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Fund-raising events

Other news

Thank you statements

 

 

 

 

(Written Sept 2009)

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page in memory of Dad.

 

Sadly, my dad died on the 17th of August 2009 of Acute Myloid Leukemia. He was very loving and always thought of others before himself. What was so sad was that it was so quick and at first everyone thought it was a tummy bug. For example, about a week before Dad went into hospital he was playing tennis with me at David Lloyd. My Dad was very clever and also very sporty. He used to take me every week to tennis and badminton lessons and nearly every fortnight I played against him! He was very competitive and wouldn't always let me win! When he was a child, he used to practice tennis every day either hitting the ball up against the garage wall or over the small wall at the front of the garden. Eventually all the practice paid off and he won both the Cornwall U16 singles and doubles championships! He was still very good for 63! I had so much fun playing tennis with him. He was also very interested in astronomy and he wouldn't miss an opportunity to take our telescope out on the patio to view the night sky. I miss him very much, mostly for his warm personality and his great sense of humour. I suppose the only thing left to say is that my Dad was as much a friend as a father to me.

Best wishes

Toby

 

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Fund-raising:

 

 

Variety Concert - 16.06.12

My Mum and I travelled to Shetland on Mum's 50th birthday weekend for a concert that we had organised with the help of family and friends in Shetland. Lots of people brought beautiful and tasty homebakes, lovely raffle prizes and the performers were chosen from amongst the best of Shetland talent. We filled the hall with an audience of 170 and their generosity helped us raise another £1700 for LLR!. A huge thank you should go to anyone who helped in any way. It was a roaring success and a great way to mark Mum's 50th birthday.

 

Etape Caledonia - 13.05.12

 

Two of my best friends' dads took part in the Etape Caledonia, an 81-mile cycle challenge which took place on traffic-free roads in the stunning scenery of Highland Perthshire. The challenge started and finished in Pitlochry and incorporated two technical sections, the Scott Sprint and the King of the Mountains. The Scott Sprint is a 1km section, fairly straight and flat, while the King of the Mountains is a 2.1km climb.

The 'Dads', Richard Nixon and David Reid, are keen cyclists and were training in earnest for their big challenge. I am SO grateful to them for offering to help raise funds for my chosen charity. Their total was £1085, a fantastic achievement.

 

Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon - 2.10.11

 

All 8 of 'Team Veale' completed our 'task' today with some really good completion times. We looked smart in our bright yellow running tops bearing the 'Run To Beat Blood Cancers' logo. Dad would have been so proud of us all to think that good work can go on even after he's had to leave is. Thanks to the Reids and Nixons for running with us and to all family and friends who have made such generous donations once more. The total raised this time is £1110!! ;)

 

Banchory Treasure Trail - 27.12.10

 

On 27th December we should have been celebrating Dad's 65th birthday with him. To remember him and to have the sort of day Dad would have wanted us to, we invited family and friends to join us to follow a treasure trail around Banchory. http://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/

The trail took approx. 2 hours and the distance covered was about 2 miles. It was good fun with some of the clues quite difficult to find, especially those covered in snow! At the end of the Trail, we all got together to compare notes and have some food and hot drinks. It was nice to see our friends and family and we are grateful to them for their support. Dad would have loved the Treasure Trail. It had a good mix of fun, competitiveness and was challenging and interesting.

 

Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon - 3.10.10

 

Mum and I took part in the Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon on 3rd October in Inverness with family and friends. All 11 of us arrived in Inverness on Saturday 2nd and had some time together on the evening before the race which was really nice. The race day was dull and wet but it didn't dampen our spirits. Most of us walked the 5k. However, the real star of our team was my Uncle Raymond. He ran the marathon from Fort Augustus to Inverness in a brilliant time of 3 hrs 37 mins! The total raised between us all was £3400. We are totally thrilled. Thank you everyone who contributed to this event. My Dad would be astonished at our success.

