Story
<p>Dear All<br><br>This is a copy of a targetted email which should reach each and every one of you who so kindly and generously - in some cases exceedingly generously - supported our idea of raising some money for The Stroke Association on the basis that something good can come out of something really awful. <br><br>We are immensely grateful to each of you. Initially we thought we might aim for £1,000. We did that within 24 hours - or was it 48 hours? - either way it was bloody fast! We have had to double the target, double it again, and then increase it yet again. To date, the total of the online donations that have gone to The Stroke Association is £5,476, with offline donations of at least £325 (there were more but we weren't told the amounts) and there are Gift Aid supplements that they will collect of £1,067.75. The Gift Aid bit is counted separately, and the JustGiving page records the total as £5,801, but with the Gift Aid it is £6,868.75. Frankly we are staggered by that, and again are grateful to each of you, and also to Helen Black, whose fund raising in the last few days has been added to ours. I understand that there is still more to come, but that total will do us fine!<br><br>The run is now done. Our times were 1 hour 20 minutes and 32 seconds (the seconds are so important!!), and 1 hour 36 minutes and 9 seconds. I will leave you to work out which of us did which time. For those of you who don't know us that well, I'll give you a hint - Paul is 11 years younger and 4 stones lighter!<br><br>Life for us returns to some semblance of normality - I'm off to a Judicial College course right now - to learn "The Craft of Judging". I expect to find out that I've been doing it all wrong for the last 16 years or so, but no doubt I wil learn a lot, even if I forget to put it all into practice! Of course it ain't so easy for those whose story first led us to start this fund raising, and they have been in our thoughts almost constantly since early September, and we send them immense amount of love and (very gentle) hugs.<br><br>Thank you all one final time.<br><br>John & Paul x</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to visit our Great South Run JustGiving page.</p>
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<p>Paul and I are running the 10 miles of the Great South Run around Portsmouth on Sunday 30th October 2011. It's our third time in 10 years. In the past we have run only for the fun of it, and in my case for the feeling afterwards that I am not completely past it. We have never used it to raise money for a charity.</p>
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<p>In the past few weeks we have been rocked by the news of a dear friend and colleague who has had a serious stroke in her mid forties, with a loving husband and teenage daughters. The shattering effects on them all are unimaginable. </p>
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<p>Most of you will know the story, and will have been touched by it or by similar events. Many of you to whom we have spoken wanted to DO something, anything, but really didn't know what to do without being intrusive. They remain almost constantly in our thoughts, but it is really difficult to balance our desperate wish to help with their need for us not to interfere. Indeed that was precisely our position.</p>
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<p>We feel it would be criminal to do nothing when we so easily have this vehicle to do something, and we therefore ask you to give as much as you feel able to support us in running to raise money for The Stroke Association. No sob stories, no gimmicks - just give them some money. You know they will use it well, and you will know how important it is to help, especially when you are personally involved as most of us are.</p>
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<p>This is not sanctioned by the family, and we have not bothered them with this plan, though I am sure they will come to know about it in due course and will be pleased to see that you took part, that you DID something, and that you gave some money to The Stroke Association to show you cared.</p>
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<p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate -we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</p>
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<p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p>
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<p>If you can't or don't want to do it online, send cash or cheque to me and I will do it for you. Address:-</p>
<p>John Sparrow</p>
<p>Southampton Combined Court Centre</p>
<p>London Road</p>
<p>Southampton</p>
<p>SO15 2XQ</p>