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14/12/07 SPONSORSHIP
There are still one or two outstanding amounts from sponsorship of the cycle trek. Andrena
collected £60 today which has been added to the total raised.
14/12/07 XMAS HAMPER RAFFLE (NO.2)
A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes, making up Christmas hampers for raffles
in the same way as we did last year. The hampers have been made up and contain everything from bottles of bubbly to gift vouchers.
Andrena today collected £60 from ticket sales.
14/12/07 COLLECTION CANS
We recently had three cans picked up from Duchally C.E., The Blackford Hotel and Frasers Pharmacy,
Barrhead. The amounts collected were £76.98, £22.01 and £15.58 respectively. A superb total of £114.57 has been added to the
Money Raised. Thanks to those who gave generously.
14/12/07 A WEE BREAK
Can't believe it's been over three months since we last updated our blog. This was not fault
on our part; we were having a break from the fundraising to allow people to save up for our Christmas Hamper Raffle this year.
It was a wonderful success 12 months ago so we are aiming for a similar amount this time. As usual, please see the 'Contact
Us' page if you would like to donate. Many thanks.
05/10/07 COLLECTION CANS
£83.40 (Duchally), as well as two other cans totalling £65.43 and £47.97 from other local
shops were added to the total today.
04/09/07 THANKS FOR JUSTGIVING
We received an e-mail today saying that our Justgiving fundraising website has now closed. For
all we have reached our target, we are still very keen to raise as much as we can but thought it best to close the site and
focus on raising through this website once more. Justgiving donations totalled £70 - and with the added bonus of
Gift Aid, it was in fact nearer the £100 mark. DiabetesUK receive the money direct and will hopefully do so in the
next few days.
Thanks very to much to all who contributed!
03/09/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
A bunch of fives! Sponsorship sums of £55 from Andrena and a fiver from Thomas brought the
total up a further £60.
29/08/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thomas and Andrena managed to collect outstanding sums for the trek sponsorship - £10 and
£75 respectively. £85 has now been added to the total.
20/08/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thomas collected another payment of sponsorship money that was promised upon the trek completion.
This payment was for £20. Andrena however eclipsed this somewhat by collecting a further £103 worth of payments that were
outstanding. This totals £123 and has been added as of today.
16/08/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thomas collected a further £56 in total for sponsorship for the trek. This has now been added
to the total. Andrena also collected more sponsorship money today - totalling £34 which has also been added.
13/08/07 DONATION
Thomas received a much appreciated £5 donation today to help increase our total.
13/08/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Andrena had a lot of chasing up to do but it has finally paid off. She has collected a whopping
£600 sponsorship, including a single donation of £100 - the money that was promised to her by completing the end to end
trek.
10/08/07 FRASERS PHARMACY DONATION
Frasers Pharmacy, Barrhead have been very supportive of our efforts over the last 10 months.
They encourage us to put collection cans there as well as wishing to hear updates on how we're doing. To cap it all, we received
a cheque today from Frasers Pharmacy to the grand value of £100. Very kind donation and it will be paid into the account tomorrow
morning.
08/08/07 MONTHLY DONATION
Let's not forget that while we are all working very hard in raising money and totalling it,
Thomas continues to make a monthly donation of £10 straight to DiabetesUK. June and July's payments were made today totalling
£20.
08/08/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Both Thomas and Andrena still have a lot of outstanding sponsorship money to collect. Today,
Andrena collected £22, which has been added to the total.
06/08/07 ILEX HOUSE DONATION
One of the many B&B's Thomas and Andrena stayed at was Ilex House in Highbridge. Upon
hearing of their endeavours, they kindly gave Thomas a £20 cheque which has now been paid in and added to our total.
06/08/07 ON THE ROAD DONATIONS
As mentioned in previous entries, people were very generous in donating to our cause while
Thomas and Andrena were doing the cycle. The total raised on the road was £125, and this has been added to our total.
04/08/07 END TO END IS AT AN END!
I got a phonecall yesterday evening from worn out but incredibly proud cyclists, Thomas and
Andrena. They were calling from Britain's northernmost point, John O'Groats. Yes - they have successfully completed the unbelievable
912 mile trek as planned (barring a few wrong turns and inland oceans). We are expecting them back home later tonight for
some TLC. They managed to take a lot of photographs whilst on the road and I'll but them all on here in the next few days.
'The Cycle Trek' page has details of it all - The Planned Trek, The Actual Trek and the photographs. Any more planned
events as well as the money raised will continue to be posted on this page as normal.
29/07/07 BARRHEAD NEWS COVERAGE
Our latest article has appeared in the Barrhead News, as promised earlier this month. I have
yet to see a copy but as soon as I do, I'll put the pictures on here.
