Welcome to Team Hocking's fundraising page. We will be running the London Marathon in April 2009 to raise money for the Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS).

Our dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) 22 years ago when we were all under the age of 10.  Being only 35 at the time and with a large (!) family to support, he bravely continued working until aged 49 when he had to take early retirement.  Since then his condition has worsened and our Mum is now his full time carer.  Growing up with a parent who has a progressive neurological disease isn't easy and watching Dad gradually deteriorate has been heart breaking for us.  However, Dad has been incredibly courageous in living with this frustrating and at times distressing illness.  We feel that running the London Marathon is a way in which we can show how proud we are of him. 

The PDS has been and continues to be a great support and source of information for us, particularly the local Exeter group that Mum and Dad attend.  We hope that by raising money for the PDS, we can make a small contribution to the research looking for a cure for this disease and help the society to continue supporting people living with PD.  We appreciate that these days we are all inundated with requests for sponsorship but this really is a great cause, so please sponsor us today! 

To keep up with our progress please visit our blog at: http://www.realbuzz.com/blogs/u/TeamHocking/team-hocking-marathon-attempt/

Many thanks

Rosie, Hannah, Sarah, Tom and Debs

Our Fundraising Activities

1. Cake Sale - 14th November - £100.90 raised. Thanks very much to the Exeter Branch PDS members who gave so generously.

2. Cake Orders - 28th November - £50.70 raised.

3. Collection Tin - 29th November - £108.00 raised.

4. Car Boot Sale- 30th November- £198.40 raised.  Thank you to everyone who donated items for sale.

5. Valentines Ball - 13th February - £1266 raised! Huge thanks to: everyone who came to the ball; Sandypark Conference Centre who provided the venue free of charge; The band ‘Taylor and the Made Gentlemen’ who played free of charge; To Adam from the band who did a fantastic job as auctioneer; To Tina Bennett who secured the venue for us, helped us with the advertising, organised some of the auction prizes and generally provided us with lots of help and advice; To Tanya Hocking (Tom’s wife) who spent hours on the phone persuading companies to donate item for the auction; and to everyone who donated items for the auction: Woodbury Golf Club; EDF Energy; Pizza Express; HQ Hair and Beauty; Peppers; ASK; Exeter Chiefs; A colleague of Tina’s who donated a diamond necklace; Holiday Villas Morocco who donated a holiday.

6. Car Boot Sale - 22nd February - £102.20 raised. Many thanks to everyone who donated items for the car boot sale.

7. Collection Tin - 7th March - £29.01

8. Collection bucket at Queensbury School - 3rd April - £216.95 raised.

9. Non School Uniform Day at Queensbury School - 3rd April - £796.67 raised. Thank you to the staff and pupils of Queensbury School.

10. Charity bag pack at Tesco - 11th April - £242.03 raised. Many thanks to Tesco in Exeter for allowing us to bag pack in there store and to all the customers who donated.

11. Collection at St Michaels Primary School - April - £85 raised. Many thanks to Linda Brook for organising this collection and to everyone who contributed.

12. Leighton Buzzard Party - 13th June - £340 raised. Many thanks to Ellis and her family for organising the party.

Donations Received Off-Line

£20 - 18th November 2008 - Gordon

£100 - 2nd December 2008

£10 - 19th December 2008

£280 - 25th December 2008 - Christmas present from Nana and Grandad to Mum, Dad, Rosie, Hannah, Sarah, Tom and Debs

£30 - 25th December 2008 - Christmas present from Dot

£5 - 14th January 2009 - Rachel Spendelow

£10 - 25th January 2009 - Jean

£100 - 2nd February 2009 - Tim and Mary

£40 - 8th February 2009 - Mr and Mrs Brookes

£40 - 8th February 2009 - June and Janice

£10 - 10th February 2009 - Barbara and Ray Woodland

£10 - 12th February 2009 - Karen Roberts

£50 - 15th February 2009 - Barbara and Cyral Harris

£50 - 23rd February 2009 - Rose and Tony

£30 - 24th February 2009 - Gordon

£130 - 25th February 2009 - Angel Kontoyannis

£50 - 3rd March 2009 - Emma and Scott Dodgson

£150 - 6th March 2009 - Elizabeth Curtis

£20 - 6th March 2009 - Claire Down

£200 - 9th March 2009 - Paul Banks

£15 - 12th March 2009 - Pam Wilson

£25 - 18th March - NPA

£20 - 20th March - Fay Rickard

£100 - 21st March - Mary Banks

£20 - 22nd March - Alison Head

£20 - 27th March - David and Liz Potter

£100 - 30th March - Audrey Hall

£40 - 7th April - Rubee Syed

£5 - 10th April - Sarah

£10 - 11th April - Doreen Baker

£100 - 15th April - EDF Energy matched funding

£20 - 18th April - Barbara and Cyral Harris

£70 - 19th April - Linda and John Brook

£26.20 - 24th April - Mr Bartley

£5 - 24th April - Jason

£10 - 24th April - Chris Barker

£20 - 28th April - Alison

£26 - 29th April

£10 - 30th April - Mick and Kate

£100 - 1st May - Jane and Richard

£10 - 2nd May - Gordon's Daughter-in-Law

£3 - 6th May

£20 - 8th May - Julia Platts

£25 - 9th May - John and Marilyn Skinner

£30 - 9th May - Heather Furlong

£5 -  11th May - Lyn Taylor

£10 - 13th May

£10 - 17th May - Kath Vaggers

£16 - 17th May - Julie and Philip Cotton

£10 - 20th May - Emma Rees

£10 - 29th May - Christine Hosie

£50 - 17th June - Dot Jordan

For more information on Parkinson's Disease and The Parkinson's Disease Society visit www.parkinsons.org.uk