DITCH THE BORING WORKOUT AND JOIN THE ACLT ZUMBATHON® PARTY!!!

Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness workout that uses vibrant salsa, merengue, cumbia, reggaeton, samba and calypso moves, with energising Latin and international music. Zumba is suitable for all and it’s exercise in disguise.

The ACLT are hosting our annual Zumbathon at Crystal Palace National Sports Arena, Ledrington Road, London SE19 2BB on Sunday 29^th April 2012 from 2pm till 4pm.  Entry fees are: Adults £15, Children (Under 16) £10.

All money raised will go directly towards projects and activities to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority ethnic groups on the UK bone marrow, blood and organ donor registers.

Various Zumba instructors will lead the fitness party on the day including: Pier Johnson, Angela Oliveira, Carolyn Allen, Jade King, Jenny Brister, Leeann Lok, Michelle Savage and Samantha Markey.

If you have never experienced Zumba before then this is the party to be at!!!

For registration forms and further information please email info@aclt.org or call the ACLT office on 020 8240 4480.

CHARITY NEWS: OBE awarded to our very own Orin Lewis!!

January 1^st 2012 notes not only the turn of the year, but also marks the day our co-founder , Orin Cadogan-Lewis, is awarded with an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Year’s 2012 Honours List by the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary in recognition For services to Healthcare. CAN WE GET A WHOOP! WHOOP!

#TeamACLT are incredibly proud of Orin and Beverley for both achieving such an accolade in 1  year. I hope each of you have joined in on our Facebook and Twitter pages to say congratulations!!

A few words from Orin:

“I am deeply touched and ever so proud of being awarded this honour by Her Majesty the Queen for my services to Healthcare in Britain. I feel extremely honoured, and accept it on behalf of my children, family, and everyone associated with the life saving work of the ACLT. Having recruited tens of thousands of new bone marrow, blood and organ donors from the hardest to reach communities and in turn directly saving lives in the UK and abroad, it does fill me with joy that our efforts have this year been recognised to the extent that first Beverley, [in October 2011 Beverley De-Gale was awarded an O.B.E. for services to Healthcare) and now I, have been awarded this prestigious honour from Her Majesty the Queen.

“There is still much more to be done. Earlier this year we held a major recruitment drive in central London’s Leicester Square, in response to the need of 3 year old Kye Carpenter-Mark for life-saving bone marrow donors. I know from my own experience that there is no starker illustration of the ongoing importance and invaluable nature of the ACLT’s work than the loss of a loved one. Sadly Kye recently lost his battle with leukaemia, tragically passing away late November 2011. Our drive and motivation, is to enable children like Kye to overcome this terrible illness and to enjoy life with their families and friends”.

We salute you Mr Orin Cadogan – Lewis OBE.

Click here to listen to a BBC London Radio interview with Orin.

Bring on 2012!

 

CHARITY NEWS: ACLT win Croydon Champion Award!

Orin proudly holding his certificate

Very happy to announce that our co-founder and Chief Executive, Orin Lewis won a gong for the category of  “Highly Commended” Community Champion Award at the Croydon Champion 2011 Awards last night.

Croydon’s Champions were honoured at an awards ceremony to recognise the borough’s unsung heroes at the Hilton hotel in Croydon for the Croydon Guardian’s tenth annual awards ceremony which aims to honour the bravery, selflessness and commitment of the people of  Croydon.

However it doesn’t stop there… another ACLT family member – 4 year old Neveah Green who suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and who we currently support to find a life saving match bone marrow donor, also picked up the an award for “Child of Courage” which whilst we’re clearly biased, she soooooo deserves!

Neveah is presented with her certificate

Well done to Orin and Neveah – you’re both an inspiration to many.

CHARITY NEWS: ACLT volunteers celebrates 5 years Bone Marrow Transplant Anniversary!

L-R Michelle Duncan and Sarah Thompson

Can we get a whoop, whoop around here please?

This month celebrates 5 years since one of our most dearest volunteers Sarah Thompson received her bone marrow transplant from an UNRELATED donor! This is something massive to celebrate don’t you think!  Rather than us talking about her journey, read about her story in her own words here, written in January 2008…

“My name is Sarah Thompson & I have been married to Mark since March 2005.  In May 2004, I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia & had four courses of chemotherapy which successfully put me in remission.  I was soon well enough to get married & return to work & I enjoyed thirteen months of remission.  Unfortunately, however, in December 2005 I was told after a routine blood test that my cancer had returned.

 This time I needed a bone marrow transplant.  As a mixed race person I was well aware of the difficulty in finding a match. I was soon told that my only sibling, Laura, was not a match for me.  I was in a terrifying state of limbo.  My doctors were able to get me back into remission with more chemo but I knew that without a match I could relapse again at any time.

 We were already aware of the ACLT as I had tried to join the register for Daniel De Gale many years before.  Bev & Orin were currently campaigning for both DJ Swing & Lynden David Hall at this time & we had met them at a benefit concert only weeks before I relapsed.  So Mark decided to contact this amazingly selfless couple & ask for their support in finding me my match.

