Raise money

Tea Parties and Coffee Mornings

The HemiHelp Jungle Party, by Claire Thatcher

My twin boys, Kieran and Callum and my friends’ children Tilly and Oscar were all born 14 weeks premature. As a result one of my twin boys (Kieran) has left sided hemiplegia and Oscar has right sided hemiplegia. So, in June, I decided that my premature baby friends and I should have a little tea party. I chose the theme of jungle animals – and asked my friends to make a £5 donation for coming to the party.

We started off the afternoon making animal masks, with six children – Kieran, Callum, Tilly, Oscar, Emily and Holly. After a delicious lunch we played pass the parcel, followed by a tombola and a competition to name the HemiHelp teddy bear, a raffle and a lucky dip – all with great prizes to be won.

We all had a fantastic afternoon and my friends and I are really proud to have raised £50 for a charity that means so much. Thank you to my friends for all of their support!

Helping Hemi Coffee N Chat, by Lisa Dobson

A huge thank you to everyone who supported attended or donated to the Coffee N Chat for HemiHelp on Sunday 10th May 2009. The event was a huge success and lots of fun was had by everyone.

During the day we sold cuppas and cakes to those who attended as well as offering stalls selling homemade cakes, a tombola and a raffle, with prizes provided by local businesses, family and friends.

We are proud to say that we raised £525 for HemiHelp. My husband, Pete and I feel like we have been able to contribute to a charity which has offered us support, information and guidance in supporting our daughter Maisie who has left hemiplegia.

A huge thank you to David Haldane, Freelance Cartoonist, who donated three black and white cartoons from Private Eye, and Tesco, Consett, Saks Chester le Street, Angels In the Attic, Imago Beauty & Holistics, The Glass & Art Gallery, The Derwent Manor Gym and Nestle for their kind contributions.

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Have a Cuppa for HemiHelp and Annie Coffee Morning, by Rochelle Shorrick

Coffee, cake and friends turned out to be the perfect ingredients for the ‘Have a Cuppa for HemiHelp and Annie’ coffee morning that was held on Thursday 4 June and Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue.

Annie is my much-loved two and half year old daughter who is the reason behind the event. She has mild left hemiplegia and my friend Melanie Arazi and I decided to hold an event to raise money for HemiHelp as they have been a great support to our family.

We worked hard to get all the refreshments and raffle prizes donated and ended up with lots of delicious pastries, cakes and fruit and some great prizes including a one night stay and breakfast at The Langham, London.

There were also lots of activities for the children as we combined with the Mother and Toddler group and they all had a great time while the adults took advantage of a cup of coffee. The guests also enjoyed the popular beauty lucky dip which was full of donated beauty products. annie

Over 50 people attended and we raised a massive £850 which shows the generosity of our friends and family. We were lucky to have another HemiHelp member and mother, Sarah Fisher, who talked to everyone about her experiences, which was very interesting.

Thanks to everyone at the HemiHelp office who sent balloons, leaflets and magazines and to everyone who gave time and money for such a great charity.

We really enjoyed organising the coffee morning and it was fantastic to see how much the adults and children enjoyed themselves and how much we’d raised for HemiHelp. We’ve already started talking about what we’ll do for the next fundraiser.

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Tea for 40, by Janet Jones

Benjamin is just two years old and was diagnosed with left sided hemiplegia last year. He is the most gorgeous, happy, funny and lovely little boy.

Hemihelp has been a great source of information and support to the whole family and we wanted to say thank you by fund raising with a Hemihelp tea party.

Scores of invitations went out – all provided in the Hemihelp pack – with details of our Just Giving website, so there was no excuse for not donating if guests couldn’t make the tea party!

Luckily we all enjoy baking and on the day the table groaned with sponges, fairy cakes and scones, along with lashings of cream and strawberries.

So many people were on holiday, but we were still hoping for about 40 guests….and then the afternoon arrived…and the black clouds were in abundance. It wasn’t the ideal summer day, but actually, the occasional rain brought people who didn’t know one another together as they gathered for shelter.

Any cakes left over from the tea party were taken to our various offices the next day to raise further funds.

We found everyone was interested to know more about Benjamin and we were able to educate so many more people about hemiplegia in the course of organising the event – donations arriving from sometimes unexpected sources.

It was a lot of hard work and planning, but we all had a lot of fun. We were amazed and delighted to have raised over £800 (including Gift Aid) and can only thank everyone for their kind generosity.

Benjamin started walking a few weeks before his second birthday and is now mastering one of the many hurdles of his life, but for us, he is just Ben, the grandson/son/nephew that the family all adore.

Coffee morning to celebrate 20 years of support of HemiHelp, by Andrea Dart

In March, parent member Andrea Dart held a Coffee Morning in Hinton Martell Village Hall to celebrate 20 years of support of HemiHelp

The event included stalls and a raffle, and parents had the opportunity to meet Charlie Hampshire, a yoga teacher who specialises in children with special needs. Charlie explained the benefits of yoga for children who have physical difficulties as well as children with behavioural and emotional problems. Andrea said “for me the highlight of the morning was meeting a grandmother who was wearing a HemiHelp badge and had made a real effort to attend the event in honour of her grandson who has hemiplegia. The event was a lot of fun and raised £350 for HemiHelp!”

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