusnet.org for further details.  Pictures of 2011 Carrots Nightwalk organised by Fight For Sight NN chairman Richard Wilson chairman, who is taking part in the walk, said: "This is going to be a great event with fun, sightseeing, fitness, chat, great company and fundraising combined. We will use the money raised in the name of the Nystagmus Network for research that will really make a difference to people's lives." Also treading the streets of London for NN are committee members Graham Dickson, Katy Faulkner, Steve McKay and James Taylor plus parents of children with nystagmus, adults with nystagmus and NN information and development manager John Sanders Reasons to fundraise for NNEvery penny you raise goes towards helping people with nystagmus or towards research. By helping people we mean:
What we do for our fundraisersWe can provide runners with t-shirts, wrist bands, sponsorship forms and publicity. We offer everyone who raises funds samples of our publications and an electronic copy of our logo. We also have collecting tins and will do whatever else we can – given our limited resources -- to help you. Above all, we thank you and everyone who donates through the events you organise.Footballer Steven Reid backs NN West Bromwich Albion’s Steven Reid has raised over £5,000 for NN by auctioning football shirts. Steven has a personal interest in Nystagmus Network because his young son, Harry, is affected by the condition and he is hoping to give children like him a brighter future. Richard Wilson, Nystagmus Network chairman, said: "We can't thank Steven enough for his support. We are a small charity and every penny counts and will be put to use for the 1 in 1,000 people with nystagmus." As well as raising funds, Steven is doing a fantastic job raising awareness of nystagmus among the wider public and Baggies fans in particular. Kilimanjaro – January peak Research optometrist Viral Sheth got our fundraising off to a challenging start this year by reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro in early January. Viral works alongside Professor Irene Gottlob, who heads the nystagmus research team in Leicester in the UK -- possibly the biggest nystagmus research unit in the world. Viral has so far raised over £1,400 – well above his £1,000 target http://www.justgiving.com/viral-sheth. Sarah raises almost £1,000 in Reading run Sarah Collison completed the Reading Half Marathon for NN on April http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Collison0 in 2 hours 5 minutes and raised close to £1,000 in the process. So, thank you to Sarah and everyone who supported her. Sarah said: “It was an amazing day, such a buzzing atmosphere and a great sense of achievement. The weather was almost perfect actually. It was certainly made harder by my nystagmus. The sheer number of people running (18,000) was overwhelming, and lots of legs and feet and corners and curbs and bollards and traffic islands and speed humps and discarded water bottles and other obstacles were all a challenge to avoid tripping over! At the best of times I don't really run in a straight line as my balance is always a bit off, and concentrating on putting my feet in the right place at the right time was more critical than on any training run. It definitely helped that the race was in my home town so I could get familiar with most of the route beforehand. All in all a great day and something I'm very proud to be able to say I have done.” London Marathon brings in over £7,500 – April 22Our three runners in this year’s London Marathon on April 22 -- Ash Ayre, Carl Bishop and Robbie Warriner -- finished within 10 minutes of each and all under 3 hours 50 minutes, so a fantastic result for all of you. Together, Ash, Carl and Robbie have raised over £7,500 so far. What does that mean to NN? A lot. That's around 8% of our total annual income. It means we can help more people and fund more research. So a big THANK YOU to all three of you and everyone who sponsored you. Ash, who has raised money for NN before, described the Marathon as “one of the best experiences of my life.” But if anyone thinks running a Marathon is an easy way to raise funds for charity, read on. Carl said: "It was the hardest thing I've ever done but the crowd and the charity plus Oliver (Carl’s godson who has nystagmus) kept me going. Overall it was an amazing experience, I'm kind of glad I struggled so much as I now feel like I have really achieved something." Robbie added: “What a great experience. I struggled the last 6 miles. It was so hard I simply couldn’t run any faster!! After the finish I could hardly walk or talk, but looking back I loved the whole experience.”Belfast City Marathon -- May 7Another 26 mile man is Aaron Gardiner, but this time in Belfast instead of London. “I decided to raise money for NN as my youngest