28/07/07 JUSTGIVING DONATION
We got news today of another donation, through our Justgiving fundraising website. The donation
came from a gentleman, whom I am not sure if he is wanting his name disclosed or not, who kindly gave £20.00. And with the
added bonus of 'Gift Aid', a further £5.64 gets added to that donation at no cost to either him or us. £25.64 has been added
to our total.
25/07/07 ON THE ROAD
Just a reminder that the blog will not be added to while Thomas and Andrena are on the trek,
which finishes in around a week and a half, all things going well. To see the trek in detail, visit 'The Cycle Trek' page,
which can be found on the navigation bar above and to see how the day-to-day cycling is going for them, visit the 'On The
Road' page.
20/07/07 TOUR DE BRITAIN!
The last checks on the bikes are complete and everything is packed up - yes, Thomas and Andrena
are ready to head off tomorrow morning. It's a late night and an early rise - 5.30 to be exact and they will get the train
firstly from Barrhead to Glasgow Central and from there, all the way down to Penzance. They won't be complaining too much
though, with the tickets being first class afterall! Don't forget; the page 'On The Road' on this website will give a day-to-day
account of how they are doing. Keep checking and wish them all the best for the fortnight ahead...
17/07/07 JUSTGIVING DONATION
We got word yesterday from our Justgiving fundraising website that a £50 donation had
been received. Mr Andrew Sinclair, the father of the gentleman who kindly supplied the two bikes, made the donation.
Because he is a UK taxpayer, we also receive a further bonus which takes the donation to nearer the £60 mark. It's taken a
long time for our first Justgiving donation but well worth the wait!
16/07/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
As we keep saying, the trek is fast approaching and this has accelerated the sponsorship that
is being collected. Andrena's latest instalment is £67.
14/07/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thanks to support from his colleagues, Thomas has banked a further £45.
14/07/07 NEW PAGE ADDED
The latest addition to the website is the page titled 'On The Road With Thomas & Andrena'.
This page will give a day-to-day account of how well our cyclists are doing including any problems encountered and how they
were solved, tiredness rating, any delays and not forgetting the good times as well!
12/07/07 CYCLE TREK PAGE COMPLETE
All the details for each day of the trek can now be found on 'The Cycle Trek' page.
12/07/07 ALL B&B'S BOOKED
All the planning has been finalized - the route to be taken, the transport to Land's End and
from John O'Groats and as of today, all the B&Bs for the various stopovers have now been booked after careful consideration
of their prices and location. See them on 'The Cycle Trek' page.
12/07/07 TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETE
Andrena's friends Paul and Lyn have agreed to meet our cyclists as they (hopefully) complete
the feat and reach John O'Groats. They will welcome them as they finish and drive them back, a little further south.
12/07/07 THE PAPARAZZI FEEL (AGAIN)
The Barrhead News are really stepping up their coverage of our trek as the starting date looms
large. A photographer came out and did a mini-shoot of Adam and Thomas which will be included in a report in the next edition
telling of our final preparations. Furthermore, while on the trek, the paper has kindly offered to do a weekly update on our
cyclists' progress, further publicising our attempts. We'll keep you posted on this in the coming weeks.
11/07/07 MILESTONE £5000 REACHED!
It's the latest and by far greatest milstone reached as due to two recent deposits in the
account, our total raised as topped the £5000 mark. We've achieved what we set out to do, but don't intend on stopping there.
We'll keep going as normal to see just how much more we can raise for the good cause! The additions were £147 (Andrena's sponsorship),
£63 (Thomas' sponsorship) and £38.26 (2 can collections from Duchally Country Estate).
08/07/07 TRAINING UPDATE
Due to recent well-documented injuries along with work commitments, Thomas has been unable
to get on his bike for nearly three weeks. However, today he got himself kitted up and is off for a few hours to get more
taste of the outdoors and the long-distance cycling.
06/07/07 FIRST CLASS!
In excess of 1000 mile cycle over two weeks is among the most demanding quests possible in
Britain, but what better way to prepare for it than to travel FIRST CLASS down to Land's End the previous night, all thanks
to Virgin Trains. There was confusion re the tickets, with only the bikes being booked on the train initially. This was soon
rectified and by means of an apology for the inconvenience, they offered the first class tickets for two. Great stuff!
04/07/07 DONT FORGET THE PASSENGERS!
As stated in a previous entry, Thomas has been actively seeking the possibility of travelling
for either free or on a discounted price to Land's End in order to begin their trek. He e-mailed Virgin trains earlier this
week and we were delighted to hear they offered both Thomas and Andrena tickets for the journey at a price believed to be
zero! A big thank you to Virgin Trains for that! A slight problem arose today however, when Thomas realised that the
bikes were booked on the train, while sadly forgetting the two rather important passengers! So the bikes were heading for
Land's End, while Thomas and Andrena remained in Scotland. Thomas contacted Virgin to rectify this unfortunate mistake
and we await a reply.
