Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 – September 2014 update

Well it’s been a while since my last update – but I have news that I need to share. Many of you will remember that on Sunday 6th October2013 Jay and Bridget Macleod and I did a skydive to raise funds for Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20. We raised £1,398.00 which went towards the donations made to the Myasthenia Gravis Association (Hampshire Branch) and Stanley Graveson Ward.

Well, we are doing it again – this Sunday 14th September at 2.00 p.m. with Go Skydive South Coast. And this time, we’re not jumping from 10,000 ft, we’re jumping from 15,000 ft.

You may remember that when we did this last year it was the first time any of us had been in a plane. Well this time we can all say that we’ve gone up in a plane – but we haven’t landed, so after Sunday we’ll have been up in a plane twice but not experienced landing – weird or what!

I have to say this time the build up is entirely different. Last year my nerves were all over the place as we were going to experience something which was totally unknown. This time I’m more excited than nervous. The main difference will be the extra height that the plane goes to and we’ll have a longer free fall. I can’t wait!

Many of you sponsored us last year, but if you didn’t and would like to sponsor us this year please do. Butterflies Community Store, Rumbridge Street Totton have sponsor forms or you can pay via our PayPal account Skydive for Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 (2014).https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NF7B6VHMK75ZL

Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 was set up by Amy Guy as the 20 anniversary of her diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis approached. She wanted to be able to raise money to give back to some of the organisations who had helped her over the years. After the anniversary, 15th February 2014, when we held an Afternoon Tea, and all the funds were in Amy was able to present the Myasthenia Gravis Association (Hampshire Branch) with a cheque for £2,000.00 and Stanley Graveson Ward, Wessex Neurological Unit, Southampton General Hospital with a cheque for £500 plus two personal DVD players, one for the women’s ward and one for the men’s ward. Amy knows only too well that it’s good to have something which helps pass the time when spending long days in a hospital bed.

As well as the Myasthenia Gravis Association and Stanley Graveson Ward there are other organisations that have helped Amy over the years and she would like to be able to give something back to them as well. Some of these are:

Ward G2, Southampton General Hospital (where Amy spent a lot of her time as a teenager)
Action for Children
Young Carers
Society St. James

Any donations we receive for this Skydive will go to one or more of these organisations.

As a result of the fundraising that we did last year Amy took a look at her working life and decided she wanted something more, something different ….

So,

Butterflies Community Store was born.

I mentioned this in my last update and the shop is still going strong. Amy works in the shop most days and is helped by an army of volunteers – although there is always room for a few more! They sell a wide range of items, such as clothes, DVDs, books, puzzles, bric a brac, children’s toys, small items of furniture, and much more. Most of the items are donated, although in the spring and summer months they sold numerous bedding and other plants plus hanging baskets. There is always something new to see.

At the rear of the shop there is the Ten Bob Tearoom and Library (there were so many books in the shop they were taking over so had to be moved to a room of their own). It’s called the Ten Bob Tearoom because a cup of tea or coffee will cost just 50p as will a slice of cake or a biscuit or two. Beyond the tearoom is a lovely little garden with tables and chairs. An ideal place to sit and relax over a cuppa!

The tearoom has a number of regular events, Fish & Chip and Bingo lunch on a Friday lunchtime (to be booked in advance), Tuesday Cards and Board Games and Wednesdays Knit and Natter. Psychic Suppers are also held regularly with Medium Rachel Squires, these have proved very popular.

The tearoom can also be hired out for meetings, parties etc. For more information please contact Amy at butterfliesbbs@outlook.com or go to Butterflies Community Store on Facebook.

There will be another update shortly – after the Skydive on Sunday. Wish us luck.

Since the Skydive – Update on our fundraising

SINCE THE SKYDIVE – UPDATE ON FUNDS RAISED

It’s now 4 weeks since we did our skydive, so I thought it was about time I updated everyone on how we’re doing. We have been overwhelmed by people’s generosity in sponsoring us. The sponsorship money is still coming in and to date we have raised £1,077.00.

We are still busy fundraising, selling items at car boot sales and indoor markets. We are also busy planning our main fundraising event which will take place in February. More details about this will be added soon.

Funds Raised So Far

Funds Raised So Far.

Funds Raised So Far

 

Money Raised from Car Boot and Cake Sales
On Sunday, after the not quite so successful car boot sale we decided to add up all that we had raised over the last four or five weeks by selling at car boot sales and also from our cake sales at the New Forest Militaria Fair.

We are pleased to say that we have raised a total of £300.00. This is now sitting in the Amy’s H.O.P.E. 20 account along with the sponsorship money that we’ve received so far from our family, friends, work colleagues and employers.

There will be another update after the Skydive.

Cake Sale to boost Skydive funds

Cake Sale to boost Skydive funds.

Car Booting to boost our skydiving funds

To boost our skydiving funds we have been out and about car booting.  Unfortunately yesterday the forecast of a hot sunny day did not materialise.  We went to New Forest Car Boot Sale (Strawberry Fields) between Brockenhurst and Lymington, but before we had chance to sell much, it was a mad scrabble to pack everything away to avoid it getting soaked by the rain.

