The Charity Ball was formed in 2010 following another successful event by the Fun Raising Floosies in Stratford upon Avon (see below).
Lynda and Viv decided after 10 years of inspirational dedication to charity to announce their retirement from the Fun Raising Floosies charity events (I suspect they will come back at some stage) and The Charity Ball.Org decided to step up and carry on the unbelievable work they had started. It was a simple decision to make as Cancer, Poverty, Mental Illness and Abuse was not going to retire so we felt the need to build a new platform to start raising money. We hope we can emulate the effort, spirit and absolute dedication of Lynda Loomes and Viv Fletcher affectionately known as The Fun Raising Floosies! Thank you Lynda and Viv for inspiring us to take over.
The Charity Ball.0rg
As the title suggested from the Fun Raising Floosies we thought it important to carry on the ethos and raise money but have fun in the process so the next chapter is about ‘Raising money and having a Ball’.
We aim to have as many relevant Ball’s as possible in the course of the year. Our ultimate aim is to have Charity Ball’s all over the UK and even Internationally! We would love to have a Ball in Africa next year!
The first official event of The Charity Ball.Org is on October 7th 2011 at the prestigious Q Hotel The Stratford Manor.
History of the Fun Raising floosies.
Lynda & I met at school in 1971 when we were 11. Friends for 39 years!!
We went through school together, then both our lives went separate ways, we both got married had children, kept in touch Christmas and birthdays.
Then one day in January 1998 Lynda phoned me to say she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, I was devastated. Lynda had surgery, which was followed by 7 months of chemo and 1 month of radiotherapy, now 12 years down the line Lynda just has a mammogram every 2 years.
During her treatment she was an inspiration and people who know her, feel her recovery was a lot to do with her very positive attitude and the love and support of her family.
Lynda ran her first race for life in May 2000. After she recovered she phoned me to tell me she was going to run the London Marathon, in 2001 and I thought she was mad. But she did it and I was so inspired I told her I would do it with her in 2002. And so were born THE FUND-RAISING FLOOSIES. (Floosies is a combination of our surnames - Fletcher and Loomes)
Since then we have completed 12 Marathons between us (7 for Lynda, 5 for Viv) 6 Race for life events ( running with our daughters), abseiling down the Stratford theatre, Lynda has parachuted from a plane. We have run quiz nights too. All to raise those much needed funds.
Our philosophy is simple, the care was there when Lynda needed it and we want to make sure it is there when the next sufferer is diagnosed.
In 2003 Lynda’s Mum Laura, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and in January 2005, my Mum, Dorothy was told that she too, like Laura, had Alzheimer’s disease. You feel like you have already lost the person that you knew and loved, and although that person is still there in front of you, looking almost the same, you know it will never be the same. We raised enough money in 2008 to buy a minibus for the Alzheimer’s Society Branch in Leamington Spa.
We were supposed to be retiring from fund raising but due to popular demand, we are back and this year’s dinner is our final event. These events take a lot of effort to pull together and we are so reliant on the generosity of our supporters, whether by donations of prizes, or supporting these events, or buying raffle tickets or bidding for auction items. There comes a point where you cannot keep asking the same people for money!
The money we will raise at the dinner on 15th October at Stratford Manor will go to help right at the heart of the problem; Our funds will be shared between Warwick Hospital Breast Care Unit a trust fund set up by Helen Clarke the Breast Care Nurse over 16 years ago and the Galanos House, The British Legion Care Home, in Southam where my Mum spent her last 10 months of her life.
We are both so lucky with the support we have from our family and friends. Lynda’s husband Nigel and my husband Mark have been very supportive of all the events we have run. Our children too, they will all be there at the dinner on the 15th October supporting us. They all think we are a bit mad, and they are probably right, but if what we are doing is making someone’s life a bit easier, then sure it has to be worth all the effort, hasn’t it?
The Fun Raising Floosies have raised over £56,000 to date!
