Warm Festival 2013 Roundup

The Warm Festival 2013

By Jack Daniels

On Sunday 11th August 2013 The Steve Charles Help a Friend had its 4th annual “Warm Festival” at The Borough Gardens in Dorchester. The event is not only a day to make more people aware of the Charity but also to remember absent friends who are no longer with us, such as Steve Charles & Julian Slade.

This year the team climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for The Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund came along to run stalls and activities to help with fund raising.

The sun shone and the gardens were packed with nearly 1000 people all enjoying the live music. The day went amazingly well with over £2000 being raised for the charity.

Since Sunday we have also had people requesting help from the charity, so as an awareness day it was a great success as well.

The Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund now has funds available to anybody from Dorchester and the surrounding villages who are seriously ill and need a little extra help, and to aid in giving people a better quality of life.

You can apply for help by emailing help@hafhaf.co.uk

The next event will be The Hecklers Ball on Good Friday 2014. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

Click here to sponsor Jack:

We Thought Golden Cap Was The Hard Bit

By Jaime Burton

So I haven't been out walking for a while, so I text Jack to ask if he fancies a stroll. We end up walking Charmouth to West Bay!

Tim brings some friends along to join us on this mammoth task. I joke beforehand and ask "can we run up any hills?". Rule number 2 is no running according to Tim... I've yet to learn what rule number 1 is!

So we set off and it's a gorgeous sunny day and a very enjoyable start. Jack is not happy unless it hurts. So he starts to run up some of the hills!! Now he is showing me up so I attempt to catch up. I manage it but my legs are seriously burning.

We make it to the top of Golden Cap and have a short rest before continuing to West Bay. We thought Golden Cap was the hard bit....it wasn't really, it was the next 3 hills!!! Yet more running up the hills from Jack and speedy walking from Tim long legs.

We eventually make it to West Bay and head to the pub for a shandy. It was an amazing training walk and we really are so lucky to live by the coast. I never appreciated it before this challenge! I would love to arrange this walk for everyone as it's a real good one.

By the way Lee and I had a great day on Sunday at the Warm Festival. We aimed at keeping children busy (and adults) by luring them in with Lego! I build boards for a knight race game and a pirate v shark game. Plus we sold soft drinks, sweets and craft items.

Thank you to everyone who supported us. I think everyone had a fantastic day. We were pleased to provide the winner of our golden bucket with £55 which was a good return for their £1 entry!

We had some lovely words from people wishing all the Kili team the best of luck and it was lovely.

This challenge is getting closer now and very real. I best get on and buy some new boots soon as I don't think mine are going to make it! Until next time ...

Click here to sponsor Jaime:

New Joiners, Fundraising, Appendicitis and Training

Carole in a kit bag!

By Jaime Burton

So we have all been a little quiet for a while now but we are all really busy preparing for the climb! We had a meeting recently to discuss arrangements. We met in the Chalk and Cheese as Ally Murray is now joining us on our climb. Jack brought along a duffle bag which we need to fit all our kit in and to prove how big it really was, Carole kindly got inside it!

We are all trying to fit walks in as much as possible in-between our day jobs and busy family lives. We have some great events coming up to help raise funds for our climbs.  I have a Christmas Party on Friday 13th December at the Corn Exchange. I am also holding a cake stall at work on Friday 13th September. Carole Landon is holding a Wine Tasking Night at Panini's on Friday 13th September. We also had the annual Warm Festival in Borough Gardens on Sunday 11th August.

Lee and I still have some kit to buy and have spent a few hours looking through eBay for those bargains!

Back at the end of May a number of the group went Kingston Country Courtyard for an excellent hike followed by wine tasting. We walked from Corfe Castle to Swanage and there were some amazing coastal views. We rushed back in a taxi, then had a quick shower and change ready for wine tasting! A great night was had by all.

The Lillingtons and the Burtons went on a camping weekend and also managed a hike to Golden Cap early one morning, so training is never far from our minds!

We currently have a poorly climber...Donna who has had her appendix out. We are all wishing her the very best and hope she is back on her feet soon and climbing up the hills. Before her operation Donna held a fantastic Quiz night in the Colliton Club. I believe she raised around £500 for the cause and again we all had an amazing night..

Jane has now moved back from France and will be joining us on our training walks. She is also undertaking a half marathon in Cardiff in September, again raising money for the Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund. I am attempting some training runs with her and wish her the best of luck. Go Jane!

Al Murray is getting waxed to raise his funds...that's got to hurt!! Good Luck Al, I saw how hairy your chest was! Ouch!

So we are all really busy working towards raising lots of money for our amazing local Charity - The Steve Charles Help A Friend Fund.

Click here to sponsor Jaime:

Update From Lee Burton

By Lee Burton

Things have gone a little quiet at the moment but various fundraising events are popping up.

Moby's in Weymouth have started collecting 10p from every pint of guest ale sold until the end of the year.

Moby's is also the venue for our quiz night on 8th May - starts at 8pm.  Teams are a maximum of 6 people, £5 a head including nibbles.  Come and test your knowledge.


Click here to sponsor Lee Burton:

The Race Night

By Lee Burton

Saturday night saw the 'Race Night' (16th March 2013) which was held at Weymouth Football Club.  Weymouth Football club kindly let us have the venue for free!!

The event was supported by another charity team, the Windy 500 crew, who despite an offer of some of the money, turned it down leaving the pot all to ourselves.  They supplied the horse models and knowledge and Spooky Blackmore’s expertise with the horse racing.  A raffle was also held with a large number of prizes donated by people and local businesses.  The night was a success and we left at the end of the evening with a grand total of £894.00.

I have been busy organising the link between the charity and another local fundraising project, Scarlett’s Starletts – Scarlett is a 9 month old girl from Weymouth who has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  Her parents are fundraising to purchase a special physio machine which will prolong her life by clearing the build up of fluids and mucus on a daily basis.  The fund has donated £500.00 towards their efforts and I am pleased to say they have almost reached the £8,500.00 required to buy the machine.

There is currently a raffle being run amongst the wargaming community which has some top notch prizes. This will also hopefully see some local clubs running some little events to pass us some £££!!!

Nicki's Hairdressers of Maud Road Dorchester are also running their regular charity raffle on behalf of the fund this year so Clan Burton are tapping into as many sections of the community as possible ;-)

As for training we have both managed some training sessions but sadly none together, due to work and little people so far we have to share training dates.  I am combining my training with some friends who are working towards three peaks this year so should see some more training time.  I have been dribbling over new kit and purchased a new jacket to replace my buffalo which has served me well for years but far too warm to keep up with Mr Daniels.

Click here to sponsor Lee:

Horse Racing Night

By Lee Burton

As you know this year a group of us are raising awareness of the charity in a bid to help more local people in need. We will be fundraising for a year and to round off the event we are dragging our butts up that small hill known as Kilimanjaro.

To add to the events we have a Race Night on March 16th at Weymouth Football Club from 7:30pm, run in conjunction with the Windy 500 guys 'n' gals who are letting us take all the proceeds from this event.  Not a DVD in sight, a more hands on horse racing affair with the usual compulsory raffle.

The evening will give you the opportunity to own your own race horse (for a few minutes. It's not a real one, so no stabling fees), to race your horse against others, to bet on the outcome and win cash prizes. There will also be a raffle with some excellent prizes to be won.

Tickets are £1.00 each but no need to be present for the draw on the night, apart from missing a good night!

Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

Click here to sponsor Lee: