We had 53 diners at our annual Christmas Lunch at the Yarrow Hotel, Broadstairs on Saturday 8th December.
Diners waiting for the first course to be served
We had an excellent meal, beautifully served by the staff of the hotel, who as ever were excellent.
During the course of the lunch Katy Styles MNDA Trustee awarded a 25 year award to Hazel Izzard (Watts) for her service to MNDA in East Kent over the past quarter century. Hazel has retired from our group and we gave her a beautiful bouquet in recognition of the incredible work she has done to support people living with MND in East Kent.
Hazel and Katy with Certificate Hazel with bouquet of flowers
As in previous years we had a superb raffle, with prizes being bought along by many diners and we had lots of fun drawing the raffle and the children present certainly had fun collecting various prizes.
Raffle prizes
We would like to thank the Yarrow Hotel and their wonderful staff, all raffle donors and everyone who attended for making it such a splendid lunch.
We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a good 2019.
We will be holding our third Coastal Walk to D’Feet MND on Saturday May 18th 2019.There will be three walks, the first from Whitstable to Broadstairs , the second from Birchington Minnis Bay to Broadstairs and the third from Margate to Broadstairs. All will end with refreshments at The Wrotham Arms, Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs.There is an entrance fee of £10 which includes a tee shirt (collected on the day), training program, detailed plan of walk, and full insurance. Only registered walkers can walk and they must wear the tee shirt for insurance purposes.Each walker is requested to find sponsorship to support people living with MND in East Kent. There is no obligation to raise sponsorship but all support is greatly appreciated.To register for the walk, please visit www.mnda-eastkent.org.uk/walk2019 , complete the form, then follow the link to Just Giving to pay your entry fee of £10. If you intend to set up your own JustGiving page, we are happy for you to do so. Please select MNDA as your charity and then please mention MNDA East Kent in your story to ensure that funds you raise are used for people living with MND in East Kent. Once you have set up your JustGiving Page, please link it to our team at www.justgiving.com/teams/coastalwalk2019/join so we can keep track of the total funds we raise.If you want to make a donation in support but not register please visit our Donations PageShould you experience any difficulties please email webmaster@mnda-eastkent.org.uk
The route is shown on the map above. Training programs for the walks, the Walk Plan, sponsorship forms, posters and flyers can be downloaded below:
During the academic year 2017-2018 Dover College elected MNDA East Kent as their Charity of the year. The charity was specifically chosen in memory of Ronnie Philpott, a much-loved member of staff at Dover College and former mayor of Dover.
During the year the school held many events, including a 15 mile whole school sponsored walk, ‘Whiskers for Ronnie’, ‘100 Mile Month’, themed non-uniform days, garden parties, cake sales and a host of other activities and events.
Staff, students and the parents together raised the amazing sum of £10,431.35 for MNDA in East Kent.
MNDA East Kent would like to thank everyone who worked to raise this money and everyone who contributed. This sum will be used to support people living with MND in East Kent, their carers and families.
The Headmaster Gareth Doodes, Laura Walters teacher of Art and Charity fundraising co-ordinator, and several students presented Clive Hudson chair of MNDA East Kent with a cheque on Monday 1st October 2018.
Huge thanks to the management and staff at the Botany Bay Hotel for raising the sum of £1000 for MNDA East Kent. This sum was raised from a football match, a quiz as well as counter collections
We would also like to thanks Shepherd Neame for their support and also for making the Botany Bay such a great place to visit and enjoy, especial thanks are due for accessibility to people with mobility problems.
Last but not least we thank all the customers of the Botany Bay Hotel whose generosity enabled this sum to be collected.
The picture below shows from left to right;
Clive Hudson – Chair MNDA East Kent, April Eames – Manager Botany Bay Hotel, Christine Smith – Guest, Lana Turner – Team Member and Steve Smith – Guest
The Wrotham Arms has raised almost £6000 since the start of 2015.
This money has been raised by a regular flow of events including the annual New Years Party, quizzes and the collection box.
East Kent MNDA would like to thank Jackie the manager of the Wrotham Arms, her sister Tracey and all the staff who work at the Wrotham Arms for their support over the years.
We would also like to thank Kenn Wards for organising the New Year Wired music sessions and all the musicians who have given so freely of their time to support MNDA.
Thanks also to Fairholt Rock Band and Kenn Wards for sales of their CDs which have contributed.
Quiz Masters quiz masters Geoff and Debbie Foreman have been brilliant, many many thanks.
Lastly but by no means least we would like to thank the customers of the Wrotham Arms for their continuing support and generosity.
East Kent MNDA is truly grateful to all of you. Thank you very much
The Wealden Business Group have supported MNDA East Kent throughout the past 2 years, organising 3 major fundraisers, as well as weekly collections.
