On Sunday 20th November the second annual ‘Santas On The Run’ event was held in the memorial gardens, Crawley.
On this foggy Sunday morning over 350 entrants, all dressed in Santa outfits, ran and walked either one or two miles depending on their chosen route. The event raised in excess of £15,000 for Chestnut Tree House, a childrens hospice based in Arundel.
Said Event Organiser, Jo Carden: ‘Thank you so much to everyone who took part in Santas on the Run and made the event such a huge success. We would like to say a special thank you to all of our volunteers and marshals for their help; Malcolm Gray from Retrospect Event Sound; Jeanie Marshal Foods for donating mince pies; Edgars Water for supplying our runners with a well-earned drink; McDonalds Restaurant for providing vouchers for hot drinks after the run; the Mayor of Crawley, Cllr Carol Eade for starting the run; InChoir for performing in Queens Square after the run and holding a collection and Crawley Town Centre and County Mall for their support.
‘Once again, the people of Crawley have helped us put on a wonderful event; the atmosphere was just fantastic and everyone involved had a fun and festive morning whilst raising vital funds for a great local cause. We hope that after all of the sponsorship money has been collected, this year’s Santas on the Run will have raised in excess of £15,000 which will help us make it a very special Christmas for the children and families that we support.’ SOURCE:
On Saturday 9th July the fourth annual Relay for Life set yet another great pace.
With thirty two teams ready to walk the course for the next twenty four hours, Laura Senekal and Darren Bow took to the stage to kick off this amazing ceremony. The teams have worked tirelessly to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
A special mention to our good friend Jules Neale who attended in support and as Captain of Team Yummy even though she has recently been very unwell with a back injury. Although the pampering administered was well worth the effort, wasn’t it Jules And of course, a big thank you to all those, who are still under treatment but came to support and walk the course. Amazing!
Laura wrote this for us:
Well, what can I say? What a weekend!
This is the 4th year Crawley has hosted a Relay For Life and this has been the most amazing event yet. This year we had 32 teams sign up for Relay and together they have so far managed to raise a staggering £68,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Relay For Life is a 24 hour event where teams of friends, family or colleagues take it in turns to walk for a full 24 hours as a sign that cancer doesn’t sleep. All around the track the team have stalls and fundraise furiously during the day. This year we had everything from cakes to a hog roast and tombola’s to tattoos. Even the rain could not stop the cash coming in! During this 24 hours the teams managed to bring in over £12K!!!!! Thank you Crawley!
This year we were supported by some really amazing people who came along to entertain our teams and the public. These included Flying High, Crawley Black Belt Academy, The Nickie Poslad School of Dance, Fi Steps & ACE Irish Dance Academy. We were also lucky enough to enjoy some fantastic local music talent from Solice, The Matt McConnon Band, Chinchilla Zilla, the Songbirds Choir and our very own firstaider Phil singing with Six Till Midnight.
Now, although the day sees us all enjoying a bit of a mini carnival /festival the evening really reminds us of why we are there. When the sun sets we all take part in a candle of hope ceremony, our walking track is lined with candle bags, all dedicated to people to have fought cancer. It is a time to remember, reflect and celebrate the lives of our loved ones. This year we had a special memorial for our good friend Morag Clapp who left us just after last year’s event. This year we also heard a beautiful poem written and read by one of our survivors, Cheryl Ross along with the Songbirds singing ‘I’ll Stand By You’, Shannon Stocker singing a beautiful version of ‘Dance with my Father’, and Aimee Bow finishing the ceremony off with a very emotional rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
NB: We sped up some of the walking so you could see more
I am so very lucky to have such fantastic support from the Relay committee who all come and gave their time for free as did our first aiders (SceneSafe) and the local scouts who kept everyone fed and watered for the full 24 hours….you are all absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!! And a massive thank you to Matt Pay and HSS Hire who donated all the electrical equipment we needed for the day.
