After about four or five months of organising, we finally held our first ever charity event in aid of Isabel Hospice on Sunday 23rd June at The Nigel Copping Building in Stanstead Abbotts.
All thirty two people that booked the event attended, and the room was full of smiling faces and a genuine sense of everyone being there for something good. Even expectant new arrivals were kindly born before time to allow their new nan and grandads to still come along — if only for the rest!!!
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The Yoga Class
We wanted the focus of the afternoon to be remembering loved ones no longer with us, but to also take time to appreciate the ones that still are.
Vicky got the yoga class underway, and set everyone’s intention to focus on loved ones — then put everyone through a more energetic class involving lots of heart and chest openers, knowing Dipika’s gong bath was going to be your relaxation.
The Gong Bath
After a short break (to let the room cool down!) Dipika got her gong bath underway with a guided meditation, and then onto what many of you described as more of a “journey” than a gong bath. It was fantastic, and we’ve had so much good feedback on Dipika’s behalf.
We can’t thank her enough for giving us her time — it made the afternoon.
We will have news of a few Vicky/Dipika collaborations each year soon too…
The Raffle
The raffle got started (late of course) with Trixie Nevitt drawing the first name out for the Liforme mat, and then we soon started rattling through the prizes.
Winners tended to come from lots of the same people in the room (incredibly Vicky’s sister and Dipika were the main culprits, understandably to cries of “fix” — you couldn’t make it up!!!) Plenty of prizes also went to people from our regular classes, and it was nice to give prizes to people at Monday and Tuesday’s classes — it took part of the afternoon into the week for Vicky and myself.
What It Meant To Us
While the money raised for the event was for the Isabel Hospice, Vicky and myself hoped that the class might make you realise that you’re not alone in dealing with grief as we know so many of you that came along to classes have been affected in one way or another, even if it was just the general sense of good will within the room helped a little bit.
It’s hard to get across how it felt for us to see so many people come together. To hear so much chatter and good feeling throughout the whole afternoon. From relative yoga “newbies”, to people and teachers we’d never met before and also the people we’ve known for years, even some family…
Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
The afternoon was a whirlwind for us, and it went by so quick but we’ll never forget it. If we missed talking to any of you on the day, or saying goodbye it wasn’t intentional!
We just want to say how much we have appreciated your encouragement and support since starting classes together last October, and your kind words and gestures since Sunday really do make (what hasn’t been easy at times) everything feel worthwhile.
The amount raised from the afternoon wasn’t raised by Vicky and myself, we just gave our time. The money was raised by everyone that contributed in some way no matter how much, and whether you were there for the event or not.
We All Raised
£2,128
The actual final amount for Isabel Hospice will be more around £2,557.
Breakdown
| Class Tickets | £800 |
| Raffle | £946 |
| Charity Pot | £81.50 |
| Just Giving | £301.25 |
| Total | £2128.75 |
£2,128 could pay for...
- 26 Patients to visit our Living Well Hub for a day
- 16 Supportive therapy sessions such as physiotherapy or occupational therapy
- 14 Clinical Nurse Specialists to visit a patient at home
- 3 Nurses to care for a patient through the night at our In-Patient Unit
- £650 Will sponsor the Isabel Hospice nursing team to care for a patient through the night at their In-Patient Unit
- £140 Will pay for a Clinical Nurse Specialist to visit a patient at Home
- £123 Will pay for a supportive therapy sessions such as physiotherapy or occupational therapy
- £84 Will pay for a patient to visit the Isabel Hospice Living Well Hub for a day
- £50 Will fill a car with petrol for a nurse to visit patients at home
- £25 Will pay for 1 hour of care
- £10 Could pay for 3 specially prepared meals a day for a patient at the Isabel Hospice In-Patient Unit, who may not have been tempted to eat for a while because they have felt too poorly.
Tuesday’s Hospice Visit
We drove over the hospice on Tuesday afternoon to meet with Linda Cudmore who we’d been in contact with once we were a few months into organising the event. We also spoke to the new head of the unit Andie.</p>
We were so pleased to present the cheque, but it was strange being back at the hospice for both of us, especially when we met a few of the nurses we knew. The hospice was very grateful though, and I’m sure it will sink in for us when we look back at everything later on…
We were also really pleased to get a few photos with Carla and Joanne who’d cared for Vicky’s mum while she was at the Hospice.
Companies Raffle Donations
We just want to say, as it’s easy to take for granted, that the majority of money raised has come from raffle tickets, which wouldn’t have existed without the kind donations from all the (mostly) yoga related companies. If you did win something, please send them a thank you or share your prize on social media if you use it, they really would appreciate it.
Finally, all we can say, is thank you all so very, very much for being part of such a wonderful afternoon.