28/06/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Further sponsorship courtesy of Andi totalled £20 and further sponsorship from Thomas totalled
£37, making it a tidy sum of £57 for the two.
28/06/07 CAN COLLECTIONS
The charity cans are still doing their bit. Three cans collected and counted today. They totalled
£21.18 (Fraser's Pharmacy, Barrhead), £12.06 (Arthurlie Inns, Barrhead) and a can containing loose change from Andi's £15.46.
20/06/07 B&B'S BOOKED
Thomas has began booking the B&B's for the end to end trek. It's looking good so far with
a few discounts being offered as a result of the charity fundraising. The B&B details for each night can be found on 'The
Cycle Trek' page. We thank all the B&B owners for offering the discounts so far.
20/06/07 DON'T GET IF YOU DON'T ASK!
... Couldn't be more true in this instance. Thomas today tried to get the support of no less
than Virgin Trains in an attempt to get discounted prices of tickets down to Land's End for the beginning of the trek. An
e-mail has been sent and we anxiously await a reply.
18/06/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thomas and Andrena have teamed up to try and increase the fund. The sponsorship for the cycle
trek saw them add a further £23 to the total - £18 from Andi and £5 from Thomas.
16/06/07 DOWNLOAD THE INTERVIEW
We have now posted a link on our blog which enables you to download the Insight Radio programme,
called The Early Edition, which featured our interview. The download link and instructions (for the computer-illiterate among
us) is at the foot of this page.
14/06/07 INSIGHT INTERVIEW (PART 2)
The interview was completed this morning, early doors, and was a major success. The whole
thing lasted no longer than about ten minutes but Thomas crammed alot in during that time - about the website, the cycle trek,
the fundraising as a whole and even asked for kind B&B owners to offer a room for the night during their stopovers. The
interview will be aired tomorrow about 9.15am and a link will be put on this page shortly afterwards where you can listen
to it yourselves!
13/06/07 101FM INSIGHT INTERVIEW
For all those in Glasgow - tune your radios to 101fm Insight Radio for an exclusive interview
with Thomas over the next week or so. This all happened very quickly but after reading a diabetes-related article in the Evening
Times, Thomas decided to contact the person the article featured. This in turn led to an interview being arranged for tomorrow
morning, where Thomas will be telling of his fundraising endeavours and of course the cycle trek itself. Insight radio, which
broadcasts throughout Europe, will also be hearing of how they can get in touch to assist in donations and sponsorship as
we go for our final push towards the goal. It's much needed publicity indeed!
12/06/07 THATS ASDA PRICE!
Our latest can collection came courtesy of Asda in Somerton, Glasgow. It totalled £14.18 and
has been added to our total.
06/06/07 MILESTONE REACHED!
The incredible success of the recent raffle and BBQ at Duchally has meant our total raised
has been pushed well beyond our next big milestone which was £4000. Amazing to think we are still only half way through our
allocated time and are already within the last £500 to be raised. It looks as though we will smash our target of £5000 but
that won't stop us from striving to raise as much as possible before the end of the year!
06/06/07 RAFFLE & BBQ MONEY RAISED
There was a tremendous profit made from the night at Duchally. A total of £840 was made solely
by tickets to attend the event and considering each cost only £10, there must have been quite a turnout! What's more, a further
sum of £297 was made by selling the last of the raffle tickets on the night meaning over £600 was made in raffle tickets alone!
And to top it all, Andrena received a payment of £25 towards her sponsorship. Undoubtedly our most successful day since this
project began, both in terms of the success of the event itself as well as the money raised! In all, a fabulous sum of £1,162
was paid into the account today! Sadly we forgot to take any photos of the event - our apologies. But thanks again to all
who attended and to Duchally for hosting it.
06/06/07 DUCHALLY RAFFLE & BBQ
We did say it was to be one of our greatest ventures to date and we didn't disappoint.Club
La Costa's Duchally Country Estate, Perthshire was the ideal venue for the fundraising BBQ and raffle - where there was a
round of golf at Gleneagles (worth a cool £500) up for grabs. There was no official count of how many showed up for the event,
but we couldn't have asked for any more. It all kicked off early in the evening with the burgers and chicken on the grills
and the DJ playing all the old party favourites. The raffle took place about an hour into it. There were roughly 20 prizes
that had to be won and with us selling nearly 300 more raffle tickets on the night, we knew we were into a tidy profit. The
prize-winners were based in Duchally itself as guests, in Andrena's hometown of Blackford and the surrounding area, or in
Thomas's hometown of Barrhead. The winner of the Gleneagles prize was a very pleasant old woman and her husband who lived
just outside Blackford. After the raffle, the party moved indoors where drinks were flowing and spirits were still high. The
whole thing was wrapped up about 11. Thanks to all who attended and made it such a wonderful night!
