Category Archive: Breakthrough Breat Cancer

1. A week of fundraising…and a few books sell!

   May 4, 2013 7:03 am Leave a Comment

   The last 7 days have been busy but rewarding; we have been raising funds for 3 charities via a number of events plus I have been selling the book to all and sundry.

   I have already blogged the Breakthrough Breast Cancer bake sale that was held last weekend; this raised an amazing £669 for our Team Nightrider challenge ride in June. It was great to meet and chat with people who had turned out to support us, in addition, our team captain and his partner turned up from Manchester way to lend a hand. His passion and enthusiasm for fundraising is second to none.

   http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=bbcnightrider&faId=261752&isTeam=true

   I played cricket on Sunday, enjoying  a freezing cold 40 overs on the hill at Challow. I desperately want to retire from cricket, it hurts to play now. The great irony is that I am fitter now than I have ever been but my joints will not allow me to play like my 25 year old self. It was good to play against Letcombe and chat to players like me who have been around for ever.

   Monday saw the arrival of the first 100 books, now the work of fulfilling orders begins. Most of the set-up around posting books out had already been done so it was a case of logging the sale and dispatching them. The next step was to contact those who had expressed an interest and work out how to get their copy to them without posting. Ray took 5 copies to stock at Ledbury’s in Wantage and has sold at least 3, the Village shop in East Hanney also have 5 copies which I hope to sell on the back of a letter to the Hanney News.

   Sales have been brisk; the first 100 have almost gone and I need to order a second box. Breakeven is 50 books but I know that I have a dwindling market now. I have saved a lot of the marketing for the second box plus I have a piece coming out in the local press later in May. Facebook is an awesome network when it comes to letting people know what you are doing. I have been contacted by people because of the sharing that goes on, it’s very uplifting when a new e mail comes through confirming a purchase from someone you don’t know.

   

   The third lot of fundraising was completely by chance and I will blog this separately. Once again, our amazing community clubs together to get things to happen.

2. Bake Sale for Breakthrough Breast Cancer – shed-load raised!

   April 27, 2013 8:58 pm 2 Comments

   The website has been a little blog free over the past couple of weeks due to a busy period at work and also the need to get ready for dispatching books when they arrive. Additionally, I spent last Sunday riding in the White Horse Challenge (I’ll blog this later) and most of this week organising a bake sale raising money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

   A team of 15 riders are riding the London Knightrider in June to raise money for this charity, we have organised a number of events leading up to it and have accumulated £3,050 prior to the bake sale. Five of the team turned up this morning to support, the banter and camaraderie abounded.

   The bake sale was fantastic; we were helped by our own local fund raising celebrity who undoubtedly improved our profile and income. Ray Collins spends a lot of his free time raising money for local charities in Wantage, in fact, well over the £50,000 mark in the last 7 years. This year is no exception, he is revitalising the Wantage Carnival; no small task. As a community, we all pitch in on each other’s projects; Ray booked a day’s leave to help us this morning. I was a little worried that we would not have enough cake to sell but this proved to be unfounded.

   

   Ray and Harriet, I’m stripping off in the background.

   Steve and I arrived at 8am with our bikes and turbo trainers (Nobby pitched up to ride with us too); these were set up under a huge gazebo along with a couple of trestle tables from the cricket club. The idea being that we would cycle away as a point of interest, drawing the punters in to buy cake. In reality, three middle aged berks pushed the pedals round and sweated a lot but no one seemed to mind. Once again, Facebook made sure that the event was well advertised and recruited bakers with ease upon our behalf. By the time I had parked the car up and returned, the two tables were groaning with cakes and more arrived as the morning progressed.

   I met and chatted to a lot of people: some old friends from school and some new friends made through social media. I finally got to meet Stephanie Jones who had driven in from Oxford with cakes. Stephanie helped to read through the first draft of Point North & Pedal, she provided corrections and suggested changes, something I appreciated a lot. Sarah Keane had driven from Duckington to deliver her cakes as she could make the sale itself; thank you to all those who made the effort.

   The cake mountain diminished as we sweated away on the turbos; it rained a bit but that didn’t stop people buying. By 1.30 we had sold out and started to pack up. The total raised for the day was £669; an unbelievable amount which takes us to the £3,700 mark, £5,000 could definitely be on the cards. I think most people were happy with that. Tomorrow is the first time in a long while were I do not have to get up early, I’m looking forward to a slow start to the day followed by cricket at home v Letcombe. However, I am not looking forward to Monday when I wake up and roll out of bed in bits…roll on my cricketing pension!

   

   Steve and me ‘working for cake’.

   Further reading…..

   If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

   Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!

   

3. Chilly ride in preparation for London Nightrider 9th June 2013

   February 26, 2013 10:54 pm Leave a Comment

   An old cricketing mate of mine asked if I wanted to support Breakthrough Breast Cancer this year by joining his London Nightrider team. This sounded like a great idea: no organising to do, nice ride through the capital in the dead of night, good bunch of people to ride and chat with plus the chance to raise a few quid. I declared myself in and we planned some training.

   The first Sunday morning ride was on a freezing cold Sunday in January. The start point was Best Mate’s statue in Ardington, the intention was to ride as a group and put in about 15 miles. Not a bad training goal for the first ride given the spread of fitness and the distance of 100km to be achieved on the night. All those intending to come arrived in good time (one from Uxbridge) and we set off together.

   It soon became clear that riding as a group might be easier said than done, the field spread out very quickly and we found ourselves regrouping every now and again. Ardington is very picturesque so we stuck to large circuits of the village, the occassional incline adding a little interest. This served as a good indicator of the amount of work individuals would need to do to ride the distance in comfort.

   The second ride on Sunday (24th February) saw the same low temperatures but a little more cohesion from the group. This time we started from Abingdon and rode towards Didcot. The pace was measured but I think we had a good ride considering one poorly adjusted bike that had broken gears! I think I was actually pleased to see the McDonald’s at Didcot for a coffee; the issue with riding steadily is the lack of generated heat, my hands and feet felt the cold and didn’t really warm up all day. That said, everyone put in a good effort and it was great to ride with old friends.

   Our fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=bbcnightrider&faId=261752&isTeam=true has more information, alternatively, you may wish to join us at Challow Cricket Club on 9th March for a night of horse racing fun! Proceeds from this will go to our fundraising pot.

   Roll on spring!

   Further reading…..

   If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

   Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!