On behalf of the Partners and Staff at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Manchester we would like to invite you to join our fundraising event.  We can confirm that the main event itself will be a 10k charity fun run/walk which will start outside our BLG Manchester Office, Chancery Place, 50 Brown Street, Manchester at 4pm on 14 April 2011 and end at KRO 2 (on Oxford Road next to the BBC) for much needed post run drinks and food!!

 

Don't panic - YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RUN THIS EVENT. You can walk or run part or even organise tag teams to run varying lengths of the course, the more inventive the better and most of all we want to have FUN!!! We will also require volunteers to stand at various key points along the route with distance markers, water and first aid kits. So there is no excuse not to join in!

 

The Fun Run Committee are very excited about the event and there will be opportunity to win prizes and beat your colleagues/contacts/friends to the finish line!!   Our aim is to raise at least £10,000 in total! Obviously our aim is to raise more than this if possible.

 

There will be a raffle held at KRO 2 after the fun run. Prizes are being donated through clients, friends, family and staff and will include such things as a weeks holiday in Portugal, a pleasure flight, tickets to various professional sports events and luxury spa breaks!  Please feel free to bring along your family and friends for support and also to join in the raffle after the Fun Run. The more the merrier!

 

Please feel free to pass details on to any friends and family who may also be interested in raising money.

 

 

 THE IMPORTANT PART: The aim of the event is of course to raise as much money as possible for the charity CALLM (Caring for Adults with Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma). CALLM is a charity based at The Manchester Royal Infirmary primarily on Ward 44 and it's Haematology out patients clinic and was founded by a team of hugely dedicated nurses on Ward 44. It is a known fact that a huge and very important effort is made to support high profile cancer units such as Christie's and The Manchester Children's Hospital and both units enjoy major support due to their foundation committees and corporate support. However, it appears that we seem to forget that adults suffer from Leukaemia and associated serious and life threatening blood disorders that only a Bone Marrow Transplant can cure. The treatment for serious blood disorders is never a quick fix and unfortunately requires a very long stay in hospital and namely on Ward 44.

 

For example a woman in her mid twenties may be diagnosed with Leukaemia and for her treatment will be admitted to Ward 44, she will undergo intensive chemotherapy, receive a bone marrow transplant and undergo further treatment to ensure it is not rejected, this can take up to nine months continuous stay and the sad fact is that she may be married with young children and whilst she receives her treatment, she is not allowed contact with her children throughout the whole process, this is because her immune system is low or non existent and any virus or infection would pose a serious risk.

 

So how does she contact her family and try have some normality of life?

 

She has to provide her own phone at her own cost.

 

She cannot physically see her children and so has to rely on photographs.

 

She still has bills to pay and has to provide parental duties for the care of her family, very difficult when resigned to a hospital bed in isolation.

 

She has to rely on her partner/parents/friends to visit and support her meaning further reliance on family, friends neighbours for child care.

 

So what can CALLM do to help?

 

They can provide pay as you go phones to allow calls to keep in touch with family and friends.

 

They can provide laptops with "Skype" device so patients can speak to and see their children and family to ensure that they are still an integral part of the family unit and their children have reassurance that mummy/daddy/auntie/uncle is ok and still there.

 

They can provide beauty and hair therapists to support patients when losing their hair through chemo and thereafter.

 

They can provide internet connection on laptops to allow the patients to manage their bank accounts, pay bills, organise child care, engage in social networks and have general contact with the outside world.

 

They can provide a relaxation room for patients to use to enhance their well being.

 

They can provide a family support room designed to allow window and intercom connection for patients to see and hear their families without risk of infection.

 

They can provide a Plasma screen and TV connection in the large waiting area of the clinic where waiting times for tests results and  doctor consultation can be up to six hours.

 

They can raise awareness of the importance of donating blood and platelets  urgently needed to keep the patients of Ward 44 and the clinic alive during and after their treatment.

 

Dolly spent over six weeks on Ward 44 and as a 16 year old missed out on the teenage support/activities and facilities she would have received in the Children's Hospital.

 

As most patients on Ward 44 are seriously ill they are placed in isolation meaning being in a room of their own and sometimes only have the ward team as company and someone to talk to…..Dolly was lucky, she had a blackberry, IPod, and her  family very kindly bought her an Ipad with wireless connection so she had all she needed in terms of communication and entertainment, she also had round the clock support from her parents and is now an outpatient in the clinic attached to Ward 44 two days a week. At present, she is checked and tested, observed and closely monitored to see if the treatment she received on Ward 44 has had any effect, this takes time and all the while continues to receive blood and platelet transfusions to keep her alive. It is very likely that she will receive a bone marrow transplant in the future to have a better quality of life and hopefully go back to school.           

 

In order to ensure that we raise enough money (bearing in mind our target £10k for 10km!!!!) and also ensure that the fun run and evening frivolities are a success we kindly ask you for the following:

 

·         a minimum donation of £3 to participate in the days activities - this will ensure you a free goodie bag upon completion of the run, a free drink and some food at KRO 2!; please contact Nadia.Naphapiet@blg.co.uk or Heather.Abbott@blg.co.uk  - all ideas/enquiries/requests for further information are welcomed.

·         we will be asking each participant in the fun run to gather as much sponsorship from family and friends as possible. A sponsorship form is available if you do not wish to use this Just Giving page.  Please bear in mind that we are not setting a minimum sponsorship requirement, but we ask that you to be mindful that a target that has been set (10k for £10k!).

·         we welcome any donations by way of gifts to be entered into the KRO 2 raffle.

·         Lastly, we would like to thank you all for your support so far - this event is already on track to be hugely successful and we must not lose sight of our aim. In this regard we ask that each and every one of you participate in the days activities in some form or other. For those of you who are unable to help on the day please donate what you can and your support for the raffle will be very much appreciated.

 

Should you have any queries at this stage please contact either myself or Heather Abbott.

 

Many thanks for your support so far.

 

Nadia Nahapiet
Solicitor

Direct Telephone: 0161 240 2660
Email: NNahapiet@blg.co.uk

Chancery Place
50 Brown Street
Manchester M2 2JT