04/06/07 RAFFLE TICKET SALES
The wallets and purses of Aurs Glen were still being eptied today with the final instalment
of sales being collected. The amount raised today was £31.
04/06/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Andrena's sponsorship hit even greater heights today with the news that £105 sponsorship
had been donated - £100 of which was donated by a single party. Very generous and thankyou for your kind gesture.
31/05/07 THE END OF THE MARATHON
All the muscle (and knee) aches and pains have ceased. In Thomas' words, "The knee gave me
some problems but the shoulder held up fine". He continued, "However, for the last 8 miles, I had to run with both feet bleeding
and my right foot heavily blistered. I have no doubt this did affect my time, which I was nevertheless very happy with". And
so he should be! Considering the injuries he had, Thomas' time of 3hr 35 mins should leave him very happy indeed. Andrena,
who was unabailable for comment, also did exceptionally well and in doing so, broke her previous personal best! This new PB
was 4hr 28 mins and finished the race "fresh as a daisy!" However, she is now experiencing some problems with her knee. Hopefully
not operation-worthy. All round, both our runners were very happy with their performances!
31/05/07 RAFFLE & BBQ
The Duchally raffle and barbeque had to be postponed from last week due to rain throughout
the day. It has since been rearranged for next Wednesday 6th June. Hopefully both the raffle and BBQ will go ahead then (weather
permitting of course!)
31/05/07 RAFFLE TICKETS SALES
Raffle tickets are being sold from Barrhead to Blackford and one or two places in between.
Andrena has given us her latest installment of £20 for the raffle that had to be postponed due to poor weather.
27/05/07 THE MARATHON BEGINS
The day has come. There is alot going against Thomas and Andrena today between interrupted
training, injuries and prospect of poor weather conditions, but they will be giving it their best on the 26 mile run. We wish
them all the best!
27/05/07 PERSONAL DONATION
Thanks to 'The Rev' Dave Todd for his donation today. It has been added to the total.
25/05/07 'THE CYCLE TREK'
Thats us (or more precisely, I can take the credit for this one) now beginning to publish
the agreed route that Thomas and Andrena will take on the trek. Day 1 is Land's End to Bodmin and Day 2 is Bodmin to Crediton. We
will publish all the days now that the entire route has been decided - you can find it all on 'The Cycle Trek' page.
25/05/07 RAFFLE TICKET SALES
With the Duchally BBQ fast approaching, our big priority at the moment is the sale of
raffle tickets and tickets for the event. Signs are encourgaing and it does look like it'll be a 'biggy'. More raffle ticket
sales, totalled £80 and was paid in today.
25/05/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Out latest sponsorship into the account came courtesy of Andrena. A total of £70 was
paid in today, pushing us nearer £3300.
21/05/07 CAN COLLECTIONS
We had a number of our charity cans spread across the country and we received the following
totals for them: Blackford Hotel (£20.33), Roll On In (£11.10), Duchally Leisure Centre (£29.96), Frasers Pharmacy, Barrhead
(£12.99), Aurthurlie Inn, Barrhead (£17.87), making a total of £92.25! There is also another can bursting with change
from Asda, Glasgow which we are waiting to be totalled.
20/05/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Thomas's sponsorship is finally up and running and he received a further £20 to the total.
20/05/07 RAFFLE TICKETS SALES
The success of the £140 in the previous entry has encouraged Thomas and Adam to go chapping
on the doors of Aurs Glen. We had a guy in the middle of builiding a garage as well as others who have dogs and kids under
their arms upon answering the door. But that didn't stop total sales topping £100. We only had enough raffle tickets to do
just over half the estate.
NOTE: All money raised by raffle ticket sales are now profit since the £30 it cost to have
them printed has been paid...
19/05/07 "MARATHON MAN READY TO RACE"
Our fundraising efforts received very welcoming publicity today with another article being
published in the Perthshire Advertiser, who did promise to cover our trek. The article titled "Marathon Man is Ready to Race"
covers The Edinburgh Marathon and the up incoming BBQ at Duchally. The article can be seen among the photos on the right
hand side of this page. A billboard of the same nature was also placed outside a local newsagent.
16/05/07 MILESTONE REACHED!
Oh yes! These are the entries I will never get tired typing! Another milestone reached - this
time it's £3000! Three fifths of the way there and only another £2000 to go. Hopefully the up incoming raffle and BBQ will
have something to say about that!
14/05/07 RAFFLE TICKET SALES
An incredible £146 was raised by both Thomas and Andrena by selling raffle tickets for the
up incoming event at Duchally. This was done by simply chapping doors in the Blackford area. It's handy that Blackford is
about the same size as most people's back gardens - everyone knows each other and that sum was purely down to the good gestures
of close friends so thatnks very much indeed!
14/05/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
A further £15 in total donations for the cycle trek. Thomas certainly has a bit of catching
up to do!
