If you want to donate please visit our new site at http://www.justgiving.com/daveandjackygo4gold and read about our latest challenge "Dave and Jacky Go4Gold".  Our old challenge TenforTwentyTen is now closed, but you can read on if you want to know more about how we raised £10k in just 5 months!

We're available to speak to groups about Prostate Action, our fund-raising challenges, and our experience training and sailing for Prostate Action in the Round the Island Race in June 2010 so book us soon to help us raise awareness of this terrible disease that affects 1 in 2 men in the UK.

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 Thanks to everyone who supported us in 2010.  Across our 3 challenges we raised a whopping £17,133.29, which exceeded our wildest dreams when we launched Ten for TwentyTen in January 2010.  But we couldn't have done it alone; we had, and continue to have, so much help and support from so many, so pats on the back all round!

Background:

In July 2009 we opened our garden to friends and family for a weekend; raising over £2600 in just 2 days made us realise how much more we could achieve, but it was 31st Dec before the idea of TenforTwentyTen was born!

TenforTwentyTen - how we go there in 5 months

March 7th was the date of our first event, kicking off with a series of 7 classical piano concerts in our own home - 6 of these in one week - Phew!  We were exhausted!  We enjoyed every minute of the planning and preparation and it was incredibly rewarding to be able to use my classical piano skills to raise so much money and entertain people at the same time.  So many people to thank for helping, attending, baking and donating.  Total raised £2657.65

16th April saw our first pie and pea supper at Grange Park, with the amazing young band Rupert, Henry and the Revolvers.  They've given us so much support throughout, and always guarantee a sellout every time!  In fact, tickets were in such demand, and so many people were disappointed at not being able to get tickets, that we had to organise another similar "do" later in the year.  Thanks too to Ivan and Pat Tate, John Ancliffe, as well as Grange Park and everyone that attended, bought raffle tickets/donated raffle prizes, etc.  Total raised £1036.

17th April and Dave was invited to speak about Prostate UK (now Prostate Action) and our fund-raising at the Glanford and Lindsey Lions Club at their annual charter dinner.  They generously donated a fantastic £250 to our challenge.

By now we were really motoring and our total stood at £4859.  We were beginning to realise that, thanks to everyone's support and generosity, our challenge would be completed a lot quicker than we'd originally expected!

22nd April: Wow! We'd been invited by Prostate UK to crew on their boat in the Round the Island Race from Cowes.  The race and costs were all sponsored by JP Morgan Asset Management, and was an absolutely amazing opportunity to help raise awareness of prostate disease, as it would get extensive media coverage, including a 2-part documentary planned by Channel 4.  We weren't expected to raise any more money but decided to anyway!  You can read more about the race at http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk

Our training day on 8th May was awesome!  Sailing from Hamble on the Solent, we had some coaching from Ben Ainslie, the triple Gold Olympic yachtsman, and sailed with Iwan Thomas the 400m runner, who was sailing for MacMillan Cancer Support.  Both these 2 guys were amazing and so friendly and personable.  "If that's the training bring on the race" we both shouted!

A few short weeks later and we were heading for Cowes for a press conference and more training, this time joined by Mike Perham, the youngest round the world sailor (crossed the atlantic single-handed at only age 14, and at 17 sailed single-handed round the world.  What drives these people?!).  "Press conference"...just the words filled 2 rookies like ourselves with excited anticipation...and we were not disappointed.  There we were, in a marquee rubbing shoulders with many of the leading professional competitive yachtsmen and women in the world, and all about to share in the same experience of the 79th Round the Island Race.  With nearly 1700 boats participating and over 16,000 sailors, from the most experienced professionals to the greenest novices, the race is reputed to be the largest all-inclusive sailing event in the world in the sailing calendar.  In the UK it numbers in the top 4 participatory charity events, alongside the London Marathon, and the Great North and South Runs.

After the official interviews on-stage, the press and cameraman turned their attention to the crowded marquee, seeking out their potential targets.  Dave was in great demand, and the amount of media attention almost went to his head!  Dave's cancer journey and our £10k challenge had captured the imagination of many.  TV and radio interviews, as well as for newspapers and sailing magazines.

It seemed never-ending, but at long last we were heading to our boat (a Beneteau 40 for those of you in the know) and one last training session before the big day, and our first and only opportunity to train with our full race crew.  Everyone was great, all working as a team to prepare for the big day.  We were joined by a fellow prostate cancer sufferer, Robin Wood, and struck up an instant rapport; he had a very similar outlook and approach to his illness as Dave, not to mention a good sense of humour.  Like Dave he was diagnosed in 2004, with a disease already spread, so they had much in common.  Sadly Robin died in September 2010, but we felt privileged to have met him and shared our friendship, even though for only such a short time.

The day was rounded off with a social evening and the chance for everyone to let their hair down, courtesy of JP Morgan Asset Management.

The next day dawned early.  3.15am alarm call and a 4am pickup from the hotel.  "Why so early?" the novices cried.  To meet the tides.. of course!  Down to the jetty for bacon butties and hot tea on the hoof, then into our sailing gear and safety equipment before one final briefing from our captain before setting sail at 5am.  With so many boats, start times for each class are staggered at 10 minute intervals, so we had one final opportunity to practise a few manoevres before our starting gun sounded at 5.40am.  Timing was critical and our captain and first mate did an excellent job, positioning the boat perfectly so that we crossed the starting line ahead of most of the other boats in our class.

