First of all, tell me about your
family...
I have a large extended family
partner Angela ...son Tony and 3
step children Kelly..Louise..George
4 granddaughters
Elise..Vivienne..Stephanie..Gracie....
1 grandson Maxwell and another
grandson due in October
I’m proud to say we are very close
family and enjoy spending time
together and are all going on holiday
this summer which we are looking
forward to.
What is Making Cancer OUR
Bitch?
It is a public Facebook group that
was set up to promote our charity
events. We choose small Cancer
related charities which we promote
and raise their profile through this
group. We share how the money
raised is spent. Which I really feel
demonstrates how much these
charities benefit from every £1
donated.
There are plans to register it as a
Charity to enable us to extend our
work and raise more money.
How did you come to start
organising these events?
We had been organising smaller
events mainly live music in pubs
raising money for Cancer charities.
In 2010 I decided to run the Adidas
½ marathon to raise money for the
Royal Mardsen Hospital so rather
than getting people to sponsor me I
thought it would be a better idea to
hold an event and sell tickets and
raise money that way.
it was on a smaller scale than today
but proved to be a success. The
following years the events have
become bigger, learning every year
and hopefully improving.Over the years you have raised a
lot of money for different charities,
can you provide an insight into who
you have helped so far?Royal Marsden Hospital
Marie Curie nurses
Teenage Cancer Trust
Ellie Gracie garden Fund
Orchid Male cancer
My Shining Star
Hayley’s Heroes
Youth Cancer Trust
Bobby Moore Caner Research
Wisdom Hospice
Eva's angelsWhich charity are you working
with this year and how can our
readers support you?This year we are raising money for
an amazing local charity Eva’s
Angels ...these guys provide free
holidays for families that have a
child suffering with cancer to give
them a break away from the hell of
their treatment.Events can be really hard to organise, let
alone raise money for charity. How do
you fit it all in and are there any suppliers
you work with you would like to give a
shout out to for their support?
We found the things that work / that
people like and tend to stick with them
The tickets almost sell themselves with
the same core of people that come year
after year. I’m very lucky that my partner
Angela really supports me and is a very
organised person. We're very lucky that
over the years we’ve formed great
relationships with local business that
support us for free ..
Kirstie Shepherd / Bespoke Buffets
Toni Whimble / Rainham Balloons
Jeff / Design Shack printers.What are the three most important
lessons you have learnt in organising
charity events?
The smaller the charity the more people
buy into it rather than a big charity that
has large overheads etc
Try and give feed back after the event to
show where the money went
Keep the event the same month every
year its surprising how people plan it in
every year much the same as
anniversaries birthday etcFinally, in your busy life, how do you find
‘me time’ to make sure you don’t burn
out when you are working really hard on
the charity event and have a full time
job?
I can't sit still. I like being busy. I fill any
spare time I have Gym....spending time
with family ...grandchildren....socialising
with friends.http://www.onthedoorstep.orgPrize table from 2016 and Signed AJ boxing glovesold in previous charity auction.Any one that would like to donate
or feel like they can help in anyway
can contact us through our
Facebook group ...email us or
contact through On the Doorstep.Also if there are any small Cancer
related charities that feel that we
could help them in the future we
would like to hear from them.Contact: [email protected]
Facebook: Making cancer OUR bitchPage 25