14/05/07 MONTHLY DONATION
Thomas today deposited his promised monthly donation of £10 straight into the account. Great
stuff!
07/05/07 FIXTURES MOVED
I suppose not every event can go quite to plan and I have been forced to re-arrange the 5-a-side
tournament due to a poor response from potential teams. This was down to exams still being in full swing as well as reasonably
short notice being served of the tournament's date. Another date will be arranged in due course. We apologise to those who
had already entered.
03/05/07 TICKETS FOR THE BIG RAFFLE!
They are finally on sale and our first deposit in relation to same amounted to £34.
03/05/07 "BANK PAYS YOU DIVIDEND OF..."
It proves you CAN get something for nothing - that something is £5.64 interest paid into our
account a couple of days ago and added to the total
30/04/07 POWERHOUSE DONATION
Powerhouse, a company dedicated to providing top of the range gym equipment to places such
as Andrena's place of work at Duchally, gave us a wonderful donation of £50. I'm sure that buys them a place on our sponsors
page!
25/04/07 DONATION
Andrena received a further £2 towards her sponsorship - that too is beginning to really mount
up! But we still need more so please Contact Us, as normal, if you would like to make a donation.
24/04/07 PRACTISE FOR THE BIG DAY!
Thomas and Andrena are really stepping up their training as the summer looms and all the recent
good weather has got them cycling for miles, and they are also beginning some day-on-day cycling to get a good idea of what
it will be like on the trek itself. Their most recent break was to St. Andrews, where they stayed at Arden House B&B
overnight - only to find the man of the house suffered from diabetes also. On hearing of their endeavour, they gave a £6 donation.
Very kind indeed!
15/04/07 MONTHLY DONATION
As stated a while ago, Thomas has been donating £10 every month to DiabetesUK. This monthly
donation is continually being paid into our fundraising account instead, and has been for quite some time. It will certainly
be mounting up...
02/04/07 THE 5'S POSTERS
We are pleased to say that the A3 posters for the up incoming 5-a-side tournament are now
created and will be posted throughout the city. A very big thankyou to Caley's Ms Olivia Gill for putting them together
out of her own time. To see what the posters look like, click the download link below...
11/04/07 MILESTONE REACHED
I meant to place an entry on here some time ago, in a similar manner as when we reached our
first landmark of £1000. As you can see, we are now well beyond double that and as it happens, for the non-mathematically-gifted
among us, we are now over half way there! Not bad in seven months!
11/04/07 "BANK PAYS YOU DIVIDEND OF..."
£2.36. OK it's not exactly a fortune but still not bad for the money simply sitting there
doing nothing! Every little helps...
02/04/07 VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
Just shows you that some politicians stick to their word! That politician is once again Kenneth
Macintosh MSP who gave us our £20 donation straight from his own pocket. We said it before and we'll say it again - Vote Macintosh!!
01/04/07 CLYDESDALE BANK DONATION
Fantastic news today of a special donation from The Clydesdale Bank. They have given us a
cheque for £200 which will be added to the account today. A brilliant boost to out total so we are very appreciative of that!
08/03/07 5--A-SIDE TOURNAMENT
Coming soon is our latest fundraising attempt which is centred around a 5-a-side football
tournament being hosted at one of the top sets of pitches in Glasgow - Powerleague in Townhead. The date and cost details have
still to be finalised but it promises to be a smashing competition and please don't hesitate in entering your team - we need
you! A trophy is on offer to the winners. We are tryign to arrange a raffle to take place on the same day. More
details can be found in its very own page (find it on the navigation bar). If you would like to enter your team, please 'contact
us'.
08/03/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Further news regarding Andi's fundraising attempts for the cycle trek. A further sum of £45
has been added.
28/03/07 VOTE MacINTOSH!
Our fundraising hit new heights today with our local MSP getting involved. Mr Kenneth Macintosh,
the MSP for East Renfrewshire and a good friend of Thomas's gave word of two very kind offers regarding our efforts. He will,
in time, make his own contribution to our cause and in his capacity as MSP, has offered a guided tour of the new Scottish
Parliment building for a party of 2 adults and 2 children as a raffle prize in our up in coming Duchally BBQ - subject to
him being elected in May - SO GET OUT AND VOTE!!
26/03/07 PERSONAL DONATION
We received a very respectable £40 donation out of a Miss Rachael Smith's pocket. Miss
Smith is a colleague of Tom's at Coral Bookmakers. A very kind gesture and much needed aswell!
26/03/07 EAGLE LEISURE DONATION
Great news today came courtesy of Eagle Leisure - A well-known firm who supply fitness
and weight machines throughout Scotland and also offer leisure facilities such as jacuzzis and saunas. They even supplied
all the machines and facilities on show at Duchally Leisure Centre. They donated a whopping £200 directly to our cause!
