Well here we are and half of April has already whizzed by. The Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 team have been pretty busy one way or another.
Butterflies Community Store – Kaleidoscope Project
Amy has now opened her second shop. This one is directly opposite Butterflies Community Store and has a slightly different twist. It is Butterflies Community Store Kaleidoscope Project. There are a number of other local businesses renting space within the shop, including, Totton Rubber Stamp; The Supply Sgt; Wax Scentual; Gifts for Girls; Ciggy Juice; Bridget’s Bling; Beth’s Buttons and Bows and more besides. They are all either renting floor or shelf space.
The pre-loved clothing from Butterflies Community Store has moved across to the new shop, allowing more room for the books; CDs; DVDs; bric-a-brac; toys and general household items in the original shop.
There is now more space for the events taking place in the tearooms which include; Monday – Seasonal Arts and Crafts; Tuesday – Cards and Board Games; Wednesday – Knit, Sew and Natter; Friday – Topic Quiz and Bingo. The tearooms are available to hire on Thursdays, and now that the weather is that much nicer, why not enjoy a cup of something in the delightful garden.
The Grand Opening took place on Saturday 28th March with Councillor David Harrison doing the honours and officially opening the shop. There were around 20 people present at the opening including Harry Young who sang a few songs from his recently released CD.
The Echo were present and a photograph and write up about the opening appeared in the Southern Daily Echo on Monday 6th April.
Charity Easter Fayre – Saturday 4th April 2015
As the Christmas Bazaar was so well supported we decided to hold a Charity Easter Fayre, also at Colbury Memorial Hall. Once again we got our creative heads on a produced another advertising board – complete with Easter bunnies!
As before we had a children’s corner with activities but this time we also had a children’s entertainer, who volunteered their services free of charge. Thank you Kay. This proved really popular with the children and is something we will definitely look into doing again.
We had around 20 stalls, some raising money for various charities, including Myaware – the new name for Myasthenia Gravis Association- Hampshire Branch), Macmillan Cancer Support, Parkinson’s UK, and Prostate Cancer. The kitchen supplied hot dogs, hot cross buns, quiche and salad, tea, coffee etc. and of course there was a well-stocked cake stall!
After all the overheads had been paid the Easter Fayre made a grand total of £470.00, which we were thrilled with as it was more than we made at Christmas. We think these two fayres may become annual events for Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 and Butterflies.
Before the Fayre was over Amy was able to give two cheques to Jackie Perry for Myaware Hampshire Branch, one for £500 from funds raised at events held last year by Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20, and another for £134 raised by sales from the Webb Ivory Catalogue in the run up to Christmas. This is something we have done for many years but this year was, by far, the largest sum we’ve ever raised in Christmas sales, and we feel this is due to people being more aware of Myasthenia Gravis, thanks to Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20.
Stanley Graveson Ward, Wessex Neurological Centre, Southampton General Hospital
As regular readers will know, this ward is one of the charities that Amy’s H.O.P.E.20 supports. Amy attends Stanley Graveson Ward as an inpatient every eight weeks to receive Intravenus Immunoglobulin (IV IG), which has proved to be the most effective treatment for her.
Amy’s last stay (9th-11th April) was at the same time as Stanley Graveson Ward was coming to an end. There is being a reconfiguration of the wards, and from now on it will be known as E Neuro. Many of the staff on the ward, some of whom have worked there for over 20 years are being moved to other wards in the hospital. From what Amy said this stay was a very emotional one, not only for the staff, but also for her, as she has been a patient on ward since she was 17 and has often commented that Stanley Graveson Ward is like a second home, as she is known by most of the staff. They have seen her through teenage years, to becoming a mum, twice, and now follow her new ventures with interest. She has also got to know and become friends with some of them. It’s the end of an era.
Amy was able to make one final donation of £200 to Stanley Graveson Ward before it ceases to exist.
Abseil – The Orbit, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – Sunday 26th April 2015
Now that Amy has been topped up with her magic juice she is all ready for her next big challenge, which is to abseil down the Orbit at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This is the tallest structure in the UK standing at over 350 ft high. The event has been organised by Myaware and Amy is one of the 15 participants undergoing this challenge.
She hasn’t had much time to get nervous about taking part in this event, but now that the shop is open and the Easter Fayre has taken place it’s all become very real and she has Butterflies of another kind to deal with, especially as she is SCARED OF HEIGHTS!
We all wish her the best of luck and will report on how the day goes sometime after 26th April.
If you would like to sponsor Amy the link for he Just Giving page is here.
https://www.justgiving.com/Ami-Guy/
Well, that’s all for now. I think you’ll agree April has been fairly eventful – I think the summer may be a bit quieter – but you never know.
amyshope20 