Timmy who is patron a of Children Today is kindly donating one of his signed unique pieces of art to be raffled and all proceeds will go to Children Today.

Alan Dodd Chief Executive of Children Today commented “We are delighted Timmy has generously donated one of his fine paintings. The money raised from the raffle will go towards helping Children Today purchase specialised equipment for disabled children. This life enhancing equipment improves independence and quality of life and enables them to achieve their potential.”

TImmy will be at the gallery in person on Wednesday 30th December 2009  between 7pm and 9pm. Raffle tickets are costing £10 each and are now on sale until the 17th January 2010 from The Watergate Street Gallery so please contact Alex Sharp on 01244 345698 or alex@watergatestreetgallery.co.uk  to take part in this very special raffle.

Pictured is Regional Fundraising Manager Elizabeth Oakes with pupils from Devonshire Road and Thomasson School, who are taking part, Lofty the Lion, Adam Bogdan and Paul Robinson from Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

All that we ask is that each school raises £200 in sponsorship money. This money will go towards the purchase of specially adapted equipment for disabled children. If you would like you school to get involved please contact Elizabeth Oakes on 07990 510325.

Picture courtesy of Bolton News.

There were welcome drinks, spooky cocktails and a themed gala dinner with the best Monster Mash in town! Followed by dancing into the night and, after many deliberations, the prize for the best-dressed lady went to Ms. Cruella de Ville!

Mr David Taylor, the 2009 British Isles Close-up Magician of the Year entertained us with some very real magic on this spooky night. Mind magic and sleight of hand as well as bending forks, Uri Geller style. You can see David next at our Magic Night at Episode on 27th November.

There was a fantastic auction of items including sports memorabilia such as a Michael Vaughan signed cricket ball and a team signed Liverpool shirt amongst other things.

Regional Fundraising Manager, Emma Fawcett said: “I am delighted that Episode Hotel were kind enough to support Children Today again with this wonderful evening. The team here are fantastic and the food was wonderful. The funds raised will make a real difference to local disabled children and young people by providing vital, life-changing equipment.”

Photos courtesy of Simon Coates, www.wildsnaps.com

The following is an exert from the report of the evening

In Hoof Room there was a strange feeling most of the night that was felt by team and members of the public, when the reaper group entered as the first group they started by doing an opening up exercise and during this a bang was heard right outside the door that leads to the corridor and about 10 mins later a second bang was heard down the corridor which was in total darkness.

The name Thomas was picked up on by the group sat in the bay window area that was on the glass at the time.

The temperature dropped to 20.4c around the group in the bay window and they had all reported cold hands whilst on the glass, two distinctive bangs were heard by the group whilst in the window area from the table they were sat at.

Peter our guest medium, picked up on a school teacher (male) in the room walking round as if looking down on the children and checking them, he also picked up on a doctor and the name Clarke.
Skulls were picked up on but may have been in connection with a hospital or teachings surrounding hospital training.

Vicky our guest medium also picked up on the skull thing but it was part of a coat of arms, like a shield with skulls on and two swords going through either side.

A nasty lady was felt in the room, she never had time for the children who stayed and learnt there, it was just a job for her.

She was like a wicked step mother type of person quite nasty, also the room was never allowed in if older adults were not around and Vicky felt this woman had scorned a few children for this over time.
Vicky did 3 spirit drawings whilst in this room which was of a male (a young man around 23) and two females.

We would like to thank all who took part and raised over £2000!

Cheese tasting will be courtesy of Paxton and Whitfield, the UK’s premier cheesemonger, who will be happy to teach you about the nuances of their wonderful produce and take orders for Christmas fare. Vinology, Stratford’s finest independent wine merchant, will be tantalising your taste buds with a range of wines perfect for Christmas parties.

It is an ideal opportunity for you to try a few wines for Christmas, choose cheeses for gifts (or for your own consumption!) and browse the art available for you to order (last order date for Christmas 11th Dec).

There will also be a raffle in aid of disabled children’s charity, Children Today, with wonderful prizes including a Paxton and Whitfield hamper and limited edition cufflinks and compacts from prominent artists, all could make fabulous presents! Also, all purchases of wine and original art on the night will include a donation to the charity, and, over the next few weeks Castle Galleries will be holding an on-going charity auction of a lovely limited edition print with the auction reaching its close on the day of the event, so you can get in early with your bids!

For more inforamtion please contact the Emma Fawcett on 07912 308576 or emma@childrentoday.org.uk.

Paul Tranter (one of Children Today’s trustees) and Glynn Davies ran the Half Marathon. Paul is a bit of an old hand at this but it was Glynn’s first time and he did a fantastic job, managing a time of 2hr 38 minutes after only 3 weeks training!

The three girls, Kirsty Harris,  and  , all ran the Mercia Mile, and raised nearly £300 between them. Luke Nash did the Mercia Mile as well, with his Mum, Emma, little sister, Lucy and Emma Fawcett, our Regional Fundraising Manager. Children Today helped the family source funds for Luke’s state of the art wheelchair last year and he wanted to raise sponsorship for us. Which he has done a fantastic job of, raising in the region of £500!

And here’s some proof we did it! All slightly out of breath but very happy with our medals!

Thank you to everyone who took part for Children Today and thanks to the organisers who did a great job and made it a fun event to be involved with.

Look out for details of next year’s race!