More than 60 people attended a race night in the Little Silver Hotel. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and raised a considerable sum for MNDA in East Kent.
A Murder Mystery Evening at Little Silver Country Hotel in Tenterden. The case was The Curse of the Willoughby Diamond. The evening started with champagne followed by an excellent 3 course meal to die for!! During the meal the actors presenting the murder mystery developed the plot of the murder and murder w
Clive Hudson MNDA – Martin Tickner WBG
as indeed committed.
The Black Tie dinner and charity auction held at The Little Silver Country Hotel, Tenterden on Saturday (17 March) raised more than £4,000. The event, which included a fizz reception, auction of promises and disco was in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The dinner marked the culmination of two years of fundraising for MNDA by the Wealden Business Group.
The grand sum raised by these events was £10,579.81 which was presented to Clive Hudson, Chairman of MNDA East Kent Group on April 18th, by Martin Tickner.
MNDA East Kent would like to thank the members of Wealden Business Group for their generosity and support.
Silence Speaks is the Association’s activity to raise awareness of speech loss in over 80 % of people living with MND. During October people take up the challenge of raising awareness of the issue by running a variety of events, these include sponsored silences, silent discos, silent quizzes and lots more.
Chrissie Batts, East Kent Hospital Trust’s Specialist Nurse undertakes outreach to hospital
Katy Styles Mark Styles Chrissie Batts and Judy Keay
staff at all three trust hospitals to raise awareness of the support people living with MND will need with their carers should they attend or stay in hospital.
As part of this programme, Chrissie together with Judy Keay, Association Visitor Coordinator and Katy and Mark Styles went to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate on Friday 20th October to explain about motor neurone disease but with the added pressure of doing this silently. These awareness activities are held weekly within all three hospitals and staff from all departments are encouraged to pop in and see the presentations on those days.
Chrissie Batts Mark Styles and Judy Keay
Together Chrissie, Judy, Mark and Katy had downloaded type to speech apps on iPhones and iPads, creating key phrases to explain what we were doing and what help people in hospital with MND many need. We used pads and pens, laminated letter sheets and pre-printed leaflets from the Association.
We met staff from all different departments with very different duties who were all very interested to learn about speech loss in MND. Staff said that as we were not speaking it made them not want to speak. Others commented that it was really important to highlight this issue and asked what they could do to support someone with MND.
During the session, Katy Styles awarded Chrissie with an MND Association Extra Mile Award
Sally Smith and Chrissie Batts
for her dedication to supporting the people living with MND in East Kent. Extra Mile awards are awarded to staff who have gone above and beyond to support people living with MND, their families and carers. Katy had pre-recorded a short speech to explain to Chrissie why she was receiving the Award. The Chief Nurse, from the East Kent Hospital University and Foundation Trust, Sally Smith attended the presentation and congratulated Chrissie.
Mark Styles receiving The Gold Charity Mark from Barbara Martin
The Kent Messenger Charity Group held their annual forum at The Mercure Great Danes Hotel in Maidstone on Friday 13th October. The forum recognised work of charities and schools for their hard work and dedication.
Mark styles attended from The East Kent Group of MNDA, who are the Kentish Gazette Charity of the Year 2017.
Mark Styles collecting an award on behalf of Clive Hudson from Barbara Martin
MNDA East Kent was awarded A Gold Charity Mark Award, which was received on our behalf by Mark Styles.
Mark also collected a Brain and Brawn Triathlon Award on behalf of Clive Hudson, who for health reasons was unable to be present on the day.
Mnda East Kent would like to thank KM Charity Team and the KM Group for all the support we have received during 2017 as Kentish Gazette Charity of the Year.
On Monday 9th October I attended morning assembly at Dover College to talk about motor neurone disease and the MNDA.
The college had lost a much loved member of staff to MND and the students have decided to support MNDA through the school year and many events are planned.
The presentation was about MND/Kennedy’s Disease, and how the MNDA supports people and families affected by these diseases.
The presentation focussed on the celebrities the student might know of, who support MNDA such as Professor Stephen Hawking, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charlotte Hawkins, Eddie Redmayne and Stuart Broad.
Also featured were inspirational people living with MND/Kennedy’s Disease, who do everything they can to raise awareness of MND and to raise funds for MNDA. People like Mark Styles who was instrumental in getting Kent County Council to be the first council to sign the MNDA Charter, Jason Liversedge who despite being in a wheel chair managed to ascend Snowdon and also to abseil off the Humber Bridge and EyeGazeArtist, Sarah Ezekial who creates wonderful works of art using only her eyes.
Thanks to students and staff at Dover College for supporting MNDA and we look forward to hearing about your future activities.