daughter, who is 4, suffers from the condition and was diagnosed with congenital nystagmus at about 6 months old. I have found that not many people have heard of the condition and through running the marathon and raising money, hopefully, it will help raise some people’s awareness about nystagmus.” Support Aaron’s run – his first marathon -- at href="http:// www.justgiving.com/Aaron-GardinerBUPA Great Manchester 10k Run 2012 -- May 20.Laura Greensmith is running this 10,000 metre event for NN on May 20. Laura says: "I watched my inspirational friend Mel (Melisa Talbot), and some of her wonderful friends, put a massive amount of effort into organising, training and running the Manchester 10k. All the effort was in aid of the Nystagmus Network, a charity close to all of their hearts. Mel's lovely little boy Harley was born with Nystagmus - an involuntary movement of the eyes which can seriously reduce vision. I was ashamed that I couldn't manage the run too to help with the fundraising. So during the past year, I've got myself into better shape and I'm not promising a record time or that I'm going to sprint all the way round but I'm going to try my very best and will cross that finish line as best I can - even if I have to crawl!! I want to top up Mel's fantastic donation and help the Nystagmus Network continue their scientific research, support and work in raising the awareness of this lesser know condition." You can support Laura at http://www.justgiving.com/Laura-Greensmith84.London BUPA 10k run -- May 27We have five runners – David Robertson, Tim Burton, Ash Merritt, Peter Greenwood and Luke Russell – in this event this year. Ash, who completed the London BUPA 10K last year, says: “Growing up with my vision has been very challenging, especially through education (with the anguish of PE) and as a teenager – always wanting to just be "normal". Now I live and work in IT in London and, despite my loathing of all exercise at school, I enjoy regular running; I can't think of a better opportunity to combine something I enjoy with raising money for such a brilliant and worthy charity.”You can support our runners at the following websites: David http://www.justgiving.com/DavidKRobertson, Luke http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=llr0, Tim http://www.justgiving.com/user/31258395, Peter http://www.justgiving.com/Peter- Greenwood2 and Ash (together with Charlie and James) http://www.justgiving.com/ ACJs-LondonBUPA10K4NN. Three Peaks ChallengeJane Fox http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Fox0 and friends are tackling the Three Peaks Challenge for NN this year. Here’s what Jane’s son says: “Hello! I'm Alfie and when I was very little the doctors told my Mummy and Daddy that I had something called Nystagmus. ... I don’t let anything stand in my way and am showing everyone what a little star I am! But my mummy and daddy know that when they need support and information they can turn to the Nystagmus Network.” Joining Jane on this 24 hour challenge are Andrea Bingham http://www.justgiving.com/ ANDREA-BINGHAM and Andy Harker http://www.justgiving.com/ Andrew-HarkerKirky’s Progress Mark Kirkham Mark Kirkham, whose son James has nystagmus and Chromosome 18 Distal Deletion Syndrome, has launched into a breathtaking round of events for NN and 18q. His most ambitious target comes in June with The Wall Run – all 69 miles of Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to Gateshead. “The longest I have run to date is 13.1 miles so this is no little challenge,” says Mark, a master of understatement. See his websites at http://kirkysprogress.wordpress.com/, http:// www.thewallrun.com/index.html and http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/kirky. rally2raise Rachel Medich, whose father and son have nystagmus, is using her love of rally driving to help NN and other causes. Rachel says: “I started rally2raise after my son was diagnosed with nystagmus, my pal was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and Katherine my co-driver’s Mum died of MS. I also suffer from post-natal depression which is why we're raising awareness of the problem as it is still stigmatised. I am an operating department practitioner, as is Katherine, and we intend on raising as much as humanly possible though numerous events over the coming year.” By April 2012, Rachel and Katherine had raised nearly £400 for NN and spread the word about nystagmus around Scotland through the rally events they’ve taken part in with their car Christine-Isobel. Find out more at http://www.rally2raise.co.uk/. GiftAid your donationsUK taxpayers can download a GiftAid form to increase donations to NN.Please contact john.sanders@nystagmusnet.org for information on how NN can support your fund-raising activities. |
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