Wednesday 5th December saw a group of women come together at Stoke Gifford Baptist Church to enjoy an evening of mulled wine, mince pies and wreath making in order to raise money for Marie Curie.

The evening proved to be very popular as all 20 tickets were sold within a week. It was very well organised by Jane Marshall, Pippa Rolfe, Jackie Scott, Bernie Bertagne, Angie Robins and Shiela White. Most of the greenery for the wreaths was foraged and many of the decorative items were donated. Local shops, Co-op and Lidl also provided the snacks and drinks for the evening.

Helen Isbell, a community fundraiser for Marie Curie, attended the event and she said:

“This was a great evening. I would like to thank the group for what they do locally in the community. Events like this help raise vital funds towards nursing care and the charity itself. It also helps to spread awareness of what the charity does, especially at this time of year when many of our nurses will be working over Christmas. This event has helped to raise funds for people who might be spending their last Christmas with their families.”

Marie Curie is a charity that provides care and support for people living with a terminal illness, as well as their families. The Marie Curie Five Stokes Fundraising Group work incredibly hard throughout the year to raise vital funds for this charity that is important to each and every one of them. The wreath making was a fun and sociable event to end their year of fundraising. Jane Marshall, chair of the group, said:

“We were overwhelmed with the support for our first Christmas wreath-making workshop in aid of Marie Curie; the evening was full of craft, chatter and Christmas cheer. We were so pleased to raise £464 on the night, which will help fund vital nursing care & support for people with a terminal illness. Requests for the same again next year have already come in!”

The next big fundraising event for Marie Curie is the Daffodil Appeal which will take place in February/March 2019; so look out for the volunteers dressed in bright yellow with their collection buckets!

• For further information, visit the Marie Curie Five Stokes Fundraising Group page on Facebook.

This article originally appeared in the January 2019 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal news magazine (on page 6). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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The Five Stokes Fundraising Group for Marie Curie met for their AGM on Monday 17th September. The group have been very busy over the year and have organised daffodil collections, serviced collection tins and held a Blooming Great Tea Party. Since forming in 2014, the group have now raised an impressive £37,430.19, which will be enough money to fund 1,871 hours of local nursing care in the community.

Last month, the group organised a hugely successful online auction to raise funds for Marie Curie. The auction ran during the last week in October where members of the local community bid on a wide selection of prizes, including cinema tickets, beauty products and even a signed Worcester Warriors rugby shirt. The auction ended on Sunday 28th October and the final amount raised will be posted on the group’s Facebook page.

Jane Marshall, a member of the group, said:

“We chose to end the auction on 28th October as when most of us are enjoying an extra hour of sleep, Marie Curie nurses will be working an extra hour. The middle of the night can be the hardest times for patients and families and it is in those darkest hours that this care can make the biggest difference. Our Marie Curie nurses, work through the night, providing an extra hour of care to people living with a terminal illness, and their families.”

The group are currently getting ready for their upcoming events, including running a stall at the Thornbury Christmas lights switch-on, which is taking place on Tuesday 20th November between 5.30pm and 8.30pm, and their big Christmas fundraising event, a wreath making workshop. This will be taking place on the evening of Wednesday 5th December in Stoke Gifford with a minimum donation of £25 to secure your place before the event. This will include all wreath making materials, guidance on making your wreath and refreshments. For ticket enquiries, please email thefivestokesfundraisinggroup@gmail.com or contact Jane on 07909 966367.

More: Could you help with a Christmas collection for Marie Curie? »

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The Barnardo’s charity shop in Stoke Gifford has exceeded expectations by surpassing its target of raising £1,000 throughout September.

Staff were originally given the challenge in September when they were asked to raise an extra £1,000 in addition to their usual sales. In order to succeed, they knew that they would need members of the local community to help by volunteering their time and ideas for how they could raise the extra money. To kick start the project, the charity shop, which is located on Ratcliffe Drive, held a Bank Holiday Fun Day on Saturday 25th August to raise awareness as well as vital funds. There was face painting, a magician, a balloon artist, cake sale, lucky dip and a raffle. The event was enjoyed by all who attended and made a great start towards the fundraising target. Julie Britt, store associate, said: “We are amazed at how well we have done in the first couple of weeks. The Fun Day event was a great success and we raised over £500!”

The staff at Barnardo’s have now surpassed their £1,000 target due to a number of other events that took place throughout September. These included a trampoline taster session held at Cardiff Metropolitan University which raised £85, a stall held outside the Barnardo’s shop run by two managers from Santander which raised £56, a bag pack at Tesco Extra which raised £246 and a generous donation from a customer.

More: Local community thanked for support »

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Jez Allinson, a.k.a. ‘The Running Stormtrooper’ completed his final run on 17th May. But what a run it was – 100 kilometres!

For the past three years, Jez, who hails from Stoke Gifford, has been raising money for his favourite charity, the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Last year, by running three half marathons during a Star Wars convention in Orlando, Florida and then the London Marathon, followed by a 40-mile run on 40th May to celebrate 40 years of Star Wars, he raised over £16,000!

This year, he used several half marathons as a warm up before running this year’s London Marathon in very high temperatures. But his final epic run started at one minute past midnight on 17th May when he set off to run 100km.  After 18 hours of continuous running, apart from short breaks to take on refreshments, he finished his run at the main door of Pinewood Studios at 6pm, welcomed by Foundation helpers, Pinewood staff and colleagues from the RAF. He has already raised nearly £7,000 this year.

The Stormtrooper costume Jez wears is a genuine costume supplied by the film studios. Jez, although very fit, says it took a long time to get used to running any distance in the heavy rigid plastic costume. Lots of protective binding is required!

More information and related links:

• Running Stormtrooper on Twitter
• Make a Star Wars Wish & Spread A Smile on Facebook
• 100 km run Dressed in Stormtrooper Armour (Virgin Money Giving)

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