A big thankyou and their details can be found on our 'sponsors' page.
25/03/07 COLLECTION CANS
Frasers and Duchally are again doing their bit by accomodating our collection cans. The ones
collected today had £6.41 and £10.15 respectively. We will be putting the cans into more places soon.
08/03/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Good news regarding the total raised so far. We received £215 from Andrena's personal attempts,
as well as £20 from The Arthurlie Social Club, Barrhead and £5 from Central Cafe, Barrhead.
08/03/07 CELTIC BALL AUCTION
Another prize we had up for auction was a much sought after Celtic football, signed by all
the current playing squad - thankyou to Celtic Football Club for donating it to our cause. The auction took place and the
winning bid was £50. The gentleman responsible can add it to the signed Dado Prso picture - I'm sure they'll look great together!
07/03/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
The past couple of weeks have been very encouraging regarding sponsorship for the cycle trek
and with Thomas currently planning the best route available, things really are speeding up. The latest installment, courtesy
of Andrena, totals £152 - thankyou to all who contributed to that!
07/03/07 ON OUR BIKES
Thanks again to Sinclair Cycles, Thomas and Andrena now both have the bikes that they will
use for their nearing 1000-mile trek. The bikes are brand new and have been fitted with the pannier bags and lights that
were promised. For the cycling fanatics among you, the two bikes are Merida Crossway-300 Hybrid.
05/03/07 DENHOLM DONATION
James Denholm Partnership is a busy Architects business based in Perthshire, who
are entitled to a special thankyou after our most recent donation - a cheque for £50. Great stuff and they have earned themsleves
a place on our 'Sponsors Page'.
02/03/07 SIMPLY THE BEST!
One of our most successful auctions to date involved a signed picture
of Rangers cult hero Dado Prso together with an official Rangers tie. There were lots of bids placed and it
was getting very competitive and tense towards the end. However, the winner was Mr John Murdoch from Callander, who bid
£50.00, who wants to add these items to his growing collection of football memoribilia. A big thankyou John and indeed
to all who took part.
02/03/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Yes, it's Andrena at it again. A very respectable £63.50 was added to the account
total, thanks to her continued sponsorship support for the cycle trek.
26/02/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Andrena has been superb with her early efforts to gaining sponsorship. A further payment
of £258.00 was put into the account today. A lot of hard work is definately paying off.
22/02/07 THOMAS KNEEDS AN OP!
We can't say we are shocked because we knew it would happen at some point, but yesterday,
Thomas had to go under the knife to fix a very weak and troublesome knee. The operation was only minor but did involve a general
anasthetic. The surgery was very successful but it does mean Thomas will be unable to do strenuous excersise for 4-6 weeks.
This has set the training for both the marathon and cycle trek behind somewhat, however he is confident to get back on a bike
soon. We wish him well.
19/02/07 SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
Don't worry! Our hamper raffles and discos have not stopped us remembering our main fundraising
event - the cycle trek. So far, a cycle route has still to be finalised but that has not prevented Andrena getting plenty
of sponsorship. Early signs are very encouraging and as a start, £277.00 was paid into the account today.
12/02/07 MILESTONE REACHED!
Thanks to sound planning of great events since this challenge began and along with all those
who have contributed so generously so far, we have today reached our first big milestone of £1000. A fifth of the way there!
09/02/07 CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS!
The Blackford Disco was another example of a major success of a big fundraising event - arguably
our biggest gamble since the hamper raffle. And what a success it was! Our net profit (minus £80 for the function hire and
DJ) was nearly £190. The exact total has been added to the money raised so far. The raffle also went down very well with the
guests and we thank everyone involved for what was a great night! Photographs from the disco will be put on the website shortly...
08/02/07 COLLECTION CANS
Since this fundraising challenge began, we have been placing charity collection cans in many
premeses both in Glasgow and Perthshire. A total of three cans were handed in to be counted - one from Blackford Post Office,
the others from Duchally Leisure Complex, totalling £17.95 and £30.02 respectively. These were both added to our total (with
the first thousand in sight!)
07/02/07 BAGS OF HELP!
Today, we were delighted to receive pannier bags for the bikes for our trek. Such bags are
absoloutely essential on such a testing cycle and they should erradicate any need for us to carry bagpacks - thanks to the
54litres of space. It may not seem like a big deal to most, but considering that the two bags supplied are worth a total of
over £120, a big thankyou is in order to the gentleman responsible - who wishes to remain anonymous. He also donated top of
the range front and rear lights for both bikes, each worth approx. £40 each, meaning the total contribution is worth a staggering
£200! This wonderful news also coincides with the news that both Thomas and Andrena have registered themselves in the CTC
(Cycle Touring Club) who will be lots of help for the trek itself and the planning of it.