I am so very grateful to everyone that took part, raised funds or just came down to see what Relay was all about, already we are seeing interest from new teams for 2012! Next year we may even theme Relay in line with the Olympics…..who knows J.
Why not go and have a look at our website (www.relayforlifecrawley.org) or add us on facebook to be updated with local relay news?
The second Race for life in Tilgate Park on Wdnesday 22nd June was another successful event with hundreds of woman running, jogging and walking the 5k course. We took footage and picture for you. See if you can spot yourself
On Wednesday 25th May Tilgate Park turned pink for the annual Race for Life charity event in aid of Cancer Research.
Over 1,600 woman came to run, walk or jog the 5km course. Some came in support of friends or family who had entered. Some where in recovery themselves but most came to raise money in remembrance of a loved one who has been affected by cancer.
Not everyone was in pink mind. We bumped into a lovely lady called Fiona Hankinson (very soon to become Mrs King) who was dressed as a smurf! Others were in fancy dress and some even bought their dogs to help them around the course.
A big well done to LA Fitness who came to help the ladies warm up for the third year in a row.
His Worshipful Mayor Councillor Lee Burke and Mayoress Councillor Ali Burke attended. Mayor Lee told us he was overwhelmed by the amount of woman present and wished them all luck in their fund raising efforts.
We would like to thank everyone who took part and especially those who spoke to our step-in reporter Laura Senekal. Laura is one of the head organisers of Relay for Life which takes place in August at Gratton Park in Pound Hill. For further information on this event please visit here.
If you took part you will see yourself on the race footage.
On the 11th March the Irish festivities started as it meant to go on…….in style. It was followed by St Patrick’s Day on the 17th March, closely followed by the Irish Parade on the 20th March.
The Ceili:
Craic or crack is a term for fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – the craic. The word has an unusual history; the form craic was borrowed into Irish from the English crack in the mid-20th century, and the Irish spelling was then reborrowed into English. Under either spelling, the crack/craic has great cultural currency and significance in Ireland. <source: wikipedia>
St Patrick’s day & the Irish Parades:
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by the Irish and Irish at Heart in big cities and small towns alike with parades, “wearing of the green,” music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Its a time for fun. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green! <source>
We took plenty of footage and pictures for you to enjoy. They tell the story for us
We would like to thank John Nolan and the CICS committee for all their hard work in organising these events. We would also like to thank everyone who came to enjoy these events and for the support shown.Special thanks goes to Carrie Anne Campbell for taking some amazing pictures and letting us use them on our site
On Sunday 4th July it was time for a Walk in the Park to raise much needed funds for the Neuroblastoma Society.
Organised by Laura Hodge, the day was a great success, especially as it was the first of it’s kind here in Crawley.
Organiser Laura Hodge makes sure everyone is ready
We spoke to Laura about her chosen charity and Laura told us “as a parent myself, I feel the following three points set Neuroblastoma apart more than any other cancer:
1: Neuroblastoma affects young children and spreads extremely fast.
The average age of diagnosis is two years old meaning that, unlike adults, children do not realise they are ill and many cannot communicate it. I have read of many individual cases and there are two that I always remember: one pregnant mother was told before her child was even born that he had advanced stages of Neuroblastoma. He died at three months old. A seemingly healthy three year old girl was diagnosed, underwent many operations and tests but sadly died three weeks later.
2: Too many common symptoms are easily missed by parents.
The symptoms for the disease are varied and vague, so unless a lump is found on your child, they could have an unsteady walk, a cough or simply a loss of appetite. Hence why Neuroblastoma spreads to other areas of the body before a diagnosis is made. In fact, a staggering 70 per cent of children with Neuroblastoma are at Stage 4 when the disease is diagnosed. [Stage 4 means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ. There are typically only 4 stages]. Due to the vulnerability of the child’s immune system during treatments of high doses of chemotherapy the child often has to be placed in isolation for up to six weeks.
