Thank you to the family and friends of Caleb Kennedy. Sadly, Caleb died from a severe heart problem at the end of 2005 however Caleb’s family set up a page on Justgiving so they could help other people in similar situations.
£2,065 was donated and with the Gift Aid, a total of £2,568 was raised. The Association would like to say thank you to all the family and friends of Caleb for their support, especially at what was a very difficult time.
A big thank you to Katie Edwards and all those who took part in the charity Spinathon at LA Fitness Northfield in Birmingham. The event was a great success and has raised over £1500 for the Association. It certainly looked like hard work but well done to you all.
A big thank you to all of you who support the Association every day by raising funds, provide assistance at events and help us get our name and services out to those who need it.
Special thanks to a couple of recent fundraisers on our Justgiving pages. Rosie Nagle recently walked up the three highest peaks in the UK and has raised over £1,000. Thanks also to Shaun Benfield who competed in the Ironman UK event and raised over £500.
So, if you’d like to support our supporters or would like to raise sponsorship yourself, visit our Justgiving pages.
February 12th 2006 saw the beginning of Children’s Heart Week. The www.childrens-heart-fed.org.uk and its member groups, including the Children’s Heart Association organised a week of exciting events to raise awareness and funds to support the needs of heart children and their families.
You can read more in our feature here.
Thank you to Kevin and Barry Wilkinson who have again been raising funds and awareness for the Association. In December 2005 they took part in the Grim Challenge, a gruelling 8 mile off-road challenge. You can visit their website atwww.stacey-louise.co.uk.
Photos by ProSportPhotos
Members of the Association joined each other at Jodrell Bank observatory near Mancheser on the 12th November. It was a very enjoyable day.
It was cold but bright and sunny on Saturday, 12th November for our Children’s Heart Association trip to Jodrell Bank. The attraction here is the radio telescope and the visitor centre.
We met just after 11a.m. and looked around the small gift shop and the hands-on exhibition area. The displays included feeling the weight of baked beans cans on Jupiter, the Moon and the Earth and also drawing lines in a star shape by looking at it in a mirror. For the adults the science was explained and it was of interest on several levels.
Our f
irst arranged event was a talk by Eric. This took place outside so it was rather cool but Eric gave a very lively performance and kept us all amused. We were near the giant telescope and heard how Bernard Lovell (later Sir Bernard) had it built and tracked the first Russian rockets into space. It led the way then and today it is still at the forefront of space exploration following a refit.
Then it was inside to the 3D theatre where we went on a voyage to Mars. Wearing our special glasses we travelled through space and then flew close to the surface of Mars. Our guide pointed out the volcanic area in the north and a vast canyon that runs around much of the planet. Finally we landed at our space hotel on Mars. Again Eric was on hand and it was obvious that he loves entertaining visitors with facts and figures about the stars and planets.
By now we were all feeling quite hungry and ready for lunch in the Space Café. All the food is freshly cooked so we had to wait a while but there was a good choice of dishes and everyone was happy with their chosen meal: especially Jennifer Picton, who took great delight in biting the heads off her turkey dinosaurs! We sat and chatted for a while and then went outside for a walk.
We followed the path that goes partly round the telescope and were interested to see it being manoeuvred into a different position by a technician in a building nearby. He also receives all the information from the telescope. Birds of prey settle in the frame that supports the telescope and fly out to catch pigeons. We saw a kestrel flying around with a pigeon in its talons and Jordan took a photo of it. Finally we went to the children’s play area and the arboretum before ending our visit to Jodrell Bank.
Carol Shaw
If you would like to know more about the Jodrell Bank Observatory, please visit its website at www.jb.man.ac.uk.