02/02/07 PERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER
Our article has now been published in The Perthshire Advertiser as well as The Barrhead News
and Upbeat. Our three main media followers now have their initial articles and we hope more will follow in the weeks and months
ahead. The relevant photograph also features two guys who have been fundamental in our efforts so far - Michael Sinclair of
Sinclair Cycles and Russel Keiller of The Clydesdale Bank. Your gestures were so badly needed and so very much welcomed. These
articles are displayed on the right hand side of this page. Click each picture to see an enlarged image of it.
30/01/07 DEAL OR NO DEAL
Earlier this week, two cops from Easterhouse - Alan and Kevin - read our article, published
in the Upbeat Magazine, and were impressed with our efforts. They too are keen on cycling and have organised a similar trek
of their own. As a result, they came up with a generous offer - they will donate £10 each to our cause, if we give
them any advice and spare equipment to assist them in their chosen trek. It was a very kind offer and a big thankyou
guys!
11/01/07 STRATH. POLICE RECREATION DONATION
Strathclyde Police have been donating very generously throughout this expedition - no more
than today when the members of their recreation association very kindly gave us a cheque for £156. Big thankyou to the recreation
association themsleves and Strathclyde Police as a whole!
11/01/07 MONTHLY DONATION
Little to my knowledge, Thomas has been kindly donating £10 per month for many years directly
to DiabetesUK to help fund their priceless research. He has contacted DiabetesUK and they have agreed to allow this monthly
payment to still be donated to them, but help reach our total. The first installment of £10 (for January) was made early this
morning and added to our total.
11/01/07 D.I.S.C.O
Yes our first fundraising disco and raffle has been organised. It takes place on 9th February
and see the 'Planned Fundraising Events' page for far more information on this. We are hoping for an attendance of 80-90.
The raffle prizes are first class and the night should be a cracker!
12/01/07 CAN COLLECTION
Our first DiabetesUK charity can was collected from Duchally Leisure Centre today. The
very heave can was counted and a total of £18 has been added to the grand total. Thankyou to all who contributed!
11/01/07 'THE PAPARAZI FEEL'
Our first appearance was in The Barrhead News back in December. But now we have featured similar
articles in the DiabetesUK's Balance magazine (for Scotland) as well as our first article in Strathclyde Police's Upbeat magazine.
We have also received word that our article will be published in The Perthshire Advertiser before much longer. Pictures of
all these will appear on this page shortly...
29/12/06 THE CYCLE ROUTE
With the festive season now behind us, we can begin to concentrate once again on the cycle
trip itself. A route has yet to be selected - people will hopefully appreciate how important it is to get it right. Having
said that, Thomas and Andrena are discussing what route would be best to complete and 'The Cycle Trek' page will have it all
soon.
25/12/06 MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thomas and Andrena would just like to wish everyone involved in our fundraising efforts a
very Merry Christmas and New Year!
21/12/06 SAVINGS ACCOUNT OPENED
The overwhelming success of the hamper raffles means we are far closer to our £5000 target
- with our first thousand well in sight. As a result, we have opened up an account with the RBS for all such donations to
be saved. This means the money is safer and easy to keep track of. Don't forget however that JustGiving still remains the
simplest way to donate - see our 'Contact Us' page for details.
21/12/06 CHRISTMAS HAMPER SUCCESS!
The Christmas hamper raffle proved to be a major success - better than any of us anticipated.
The following amounts were raised for the hampers:
- Helen Street Police Office, Glasgow = £236.00
- Bellahouston Academy, Glasgow = £100.00
- Duchally Leisure Centre, Perthshire = £283.00
This means the total raised in these three raffles is a staggering £619.00! The success of these
raffles means it is very likely a similar raffle will take place over Christmastime next year - hopefully by that time we
are a little closer to our target! Thankyou so much to all who contributed!
20/12/06 UPBEAT PHOTOGRAPHS
Thomas and Andrena were awoken early this morning to take part part in an exclusive photo
shoot by one of our media followers - Strathclyde Police's Upbeat magazine. The photo shoot went as planned. The article should
appear in January's edition and the photos will appear on here when we get access to them.
13/12/06 WE'RE 'JUST GIVING'
A friend of Thomas' gave us a very useful website for dedicated fundraisers like ourselves.
It is the website, JustGiving. When signed up (as we are now), it allows people to donate directly to us, online using their
credit or debit card (I also think PayPal is available). This saves time exchanging messages - either by e-mail or using the
guestbook. These options will still be offered and our inboxes will still be checked every day - this may just prove to be
easier for you. To see our fundraising page, follow the link on the 'Contact Us' page.
13/12/06 EDINBURGH MARATHON ACCEPTANCE
An e-mail came through to Thomas today which rounded off what has been a very encouraging
past week. He received confirmation of both Thomas' and Andrena's places in The Edinburgh Marathon, taking place merely weeks
before the cycle trek. Sponsorship will obviously be available for this event and details will come nearer the time.