Luckily today was a different day altogether.  We went to Woodside Car Boot Sale at Pennington where we spent a very pleasant morning in the hot sun.  There was a lovely atmosphere with everyone soaking up the sun, having endured the rain yesterday.

Next Sunday, weather permitting we will be selling our wares at Netley Marsh Car Boot Sale (Boot Hill).

Sunday 22nd September, Netley Marsh Car Boot Sale (Boothill)
Well we were out selling again this Sunday, this time at Netley Marsh. We were in two minds whether to go or not as the sky was very grey, but the day was warm and still – a perfect day for car booting!

We managed to sell quite a few of our donated items – people were very friendly and interested in what we were raising money for. We received a few donations in our tin, many good luck wishes for the skydive and a lovely couple who were stalling next to us gave us a lot of their unsold items to boost our stock! This meant we came away with as much stock, if not more, than we arrived with and some funds towards our skydive – what more could we ask for. All being well we’ll be car booting again next weekend – this will be our last chance to raise money for the skydive as it’s fast approaching – JUST 12 DAYS TO GO!!

Sunday 29th September – Netley Marsh Car Boot Sale (Boothill)

Well, we were out again on Sunday as it was our last opportunity to fit a car boot sale in before the Skydive – which will be taking place in just one week.  Unfortunately, the weather was nothing like as good as last week, with a number of heavy showers throughout the morning.  We stuck it out for as long as we could, with the covers being put over the stall at least three times – then off again, but we still had to dry things off when we got home. Anyway, it wasn’t a total washout, we managed make some money and will continue to carboot after the Skydive to boost the funds.

I’d also like to thank all you kind people who have donated items for us to sell. It makes our stall quite interesting, as each time we turn up at the Car Boot Sale we have something different to offer!

Event 1 – Skydive – Sunday 6th October 2013

Event 1 – Skydive – Sunday 6th October 2013.

Well, time is marching on and Sunday 6th October is oooh so close.  Jay and Bridget are really calm but my butterflies are jumping up and down and the nerves are a bit frazzled now – can’t wait for Sunday to actually arrive, and nothing to get in the way of us doing the skydive.  I checked the weather forecast today and all looks good – no gusts of wind, which is great news.

More updates will follow – probably after Sunday!

WE’VE DONE IT!!
Well the day arrived and the nerves which had taken over yesterday and last night totally disappeared. Everyone at GoSkydive was so friendly. We arrived at 8.00 a.m. and were quite surprised to see so many people there – I hadn’t realised just how popular skydiving was. We booked in and were then called for our training session. At one point the trainer said “Yesterday we had one person who had never been on a plane before – is there anyone here today who hasn’t been on a plane?”. Bridget, Jay and I put our hands up. I think everyone thought we were quite mad, but the day just got better. Yesterday I had been thinking “I hope we are first to be called – I don’t want to be sitting around getting nervous”. But we had family and friends there with us, the weather was great so we were all sat outside just chatting. We were the fifth group to be called, and Amy arrived just as we were walking over to the plane. I was really pleased that we got to see her before we went off, because after all, she is the whole reason that we were doing the sponsored Skydive.

Bridget, Jay and I all went on the same plane which was great. The view from the plane was amazing – and the flight not at all scary! Bridget was first to go, then me, followed by Jay. There were five tandem jumps going from our plane. Bridget and I were lucky enough to have our jump filmed, this meant we each had our own cameraman who jumped out at the same time as we did. The sky was clear, just a few puffy white clouds – the freefall lasted just about 25 seconds (next time we want to jump from higher so that this bit lasts longer), then you feel yourself going upwards – not the sudden jerky feeling that I was dreading – you just seemed to be going in reverse! Then this amazing feeling of floating, everything was so still and quiet, really incredible. The scenery was stunning. I could see that Bridget had landed and Jay was about to land. My tandem partner explained that he was landing before me because he’d been doing some fancy moves, twisting and twirling which moves you along quicker. We’d done a few gentle twists and turns, but I was quite happy chilling out just floating around in the sky! And then the landing. Again, not the crash, bang, wallop that I’d been imagining – I’m sure people were taking bets on which bit of me I’d break, sprain, or damage in some way, but just I lifted my legs into the position we’d been told – but when I couldn’t hold it any longer I just sat myself down! I met up with Bridget and Jay and we all said straight away – “I want to do it again”!! We had a minibus ride back to the start position where we were given our gift pack – which included a money off voucher for if you want to do it again. We waited for our photos – had a chat with everyone then headed off to the Lavender Farm for lunch and CAKE.

As I’m writing this I still can’t believe that we’ve actually JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE, but we have and IT WAS AMAZING. Thank you to everyone at GoSkydive who ensured that we enjoyed the experience and to everyone who has sponsored us. Hopefully, a few more people have now heard of, and know a bit more about Myasthenia Gravis.