Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page which has been set up in memory of Joseph Tan, who sadly passed away on Saturday 30th May 2009, aged 29.
In the past Joseph mentioned raising funds for two charities, The Freeman Hospital and The British Heart Foundation, therefore, we have decided to support both of these charities in our fundraising efforts. However, we have had to set up separate donation pages for each charity which means that all monies donated through this page will be paid directly to the Freeman Heart & Lung Transplant Association only.
Fundraising Events/Activities
Hi, I'm Natalie and I'm currently doing a sponsored slim to raise money for the charities named above. I hope to lose 2 stone in 3 months so please, please, please make a donation and support me in my quest to raise funds for these wonderful charities in the name of a wonderful guy :)
We will be hosting a finale fundraising event on Saturday 12th December 2009, further details of other events and activities will be announced soon, so keep watching!! :)
About Joseph....
Joe was a disabled filmmaker from Middlesbrough, England. He was always a creative soul with an active interest in animation and film. As of 2009 he had organised and released over 70 productions, including features, short films, music videos and documentaries. Even as a young child he created animations/films and ran a mini cinema from his bedroom.
However, his achievements were gained through a long and hard process, the reason for this being his health. He suffered a rare condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. It affects no two people the same and unfortunately for Joe he was born with the rarest form. The condition itself can be a bit of a jumble to describe so to keep it simple...... the arteries connecting his heart and lungs were undeveloped and in one case totally missing. This meant that he was essentially living off one lung and a damaged heart. He also suffered from multiple holes in his heart (repaired but leaking), scoliosis of the spine and asthma.
When he left college in 1998 he started looking for work and spent four years attending interviews for all sorts of jobs, all of which he was turned away from due to his health. As time went on he was advised to stop looking for work because the local council thought he'd never be able to get a 'real' job. They told him to go on the sick, to take up a hobby and to enjoy whatever life he had left. It was around then that he decided to take up filmmaking and become the filmmaker he'd always dreamed of being.
Over the years Joe's health continued to get worse and it was anyone’s guess as to how long his body would be able to cope with the condition however he never let this worry him. He enjoyed his life, the people who were part of it and the work that went with it. He looked ahead at all times and never back. Joe's endless passion and enthusiasm to his work and life has been so inspiring, he touched so many people’s lives in a positive way, such a great guy!!
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 - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