 

Rotary Club of Aberdeen Deeside - 22.09.10

 

I was delighted to be invited to Dad's Rotary Club to be Speaker for the evening. I prepared my presentation over weeks and fine-tuned it lots of times. In the end I practised the delivery about 3 times every day until I was happy with it. My best friend, Cameron Nixon, came with me. He is a great vocalist and violin player and he performed for the Rotary Club too. We got to sit at the President's table and managed to do everything properly - I think! When it was time for my talk, I wanted to run away!! However, as soon as I said 'Hi, I'm Toby', I got underway and it was all good. We had some really positive comments from Rotary. The best thing was that about a week later my Mum had a call from the President of Deeside Club letting her know that the Club had decided to donate £500 to LLR in memory of Dad. Job well done, I thought. I am available for other talks just no one else has asked me :^(

 

Calendar Girls Show at HMT, Aberdeen - 31.8.10 - 4.9.10

 

Mum was asked by LLR if we could help out with raising funds at His Majesty's Theatre when the Calendar Girls Show visited Aberdeen. We agreed of course! It was very hard work for Mum but she had a lot of help from friends. There were 6 evening shows and 2 matinees. I helped Mum on the stand on the closing night and we watched the show together. It was very sad but also very funny. In all we took a total of £2524.05 for the week. Thank you to all our helpers.

 

Finzean Walk - 19.06.10

 

On 19 June 2010, two days after Mum's birthday and the day before Father's Day, Mum and I hosted our second walk out at Finzean. Almost sixty people came along and we raised an amazing £420!! We had a great time although it was difficult too as Dad would have loved the day, especially the food provided by The Finzean Tearooms and the entertainment afterwards. Everyone was so amazed that there was so much talent within our walking group. For the entertainment, I would especially like to thank the Nixon, Reid and Easton families, Georgia and Hannah Vullinghs, Maddie Wood and Lucy Treasure and my cousin Eve, also Auntie Joan for travelling up from Plymouth to be with us.

Our thoughts were also with the Culter School parents who were travelling to Edinburgh to take part in the Moonwalk that night, especially all those taking part in memory of my Mum's friend, Val.

 

Finzean Walk - 27.12.09

 

On the 27th of December 2009, which would have been Dad's 64th birthday, Mum and I organised a walk out at Finzean where my Dad is buried. Over 60 people turned up and we raised £208.85! We are very thankful to the people who gave up their day to come along and take part in our fundraising event.

 

Other News

 

 

On 12.06.12, I had the enormous priviledge of running with the Olympic Torch for 600 metres through the streets of Montrose. I had been nominated by several of Dad's fellow Rotarians of the Club of Aberdeen Deeside. I am so grateful to them for their nomination. It is a memory that will stay with me for a very long time. It was a very bitter/sweet moment. I loved running with the torch but I would trade it all in instantly to have Dad back with us.

On 11.4.12, I was invited by Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (Scotland) to speak at The Rotary Club of Aberdeen Bon Accord. Catriona from LLR (Scotland) delivered a 15 min presentation about LLR and its aims and I followed up with a short talk about losing my Dad to Leukaemia and my quest to raise funds for LLR. I was quite nervous immediately before my talk but I think it went okay! We are crossing our fingers that this Rotary Club might choose LLR as one of its beneficiary charities for their Bon Accord Bike Ride in May 2013. That would be really special - here's hoping ;)

Callum Tweedie - Mum and I felt very honoured when, on 19.8.11, we were asked to meet with the Tweedie family and accept donations, on behalf of LLR, totalling over £15k. This was in memory of their dear son, Callum, who they so sadly lost in January 2010 at the age of 18. The Tweedies are a lovely family and we were privileged to spend some time with them. We left feeling so sorry for their loss though. I think we will stay in touch with them which is really good.

Culter Gala 29.05.10 - Championship Award - I was so pleased to be told that I was runner-up in the Culter Gala Championship (Fund Raising) Award. It is a new award for under-18s. I recognises young people in our community who have done something outstanding over the past year.

Culter School - Road Safety Wordsearch

In 2009 my school in Culter held a road safety competition and all the money went to Leukaemia Research. I would like to thank all the children at Culter school for donating and helping us to raise £150.44!

 

Thank you to the following people:

 

Offline donations:

Roy and Maureen Yelland, St Mellion, Cornwall

Donald and Catriona Farquharson, Finzean House, Finzean

Donations at Grandma's funeral 14.12.12

Anonymous donators - you know who you are ;^)

Family and friends who have made the BIG decision to stop sending Christmas cards and make a donation to my fundraising instead.