Another successful party!

The lovely Sherry Secker has written this blog about her very successful Cake Time Party in Claygate.  I'm sure it will inspire many to consider hosting a party.  Thank you Sherry for your enthusiasm, energy and hard work!

Thanks so much for asking me to post on your Cake Time blog about our Cake Time event, although truth be told, it nearly didn't happen! I'd been emailing my editor friend at Essential Esher about putting the article in her magazine which has a reach throughout Claygate and Esher, and hadn't heard back from her and was beginning to think "actually, maybe we won't do it", when I heard the post arrive and it was the Essential Esher with a fantastic spread about the Cake Time event. That was it - I was confirmed!

My husband, William's godfather, encouraged me to get on with it and with a few brilliant sparks from him, I was off!! Vistaprint kindly offered to print 1,000 invites for me at a very good rate, how could I refuse - we were going BIG!

The aim of the day was going to be more of a family fun day where we could appreciate time together as families, but also help make time for Harrison. As the word spread, the generosity of people was overwhelming. People were offering cakes and help, left, right and centre and the day would not have been even half as successful without them. I really felt like the community came together so beautifully and were really touched by Harrison's story and of course the bravery of Alex and Donna (Harrison's mum and dad).


I hoped to raise £500, but through the generosity of everyone who came along, raised £700! I was so nervous on the day, not knowing how many to expect, so as people started rolling in, I was so pleased and relieved!! I loved organising it and will definitely organise one again next year! My biggest laugh, having my husband and 2 friends on face painting duties! My biggest fear, the outcome of three 4 year olds bidding on a box of cup cakes which eventually sold for £15! There were two very unhappy children!

A brilliant day, and we are looking forward to organising the next one (not over half term though please!!). For now, however, we're onto the next big fundraiser for Harrison - recycling!! Yes - your old toothpaste tubes, tooth brushes and baby food pouches are worth money to Harrison's Fund - and it won't even cost you a penny! See our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/RecyclingForHarrisonsFund) for more details or email me at recycleforharrison@gmail.com. And while we're at it, collecting empty baby wet wipe packets for Ellie's Fund too (http://www.facebook.com/elliesfundbabywipecollection) - because we're friendly like that and it helps save the planet ;-) !

See you next year!

Sherry

x

We're loving the recycling project, so come on get involved, help save the planet and Duchenne boys  maketime.........

And another party!

Another party in Salisbury, lasting the whole day, did fantastically well.  This is the write up and photo, thank you Di and Nicki, Harrison's Great Auntie and Granny, Amah, spreading awareness and raising a brilliant amount too.  We all appreciate the enthusiasm and effort needed to make these parties a success!

"My sister Di, put on a cake time party last Saturday in her home near Salisbury. She had a coffee and cake in the morning and tea and cake in the afternoon. I took all my crafty bits down as well. We had a steady stream of people come through all day and while the total wasn't as big as some of the cake time parties, I think we did quite well. Di took over £150.00 and I took £147.00, so nearly £300.00. She had worked very hard to make it a good day and even had her laptop set up for people to see Alex and Donna's video at home telling them about Harrison which I thought was brilliant, so the people knew exactly what it was all about.  I did take a photo, but unfortunately it was only my stall, but I have still attached it for you. I didn't think to take photos of the cake time parties. It was a most enjoyable day."

From an autumnal Salisbury we are jetting off to the balmy warmth of Dubai where Harrison's Auntie Kate hosted an outdoor cake time party with the Dubai Netball League at the Emirates Sevens Stadium on the 7th November . (Please blow some of the warm air this way)

Auntie Kate is amazing, she has set herself the challenge of swimming around "The World" islands in Dubai to raise £20,000 for Harrison's Fund.  That is a swim of 25km, an ultra marathon which will take at least 10 hours to complete in jelly fish infested waters!  She is now ready, fully trained and fit to take on the challenge which will start at dawn on the 21st November, a week today!  Please read all about her challenge here . You can also see a map of her route here  If you use Twitter please follow her, @swimaroundworld, and give her lots of support before her epic and very scary challenge.  Don't forget, you can sponsor her here

More parties and photos tomorrow, don't forget it's not too late to have a party, nobody wants to be a party pooper!!