The start was spectacular as the wind direction and tides meant we could sail with spinnakers hoisted (the coloured sail at the front!) and every way we looked our sights were filled with spinnakers in every colour of the rainbow.  Jockeying for position, we wondered how so many boats could be in the same place at the same time without serious incident, but we were led safely throughout the day by our captain Dan and first mate (and boat owner) Andrew.  We never felt unsafe at any time, and with others in the crew experienced sailors, we were able to relax and enjoy the day, and play a full part in helping to sail the boat.

One of the most exciting aspects of the day was the "race within a race".  There were 4 sponsored charity boats and competition between us was fierce.  Many times throughout the day, binoculars scanned the other boats to locate the other 3, and we could also track them through an electronic race tracker setup on a laptop.  Sneakily the competition didn't always have their trackers transmitting, but that just added to the fun of trying to spot them amongst so many other boats.

By 9am we felt we'd already done a full day's work and were starting to flag, but Robin magically produced all sorts of delicious biscuits from his kitbag, and this helped to rally the troops once again.

After a promising start and leading for the first few hours, MacMillan's boat appeared from nowhere and skimmed past us - they were positively turbo-charged!  Unfortunately we never managed to catch them, but did manage to maintain our lead from the other 2 boats, finishing 2nd in the charity challenge.  The final stretch was incredibly exciting, playing cat and mouse with Ellen MacArthur Trust boat, who were only just behind us for the last hour.  Our skipper pulled out all the stops, and we managed to keep ahead by counteracting and blocking (safely I hasten to add!) their every move whenever they tried to pass us.  The thrill of the chase!

Finally, after 9hrs 23mins and 09secs, we passed the finishing line, exhausted but jubilant and ready to celebrate.  Back to the marina, and once moored safely at the jetty, Robin the conjuror did his magic, this time producing a bottle of champagne and enough glasses for all the crew.  Unbeknown to us the media cameras were rolling, and there was a lovely shot of just the two of us in the closing minutes of the Channel 4 documentary, standing on deck with our champagne.

After a very long and exhausting day it was time to tear ourselves away from the boat and after a quick change at the hotel, back to the marina for the trophy presentations and celebration party.  The organisation and support of JP Morgan Asset Management and all the other people and companies involved was incredible, and makes so much difference to charities like Prostate Action and the future of fighting prostate disease.

Tired, exhausted, physically and mentally drained, and needing a few days to recover, but we can both say it was one of the most amazing experiences we've ever had.  As non-sailors, we'd never dreamed we'd get asked to crew on a boat in a race.  And Dave, after 6 years battling with advanced prostate cancer, felt his days of adventure and excitement were long gone.  How wrong could he be!

 

FUTURE EVENTS and NEWS for 2010

Future Events (volunteers required to help at all events too!):

For more details email leesfundraising@btinternet.com

Thurs 3rd June: Charity Golf Day at Grange Park with Rotary Club of Scunthorpe Pentagon (teams of 4 or sponsor a hole)

Sun 6th June: Messingham Show; homemade cake stall and chocolate tombola (baking and chocolate donations needed)

Sat 19th June: JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.  We're sailing for Prostate UK - please sponsor us at http://original.justgiving.com/jacquelinelee

Fri 25th June: Bingo night at St Bernadette's Parish Centre

Sat 10th/Sun 11th July: Jacky and Dave open garden weekend

Sun 18th July: An evening of song with Intermezzo singing group and soloist Andrew Heighton

Sun 19th September: Paul Vollans is running for our challenge to raise funds for Prostate UK - please sponsor Paul

Fri 1st October: Pie and Pea supper at Grange Park, with Rupert, Henry and the Revolvers and Ivan Tate

Other events planned (details tbc): coffee morning at Pooley's tea rooms in Messingham (probably August); Ladies Lunch at White Heather, Caenby Corner (probably Nov); quiz night; casino night

News:

 

 

 

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Feb 2010: My own personal mission to raise money for Prostate UK began in 2004, when my husband Dave, at only 53 years of age, became ill with advanced metastatic prostate cancer.  Over the first 6 months the diagnosis moved from a bad back due to an old squash injury, to a hernia, to a kidney infection, then maybe kidney stones, and it was only at my husband's insistence that he eventually received the tests he needed to arrive at the correct diagnosis.

As the cancer had already spread to his bones and lymph system, and with a PSA of 5000+, the prognosis was not good, and treatment options at this advanced stage of cancer were very limited, focussing mainly on temporary arresting of the condition and palliative care.  However, amazingly and against all expectations, 6 years later he is one of the lucky ones who is still alive and kicking!

He is about to embark on a trial of a new treatment which is currently being researched; in fact, this will be the 2nd trial treatment he has participated in, so for me the decision to commit time and effort to raising money for an organisation that funds research into prostate disease was a no-brainer.  Money raised by others in the past, to support research into new treatments, means people like Dave are able to continue living with prostate cancer.

1 in 2 men will suffer from prostate disease at some stage in their lives, and with more than 10,000 men in the UK dying every year from prostate cancer, there is still so much more to be done to improve the lot of so many men and their families.  Better diagnostic tests, more treatment options, better understanding of preventative measures and screening - all these would make so much difference.

I choose to support Prostate UK because of the emphasis it places on supporting research into all types of prostate disease, the education of professionals and the general raising of awareness, which I profoundly believe is so key to tackling the source of the problem.  Having committed personally to investing time and effort into fund-raising for prostate UK, I know that in future the money I and others raise will eventually mean that men and their families and friends won't have to live through what we have had to personally cope with over the last 6 years.  That day can't come quick enough so please give generously, either to my own personal "10 for Twenty-ten" Challenge, or direct to the charity Prostate UK.

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.