Andrew Winsbury
Andrew's page
Fundraising for St Raphael's Hospice
Story
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In November 2009 - my nephew Ben Gardner was murdered in Sutton, Surrey, protecting his girlfriend who suffered not only verbal, but physical abuse as well, and it was all over a halloween hat ..... he was only 30 years old
It was the saddest day of my life and broke not only my heart - but his family and friends hearts as well.
4 years on, and I still hurt so much inside and I always will, at times the pain is unbearable - I miss Ben so much.
Since December 2009 - I have been fund raising for St Raphael's Hospice in Sutton in Ben's memory - I chose St Raphael's as Ben's mother Heather ( My Sister ) died of cancer 13 years ago and they cared for her until she died - the love and care they gave her will never be forgotten and as Ben was the sort of person who would help anyone - ( And believe me he would) - I thought it would be fitting to raise funds in Ben's name and memory so that he can help others.
I have been mainly selling items on eBay to raise funds and several artists have helped me in my cause - Katherine Jenkins, Sir Cliff Richard, Danni Minogue, Jethro Tull , Al Murray,Neil Ruddock, Nine Below Zero and Jim Cregan (ex Rod Stewart), Martin Turner ( Wishbone Ash), Coiln Blunstone and Pete Feenstra of the Boom Boom Club in Sutton ( http://feenstra.co.uk/boomboom/) who have signed posters, books and cd's for me to auction on eBay, and most notably (Ex Doobie Brothers) Michael McDonald who I have been friends with for the past 10 years. Michael and his band very kindly donated some signed posters and cds and they raised over £350.00 and they included a couple of cds from guitarist Bernie Chiaravalle and Keyboardist Pat Coil who donated a couple of cds and a signed 1st edition book which he wrote - The Aspiring Keyboardist. www.michaelmcdonald.com
More recently I have had items signed and donated by Sutton United,The Boom Boom Club in Sutton, Fulham football Club, Mark Crossley ex Nottingham Forest and Fulham Goalkeeper and Sir Cliff Richard.
In December 2010 I took part in my first ever sponsored Santa Claus Dash .... it was a nice 'walk' around Nonsuch Park and time for reflection and thought and I raised £2480 and I would like to thank everyone who sponsored me, and I enjoyed it so much I did it again in December 2011, and my aim was to start and finish last and I achieved my goal !! - I did get several strange looks and enquiries about why was I going so slowly - but that was my aim and I achieved it !!. My sincere thanks to friends, collegues at work and customers who generously sponsored me and I raised £2005. Royal Mail also gave me a £200.00 donation.
St Raphael's handed out a medal to everyone who took part and i'm absolutely thrilled with it and I dedicated this event to Ben.
The Royal Mail Group have supported my Santa Dash fundraising events by donating £200.00 for the past 2 years, and I thank them most sincerely.
My initial goal was to raise £5000.00 in 2010 and I was so pleased and proud that I achieved over and above this figure - and I set another target of £12,500.00 to achieve by the end of 2011 and I achieved that as well with the help and support of so many people.
Time to start again in 2012 and I have set a new target of £17,500.00 and I will be taking part in my 3rd Santa Dash on December 8th and intensive training is taking part as you read this with the help of cakes and chocolates and the odd beer here and there.
So.......if you knew Ben or would like to make a small donation of any amount .. then I thank you so much.... because more importantly you are helping someone with advanced cancer and I'm sure there are so many people who know someone who's had cancer or died of cancer and by donating you are supporting a truely worthwhile local cause.
Yours Sincerely
Andrew