Candelit Carol Concert The first MVMF Carol Concert was a magical pre-Christmas affair held at St. Stephens Walbrook Church in the City of London, and saw the fund raise in excess of £10,000. Hosted by Richard Stilgoe, the majority of the program featured a series of spellbinding performances from the world renowned choral group, the Vasari Singers; as well as a host of seasonal readings from fund-raisers, Charities we have supported, and a showstopping poem from actor Bob Hoskins.
The mix of young and old carollers dug deep to purchase tickets, Christmas cards and make donations which helped the fund achieve the fantastic total. After the huge success of 2009's concert, it is looking like this could become an annual event, so watch this space!
Land's End to John O'Groats - Phil's Cycling Challenge In May 2010, Phil Hughes, a friend that Michael made during his teaching days, is taking on the phenomenal challenge of cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats, in aid of the fund.
He has set himself the target of completing the route in just 10 days, which works out at 100 miles per 24hr period, and on some days, this distance is accompanied by a total climb of 9500 feet.
Such a superhuman effort should not go unrewarded, so please get behind both Phil and the MVMF. You can sponsor him via the link below:
http://www.justgiving.com/Phil-Hughes-MV
A Card with a Conscience The Michael Varah Memorial Fund’s 2009 Christmas cards demonstrated first hand the success of one of the projects we have worked with and continue to fund.
14 women serving time at HMP Send participate in a rehabilitative artwork course, funded entirely by the MVMF and facilitated by the Watts Gallery. The MVMF funds an Artist in Residence who runs the class for the women and provides guidance and support.
We approached the women and invited them to paint images that could be selected for the MVMF Christmas cards for 2009. >From a strong field, two were selected and were sold in London and the South East.
Fine Cell Work Support : The Times & MVMF Our flagship grant of 2007/08, Fine Cell Work, has been selected as one of The Times' three Christmas charities for 2009. This is a fantastic opportunity for Fine Cell Work to grow, affording them the opportunity to work with more prisoners, providing them with the support and opportunities they need to help them on their release from prison. The Times will run 7 or 8 stories on Fine Cell Work over the coming months, including case studies, in order to attract donations from readers of The Times.
The trustees of the Michael Varah Memorial Fund have agreed to part match the funding offered by The Times, to help Fine Cell Work with new projects (more details coming soon), and also to continue the support and maintenance of their website for the next three years. We are delighted to be involved with such a fantastic project and look forward to the progress that the MVMF and the readers of the Times can help Fine Cell Work achieve
To view a copy of the first article in The Times (with a mention for the Michael Varah Memorial Fund), please visit the following link
Fine Cell Work charity helps prisoners stitch together their torn lives
Yukon River Quest: In June 2009 ‘London Pride’ (Nick Ball, Ed Bevan, Chris Bucknall, Rob Kinder, Will Kinder, Ben Thompson and Paul Tomlinson) plus Support Team (Nicky Morris) took part in the Yukon River Quest in Canada and raised an astonishing £5,500 for the MVMF.
The YRQ is the longest non—stop canoe race in the world. The race took place on the Yukon, high up in the Canadian wilderness. They paddled day and night for 465 miles, completing the journey in 50 hours and 120,000 paddle strokes. They competed in a 30 foot long open Canadian canoe. It was a massive physical and mental challenge, navigating the rough waters of the Yukon whilst avoiding (for the most part) exhaustion, hypothermia, bears and all manner of other pitfalls along the way.
The MVMF are more grateful than we can express to London Pride for choosing us as their charity, and for going after the fundraising with such zeal alongside their training schedule. THANK YOU!
Masquerade May Ball 2009: Our second Ball was a tremendous success with 320 guests joining together to raise a phenomenal £35,000 for the Fund. We were privileged to once again have Freya Mitton of Sotheby’s as our auctioneer, and comedienne Josie Long as our host and MC.
Auction Lots included a beautiful villa sleeping 12-18 in Lombok, Bali, VIP tickets to The X-Factor and Michael Jackson, a trip on a BA Flight Simulator and a day’s off-roading with Landrover. Huge thanks to all our sponsors and in particular The Brewery at Chiswell Street in the City of London — who once again supported the entire event by providing the venue and staff. We couldn’t do it without their generous and skilful help. Particular thanks to General Manager Maria Duddin.
Publication of our first Annual Review The MVMF had much to report in its first Annual Review for 2007/8. For a pdf copy of our annual review, click here. Headlines include:
- Raising a fantastic £60,000 for the charity in one year
- Sourcing seven groundbreaking projects and helping 500+ individual lives
- Innovating 5 fundraising UK events and galvanising over 700 supporters to attend
- Inspiring over 40 companies to support our work through donations or in-kind support
- Securing column inches via 8 articles in local press and 2 live radio interviews
- Remembering Michael’s compassion, integrity, and belief in change, in everything we do in his name
Cycling from London to Brighton 2009: For the second year running, Kerry Osborne donned her lycra and headed from London to Brighton on a rusty bike in aid of the MVMF. She made it in time for lunch, and again raised over £500. Huge congratulations — Michael in particular would be hugely proud of this untypical Herculean effort!
Cycle for Michael 2009: Georgina Cooper and her merry band cycled for miles and miles across hill and dale in Yorkshire for the THIRD year running to raise just over £1500 for the MVMF – a record year! Georgina is to be congratulated as our most successful under 20s fundraiser: thanks George!
Great Sloth Run 2008: Congratulations to James, Priya and Nicky who overcame sloth and summer indulgence to run 10km in the Brighton 10k in August 2008. Between them they raised a fantastic £1000.
Cornish Walk 2008: Five men, women and an intrepid toddler walked 18 miles of sun—drenched coastline in September 2008 to raise a stunning £1750 for the MVMF. Huge thanks to Laura and Matt Giles who donated the use of their Cornwall home and organized the entire weekend faultlessly.