12/12/06 SUPER SINCLAIR CYCLES
Further great news today! Sinclair Cycles - a local cycle shop in Auchterarder (based at 63
High Street, Auchterarder in Perthshire) have given us a great offer of two top-quality road cycles of our choice at a cost
less than half of the RRP - supplying them at 'cost only' price, meaning he makes zero profit on the sales, as well as covering
the administration charges etc and as a result, is providing bicycles ASWELL as making his own donation.. He is also willing
to give us practical advice and repair kits. The owner and founder, Mark Sinclair is now our first official sponsor to whom
we are very thankful.
12/12/06 BARRHEAD NEWS!!
Our first article in the Barrhead News was published today on page 3 - complete with pictures
(not normal page 3 standard), assurance that they will cover our trek and our first published link to the website. A very
happy occassion and we hope to appear again at a later date. An image of the article will appear on this page shortly.
02/12/06 DISASTER
We received word today that Highland Spring will NOT be sponsoring our trek. Big disappointment
but we will simply try another. On an up-note, they have offered to contribute to our hampers, so I s'pose every cloud has
a silver lining.
30/11/06 CHRISTMAS HAMPER UPDATE
All three Christmas hampers have been made up, sealed and consequently ready to raffle! The
details of the final hamper have also been decided and these can be found in the 'Planned Fundraising Events' page.
30/11/06 A SPECIAL THANKS
Another big thankyou to the family for contributing generously, from their own pocket towards
the hampers. The stuff in each really is fabulous! Only time will tell if the public think the same.
23/11/06 CHRISTMAS HAMPER UPDATE
The raffle tickets for the Christmas hampers will go on sale on 1st December. Please 'Contact
Us' if you would like to purchase a ticket. It's also not too late if you/your company would like to make a donation. We look
forward to hearing from you! Andi also received a custom-made tray of fine biscuits and soups, thanks to Baxters in Blackford.
This fully gift-wrapped tray will be added to one of our fantastic hampers!
23/11/06 A SPECIAL THANKS
A very special thankyou too all the kind individuals and companies who have donated to our
Christmas hampers so far. These include, among others, Tesco, Barrhead; Sainsbury's, Glasgow; Dobbies, Perth; Baxters Soups,
Blackford; Jafar Superstore, Barrhead; The Co-Op, Auchterarder; The Post Office, Blackford; Brakes, Perthshire as well
as family and friends. Big thankyou to you all!
16/11/06 SPONSORS UPDATE
Andi got in touch with the manager of Clydesdale Bank today who says the bank may be interested
in sponsoring us.
15/11/06 ADAM IS A GENIUS - THE WEBSITE IS BORN!
Adam has the idea to build a website and begin to record any progress we make. We can also
use it advertise any forthcoming events and we hope it may also act as an incentive for potential sponsors as we will gladly
post a link to their website on our links page. Adam is carried shoulder high from the building and will be worshipped for
many a day as a result of this magical idea!!
15/11/06 REPLIES RECEIVED
The Barrhead News, The Perthshire Advertiser and Upbeat have all agreed to cover our journey.
Highland Spring say they will give us their desicion sometime next week.
10/11/06 SPONSORS UPDATE
A letter was sent to Highland Spring asking if they would kindly
sponsor our bikes for the trek. We await a reply...
10/11/06 EXTRA! EXTRA!
It was a joint desicion to try and get the local press covering the cycle trek. The newspapers
and magazines involved are The Barrhead News, The Perthshire Advertiser and Upbeat - The magazine for Strathclyde Police.
10/11/06 CHRISTMAS HAMPER
Andi believes that after the success of the raffle of the Harrod's pumpkin, it would be an
excellent ideal to hold a raffle in December with a number of Christmas hampers being the prize. We send letters round the
local stores asking for donations - in any way shape or form.
07/10/06 OUR FIRST RAFFLE
Whilst on a short break to London, Andi eyes up a Harrod's chocolate pumpkin and thinks it
would be an ideal novelty to raffle off. The raffle is held at the end of the month.
09/06 JOG SCOTLAND!
Andi's daughter, Linzie is doing a sponsored run and has kindly offered to donate any money
she raises to start our fund off.
01/09/06 THE BEGINNING
We (Thomas & Andrena) decided to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats, having got
the idea from a colleague of Thomas's. We conventiently ignored the fact that said colleague is 12 years younger than Andi
and a whopping 27 years Thomas's junior. just to make the year a little more challenging, they decide to have a stab at the
New York Marathon aswell and thereafter, thought it would be an idea to donate it to a good cause - DiabetesUK. They
then found out that if they raise a total of £5000, they receive an automatic entry into the marathon.However, the fundraising
will always come first and therefore it was known that a great deal of planning was required if this goal was to be achieved.
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