Ocean Stars Blog 2013 : FUND RAISING EFFORTS BY THE TEAM MEMBERS

FUND RAISING TARGET £5000

LUCY HUMPHREY'S FUND RAISING DAY

On July 7th 2013, I had a 'Fun Day' at my home. The idea started out as just having a 'Pamper Evening' for some friends and family members, but it soon grew into a full day for everyone.

I wanted to do something a little bit different, compared to a cake stall or car boot sale. A family friend had a similar charity day last year during the summer, which gave us the original idea. The day started at 2pm through until the evening and included fun games and events such as:

-Raffle.

-Bingo.

-Guess The Teddy Bear's Birthday.

-How Many Sweets In The Jar.

-Guess The Weight Of The Cheesecake.

-Face Paints.

-Nail Painting.

-Table Tennis.

-Snooker.

And much more.

Thankfully, all the prizes were donated by friends and family. We had food and drinks inside, with donation pots dotted aroundcc.

We also sold some homemade jewelry, cards, bookmarks and other items, which my mum (Chris Terry) and I made ourselves.

We couldn't have asked for better weather and it was a lovely day, with lots of brilliant memories with friends and family.

Together we raised £303.26.

Thank you to everyone.

Lucy Humphrey :)

LONDON TO BRIGHTON BIKE RIDE

On Sunday 16th June, a group of 18 cycling-enthusiasts ventured to Clapham Common for the 2013 London-Brighton bike ride. The day began with a pre-5:00 am wake-up call and the majority of riders congregated at Calthorpe Park School to load the bikes into the hired van and to get onto the minibus to Clapham for our scheduled 7:30am start.

By the time the team had arrived in Clapham and were set up to begin it was just after 8:00 am, this was still however over an hour earlier than last year, with the hope to leave Brighton before dark this year!

As expected, the first 16 miles were predominantly stop-start, partly due to the army of cyclists attempting to compete with London traffic, but also the sheer amount of cyclists participating, estimated at 28,500, undoubtedly meant initial slow progress. This was naturally a little frustrating, but perhaps it’s a good way to ease the cyclists into the challenges ahead!

Part of the attraction of the ride is all the numerous rest stops along the route, which transcend through quaint villages in rural areas to larger towns, yet for this special day the locals come out in force to cheer the cyclists and offer a wide variety of refreshments, which the majority gladly consume. It is this sense of a community atmosphere that marks the London to Brighton bike ride out and is surely a reason why it regularly has such a high number of participants.

The OST riders all went off at differing paces, but the challenge of the infamous Ditchling Beacon remained an inevitability, with some managing to cycle the 1 mile-long assent but it is certainly no mean feat to walk up the hill (known as the Sussex Everest), which is arguably more strenuous for the body!

After Ditchling begins the 7 miles descent into Brighton, which for the earlier riders was managed relatively quickly, however a few notable crashes from other riders, considerably delayed some OST riders by up to an hour and a half.

However all of the OST cyclists arrived safe and sound, if a little achey, with a united sense of achievement and relief. The earliest OST riders arrived at 14:00 with the last arriving at 17:30, so a very commendable effort from the whole team.

We were so fortunate to have minimal rain despite the gloomy forecast and were lucky to arrive in Brighton to the sight of bright blue skies with the Sun’s glare off the sea, which only added to feelings of euphoria for completing the bike ride.

The OST team has successfully raised over the target of £1500 and should therefore be very proud not just of completing the ride but for the fact that the money raised will go along way to supporting the communities in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

CURRY EVENING

Just when we began to wonder if people would come out for this years' curry night, we then thought we may run out of curry! (Well, no, run out of curry - never! ) We had such a brilliant evening, if you weren't there you really did miss out!

Our fantastic, dedicated team did - as usual- a tremendous job. Everyone made light work of cooking, (special thanks to Baba whose expertise was invaluable) setting up and clearing away. Andrew and Danny made short work of the washing up much to the relief and gratitude of everyone! Thanks too, to those who made curries of various varieties that were so delicious.

The comments received afterwards were very encouraging and we are so thankful to all who made it so rewarding, not least when we recall who it was we were doing this event for. It is such a privilege to be part of this amazing life changing work for people who have so much less than ourselves and yet to be blessed so much when we take up the invitation to be of service to them.

Maybe we should hold two curry nights a year?...............mmmm ....now where did I buy those curry leaves?

SLUGG WALK 2013

The SLUGG walk held on Monday 22 nd July 2013, organised by Calthorpe Park Student Senior Leadership Team (including our own member Sameena Ramsden) raised £1250 for Ocean Stars.