Party Party & more Parties

The Cobham Cake & Craft Party

Thanks to Andy Robinson's tireless efforts, this turned out to be a brilliant event, with everyone having loads of fun as these photos show.







  An amazing £3400 was raised, in part due to matched funds from Barclays Bank.  Thank you Andy, a real Harrison's Hero!

Mug painting

Face Painting

Tattoos

Doughnut dipping

Every sort of cake imaginable for sale

Plus handmade gifts for every occasion

Party, Party, Party....

There have been some brilliant parties happening around the globe, so this week we're going to give you a little flavour of them. As you'll probably soon be thinking why didn't I hold one, we'll just remind you it's not too late and all the information is here and a fundraisers' pack can be on it's way to you in a flash! 
 
Pearlfisher, an award winning design company that created the branding for Harrison's Fund, held the first fundraiser when the charity launched at the beginning of the year in their own inimitable style. Having produced a brilliant cake time party fundraiser's pack that many of you have received, they, of course, decided to hold their own style of party!  Have a look at the pics below...
Big thank you to Pearlfisher, doing it in style, as always.
 

 

 
 
 

 

Another great party held last week was in Essendon, Hertfordshire.  Christabel, has known Harrison's Dad, Alex, since he was 4 and we're sure can tell a few interesting tales.  Of course, she was very keen to support Harrison's Fund and loved the idea of holding a Cake Time Party and inviting both  her friends and the local community.  She raised an absolutely amazing £1030 and really enjoyed the morning, these are her words below although the part that really made us giggle has been put in italics.

 

Essendon Harrison's Cake Time Party

I am so excited to let you know that we raised £1030, including donations from people who could not attend, for my Cake Time Party, held at my home in Essendon, Hertfordshire.

It was so lovely to open my home to friends and neighbours who all entered into the spirit of things fantastically making such a fun morning. People arrived armed with all sorts of cakes and biscuits, items for the bring and buy and presents for the raffle. I had so many generous donations for the raffle including a voucher from our local beauty salon and even a two tickets for a Buddy Holly tribute evening at our local nursery. Those who arrived early were given jobs and I had two brilliant helpers on the coffee side of things and the washing up afterwards! How could you ever manage without such willing volunteers.

Lots of chatter and laughter filled my home and we even had two very brave men arrive late, during the raffle draw, who I managed to pull inside, fleece them of their money, give them some cake and they quickly gave their best wishes and left much to the dismay of my naughty ladies who thought I had provided entertainment!!

I am so grateful to all who came to support Harrison's Fund, for their generosity and spirit, it was a lovely, happy morning.

 

Thank you, Christabel, and your lovely helpers and visitors, sounds like a fabulous fun morning.

 

There will be more about the parties in the next few days so look out for new posts.

 

Make Time for Cake Time or Cake Time to Make Time....

One day to Cake Time Party week!

More updates today and some reminders of where you can support Cake Time Party over the weekend but first a little moment in life from Alex and Harrison that touches our hearts and makes us all work harder at raising funds and hope more people will join us in our race to make time for this generation of Duchenne boys.

"Last night Harrison asked me, 'Daddy, why do we need Harrison's Fund, I don't understand?'
...Cue palpitations and mild panic...

'Well, you know how you take medicine for your poorly muscles?

.... 'Yeah daddy...'

'Harrison's Fund is there to raise money to try and help make your muscles better and all the other children like you'

'...Oh, okay then'

'You know you can ask me any questions you want, any time?'

'...Yeh, that's cool Daddy'

Convo ends and life goes on, but it won't be too long till the questions get harder. Stay little please H!"

 

We'd love to see you

 

In Cobham, Surrey, Village Hall 3rd Nov, 10.30-12.30 Cakes, Crafts & lots of childrens' activities.

10 -12 am 2nd November John Hampden Primary School, Thame, Oxon
Organiser: Liz Smailes

10.30 - 1pm 3rd November Holy Trinity Church Hall, Claygate, Surrey
Organiser: Sherry Secker  Also Cakes, Crafts & childrens' activities.


