Monday 27 February 2012

Fundraising Update

Today I thought it would be good to update you on the fundraising progress and plans we have in place so far and a reminder of the reasons why we are fundraising.

Ronald McDonald House
I am continuing my twitter campaign to raise awareness and hopefully funds for the wonderful work that Ronald McDonald House do. Yesterday we reached £5400 on the justgiving page which is just amazing and totally beyond what I ever could have imagined we would achieve http://www.justgiving.com/Erin-Clancy. This amount will help them provide accommodation and support to the family of a seriously ill child for 216 nights. This is 216 nights where a family somewhere who are going through one of the worst times of their lives will have one less thing to worry about - allowing them to focus more of their energy and strength on supporting their child to hopefully recover. I honestly can't understand why Ronald McDonald House are not better known - I have lost count of the number of parents who have contacted me on twitter to say they don't know how they would have coped without their support. Hopefully, through twitter, we as Erin's Gift have enabled a few more people to learn about their wonderful work.

The Turner Syndrome Support Society (TSSS)
We are in the initial stages of putting together an Erin's Gift team to complete the Manchester - Blackpool bike ride in July. So far we have about 12 confirmed riders and a few more possibles, which is amazing. All will be collecting sponsorship for the TSSS so hopefully we will be able to raise a lot of money for this very valuable cause. One of the scariest things upon learning of Erin's diagnosis of Turner Syndrome was realising that it seemed very unheard of. I found great comfort in knowing there was an organisation like the TSSS who would be able to provide support and friendship to both Erin and ourselves as her parents.

The Alder Hey Imagine Appeal
I have previously written in length about the brilliant care given to Erin by all the staff we encountered at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. At Erin's funeral donations made by family and friends were split between Ronald McDonald House and the Intensive Care Unit at Alder Hey. Now we are hoping to raise more money for them throughout 2012. Our first event is yet to be fully organised, but it is likely to take place in April and involves a generous local hairdresser who has agreed to do some haircuts in return for donations. Our second event is going to take place in October and is going to be a charity auction; this will be our biggest fundraiser of 2012. I am currently in the process of formulating a list of local and national businesses to write to for items, as well as celebrities and football teams. Already on the first day of planning a generous tweeter donated two amazing items to us. So far this event feels very daunting and scary to organise, but I am hoping that we have given ourselves enough time to make it a real success.

There are a number of other charities I am becoming aware of through twitter that I hope we will be able to fundraise for in the future as well. As always, I am inspired to do this by my beautiful daughter, Erin. The bravery and strength she showed throughout her life amazed me and I couldn't be prouder of her. The effort and time I put into fundraising in memory of Erin is my gift to her and the money and awareness we manage to raise is Erin's gift to those who need it.

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