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In November 2009 - my nephew Ben Gardner was murdered in Sutton, Surrey - he was only 30 years old
It was the saddest day of my life and broke not only my heart - but his family and friends hearts as well. We miss Ben so much.
Since December 2009 - I have been fund raising for St Raphael's Hospice in Sutton in Ben's memory - I chose St Raphael's as Ben's mother Heather ( My Sister ) died of cancer 12 years ago and they cared for her until she died - the love and care they gave her will never be forgotten and as Ben was the sort of person who would help anyone - I thought it would be fitting to raise funds in Ben's name and memory so that he can help others.
I have been selling items on eBay to raise funds and several artists have helped me in my cause - Katherine Jenkins, Danni Minogue, Jethro Tull , Al Murray,Neil Ruddock, Nine Below Zero and Apart From Rod ( www.apartfromrod.com) who have signed posters, books and cd's for me to auction on eBay, and most notably (Ex Doobie Brothers) Michael McDonald who I have been friends with for the past 10 years. Michael and his band very kindly donated some signed posters and cds and they raised over £350.00 and they included a couple of cds from guitarist Bernie Chiaravalle and Keyboardist Pat Coil who donated a couple of cds and a signed 1st edition book which he wrote - The Aspiring Keyboardist. www.michaelmcdonald.com
More recently I have had items signed and donated by Sutton United, Fulham football Club, Mark Crossley ex Nottingham Forest and Fulham Goalkeeper and Sir Cliff Richard.
In December 2010 I took part in my first ever sponsored Santa Claus Dash .... it was a nice 'walk' around Nonsuch Park and time for reflection and thought and I raised £2480 and I would like to thank everyone who sponsored me, and I enjoyed it so much I will doing it again on December 10th 2011, so if you like to sponsor me ......
Well I did the Santa Dash on December 2011, and my aim was to start and finish last and I achieved my goal !! - My sincere thanks to friends, collegues at work and customers who generously sponsored me and I raised £2005.
St Raphael's handed out a medal to everyone who took part and i'm absolutely thrilled with it and I dedicated this event to Ben.
The Royal Mail Group have supported my charity fundraising events by donating £400.00.
My initial goal was to raise £5000.00 in 2010 and I was so pleased and proud that I achieved over and above this figure - and I have now set another target of £12,500.00 to achieve by the end of 2011 and as you can see from the total above, I achieved with the help and support of so many people.
Well its time to start again in 2012 and I have set a new target of £17,500.00
So.......if you knew Ben or would like to make a general donation of any amount .. then I thank you so much.... because more importantly you are helping someone with advanced cancer and I'm sure there are so many people who know someone who's had cancer or died of cancer and by donating you are supporting a truely worthwhile cause.
Yours Sincerely
Andrew