3. Many children relapse and the new tumours do not respond to treatment.
Those diagnosed at Stage 4 only have a two year survival rate. So although children finish their treatments with scans showing “no disease detectable” in many cases there are microscopic cancer cells still present. When the tumors begin to grow again, they are resistant to traditional chemo.
With everyones help the Neuroblastoma Society can fund new research and clinical trials to help find a cure. There is currently no government funding for Neuroblastoma so every penny raised really does count.”
As for the day, Laura told us “We got off to a bit of a slow start but it all worked out in the end and we made approximately £1300 for the Neuroblastoma Society. Toby Anstis, Heart Radio DJ, had kindly organised a tour of the Heart Radio Studios in Leicester Square, London. This was a great boost to the funds raised. We just need to get all the sponsor money in now!”
We would like to congratulate Laura on such a great effort and we look forward to covering it again next year.
Would you like to get involved? Please contact us via email editor@crawleyhappytimes.co.uk and we will be more than happy to send your details to Laura.
Crawley Happy Times would like to thank Sunay Kurtulus for attending and taking pictures on our behalf
On Wednesday 23rd June over 2000 woman joined in the Race for Life to raise much needed funds for Cancer Research UK.
With the sun shining and the birds singing, Tilgate Park filled up with lots of ladies in pink for the 5k. Some ran, some walked, some even went three legged! Hosted by Chris Oxlade of Radio Mercury and attended by the Deputy Mayor Carol Eade the evening was a great success.
Crawley Happy Times would like to thank all those present who donated £1 for a picture taken with CHT finger puppet, including Chris Oxlade and Deputy Mayor Carol Eade. Also donating a percentage of takings on the day were Sweet Fills authentic french crepes. And they were delicious!
Cancer effects nearly everyone as some time in their lives. These events are essential to help fund research for the future.
We took footage of the start and the finish, so we hope you can see yourself on the video. We were impressed with the warm up, led by the staff from LA Fitness. Our apologies for the wonky video of the Deputy Mayors address. We were helping collect money and had our hands full, were caught off guard
We want to commend all who took part and to all those invovled with organising such a great event especially Laura Senokal, Committee Chairperson. Laura also organises the Relay for Life which is going on again this year on the 10th and 11th July. If you are not entered, there is still time, or just come down to have a nice day out and to support all involved. We covered this event last year which you can read here.
Did you take part in this years Race for Life? Did you see yourself on the video? If you want to leave a personal message about this event, please comment below
On Friday 19th March the good people of Maidenbower Day Centre walked a mile to raise funds for Sports Relief.
The Day Centre offers flexible services to adults of all ages who have a wide range of needs. These include people with physical and sensory disabilities, mental health problems, progressive long term chronic illness, older people, and those with dementia. So to walk a mile was no mean feat for some of the participants.
Crawley Happy Times were invited down by Angie Whittle who organised the event. We thought it was such a wonderful idea we decided to walk with them. It was an entertaining journey. Two ladies in particular, in electric wheelchairs, saw it as an opportunity to ‘race each other’. The atmosphere was amazing, with lots of laughter and joking going on. It was a pleasure to join them all on the walk.
Carl Andrezewski took his step counter with him and was really proud of himself when he returned to the centre with 984 steps on his counter. We pointed out to Carl that they had raised just over one pound for every step he took, which pleased him no end Well done Carl!
Angie Whittle, Liz Bassett and their team of volunteers and helpers do great work at the Day Centre, organising interesting events for the people who attend. And this event was another great opportunity to show their commitment to the community and raise funds for a good cause.
Not only was it a fun and enjoyable day (despite the rain) but together they managed to raise just under £1000!! If you wish to show your support by donating, please contact the Liz or Angie at the centre on 01293 885156 or visit here for more information.
We would like to thank Angie for the invitation and congratulate everyone involved. We look forward to visiting them all again soon.
And of course, a big thank you to all those, who are still under treatment but came to support and walk the course. Amazing!