Our Cake Time Party is spreading right round the world.  A party in Melborne Australia has raised £360 pounds and their spread of cakes looks exciting, some recipes we wouldn't mind sharing! Love the purple hearts!

 

 

Katie from South London who we talked about in an earlier post has raised £200 and baked over 300 cupcakes, with friends Louise and Lucy adding another 80 cupcakes!  That must have kept school going rather well, we all love a little treat to keep us going, don't we?  Thank you Katie, Louise and Lucy for making time for cake time.  A big Harrison smile coming your way!

 

 

 

We have lot of Cake Time Parties happening all across the country from Scotland to Devon, Suffolk to Dorset, Leicestershire to London, we are so chuffed that we are covering the country in cake to be enjoyed together while helping to make time for all the Duchenne boys...Thank you ;-)

 

 

 

1st November Harrison's Cake Time party week starts...

Count down to the first Harrison's Cake Time Party week!


We've got parties happening all over the country, from small home coffee mornings to large events like our flag ship Cake & Craft Fair in Cobham on the 3rd Nov, 10.30 - 12.30.  Have you seen our banner out in Cobham near Sainsbury's?

We are all getting ourselves ready to bake the most amazing delights for you to sample at our fair and we also have some lovely crafters there to show off all sorts of wares which would make lovely gifts for birthdays and xmas, or, of course, for a treat for you.

As many of you have children, we've covered that one too, with lots of activities to keep them busy, like ice your own cupcake, piggy bank and mug decorating, face painting, glitter tattoos, name bead necklaces and much more!  We bet there will be lots of parents wanting to have a go at these activities.

As well as this there are two great sales happening on Friday and Saturday too

10 -12 am 2nd November John Hampden Primary School, Thame, Oxon
Organiser: Liz Smailes

10.30 - 1pm 3rd November Holy Trinity Church Hall, Claygate, Surrey
Organiser: Sherry Secker

They also will have lots of cakes and children's activities so if you live nearby do pop in and give them your support.

It's not too late to organise your own Cake Time Party, send an email to info@harrisonsfund and we'll have a fundraisers pack on it's way back to you in a flash!

Remember £100 pays for a research fellow for a day, maybe your money will pay for that Eureka moment and then boys like our cheeky little chap Harrison will enjoy a fullfilling life with all the opportunities, adventures and dignity that their school friends enjoy.

Make time.....

The 1st Harrison's Cake Time Party....

The first Harrison's Cake Time Party has taken place!  WooHoo!

SITSS (School IT Systems Support), a team within the Hertfordshire County Council Childrens Services, held their party today before the half term break started.

Anna Hearn, who organised the event sent the following to give us the flavour of their party:

"£240.00 raised isn’t that great!  I was worried before today that I wouldn’t get enough cake brought in. Then when all the cakes arrived in this morning, I was worried that we would be left with loads at the end of the day – How wrong can one person be! By 9.30 we had people queuing up to get cake! Even one team donating £20.00 to take a tray of 20 cakes back for their team meeting later. We asked for a £1.00 minimum donation per slice and were not short of takers, by 11.30 the stock was seriously depleted and I had £150 in the pot. We now have £240 in the pot with just a few lonely looking slices of cake left. I never thought I would hear anyone on the SITSS team say that they could not possibly eat another slice of cake – well, saying that I have just managed to, but it was only my second piece today. It’s been great fun and I think we may very well have to do it again!"

Sounds like they had great fun, the cakes look scrummy, lots of people got together and a lot of money was raised, in our books that is a very good days work and brilliant team work.
Thank you so much to everyone, Anna for organising, everyone who baked and donated cakes and everyone who came along and bought cakes.

A great effort and an inspiration for anyone who is still thinking about running a work place Cake Time Party, it does work and it can be done without too much work for one person.

Harrison's Cake Time Party fundraisers packs are just an email away, info@harrisonsfund.com and we are alway here to give you any help you might need. Have a read of how to hold a party and the recipe pages on this blog for all the inspiration you might need.

Go on it's fun and every penny is helping to find a cure or a least a treatment for boys like Harrison.  They deserve a future with all the possibilities, adventures, opportunities, and dignity as their friends.

Make Time for Cake Time...