 With the ACLT’s support we went public with my appeal.  This was a scary prospect for me as I’m a very private person.  My first appearance was live on GMTV with Mark & Orin. It was the day after I was discharged from hospital following my treatment.  I was so nervous but it went really well & most importantly the response from the public was amazing!  Bev & Orin received many calls & emails from people wanting to join the register & this encouraged me to continue with our media appeal.  We have done lots more television & radio since then & I’ve been featured in many magazines & newspapers, including ‘Cosmopolitan!’ 

 The ACLT ran several drives & over a 1000 people joined the register during this period.  It was at one of these drives that I was able to give Bev & Orin the fantastic news that my doctors had found me a match!  We don’t yet know where my donor comes from but I hope to meet them one day & thank them for the’ gift of life’ they have given me.

 I owe so much to Bev & Orin & all their dedicated volunteers & my family & I now regularly volunteer at the bone marrow drives too.  The ACLT were an invaluable resource for me & my family & helped us immensely through our potentially harrowing ordeal.  I would urge anybody to support this charity by joining the register & or offering a financial contribution to this life saving trust.”

Sarah Thompson

On July 23rd Sarah met her life saving match, a mixed race woman called Michelle Duncan and as you can see in the picture above, they celebrated their incredible bond, brought together by a medical process and a large dose of sheer good luck! Love it. Congratulations to you both.

GET INVOLVED: Gold Challenge

Thinking about getting fit? How about doing so whilst raising money for us by signing up to be part of Gold Challenge?

Gold Challenge is a charity challenge where you take on Olympic Sports and Paralympic Sports to raise money for a charity of your choice (us!)  Everyone aged 7 upwards can take part in Gold Challenge as an individual or as part of a team.  Participants choose from the challenges available and fundraise money for one of Gold Challenge’s 125 charities.

They offer several corporate challenges, which can be great for corporate team building,, fundraising event ideas or if you simply want to change things up in your life and do something different and exciting!

You can make it as challenging or gentle as you like; choose from Olympic and Paralympic sports such as Olympic Distance Triathlon, 5K run, Swimming, Badminton, Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball – the list is endless!

There are three great challenges to choose from depending on whether you want to learn new sports, push yourself over 2012 km or complete your Gold Challenge in a day:

Olympic Sport Challenge
2012 km Challenge
Gold Challenge In A Gym

INTERESTED? THREE EASY STEPS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN… Choose your challenge, select your charity (us of course!) and then register by visiting Gold Challenge then start getting fit!!

Let us know how you get on by leaving comments under this post and future Gold Challenge blog posts.

SPECIAL THANK YOU’S

To everyone who has supported the ACLT this month through spreading awareness, fundraising and most of all upholding Daniel’s legacy by donating blood during Donate for Daniel Week and Black History Month, THANK YOU.

Special shout out to the following organisations/events and individuals … Inspirational Awards for Women, Amicus Horizon, Broken Silence Talent Show, Deborah McNally,  Metropolitan Black Police Association, Dynamic Eclipse Arts, Harlesden Methodist Church, Lambeth College, Parkview Secondary School, Biddenham Upper School Bedford, Kent Minority Ethnic Police Association with Medway African Caribbean Association, Mark & Sarah Thompson, Back 2 Life club night, Heroes club night, Kings College ACS, Skills Funding Agency and PCS Trade Union, Manchester, A2 Dominion Housing Association,  Eleshah Minto and Tribute concert to life of Cherry Groce and last but defo not least… Her Majesty the Queen – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

COMMUNITY NEWS: Centrale Shopping Centre – Textile Donation Bin

If you receive a jumper this Christmas and you’re just not feeling it as a welcome addition to your wardrobe, fear not, help, (guilt free too!) is at hand…

A new clothing donation scheme has been successfully trialled in the Centrale shopping centre in Croydon (close to the ACLT HQ). Hundreds of generous folk have donated clothing that they no longer need and/or wear, depositing them in two ‘donation bins’ within the centre. Quite simply – clothes = charitable cash! The proceeds raised are donated to help fund the ACLT charity’s vital work in raising awareness of blood, organ and bone marrow donations.

To see an article in the local newspaper Croydon Guardian, click here.

Following the success of the trial will keep you posted as to when the scheme returns permanently (scheduled to be in the new year).

SPOTLIGHT – OUR FUNDRAISERS: Tony Cox

It’s time to focus on one of our unsung fundraising heroes and shine the spotlight on… the… man… “IN THE RED CORNER… TONY…COX!!”

As well as his ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the ACLT and its goals, Tony has recently directly fund-raised a sum of over £1,000. How? On Friday October 14th he dared to step into the ring to participate in the White Collar Boxing Tournament as part of ‘The Real Fight Club’ held at Kensington Town Hall. Months of training, not to mention a considerable amount of blood, sweat and tears helped him achieve not only an honorable draw in the bout, but become our Heavyweight Fundraising Champion of October 2011!

Help him, help the ACLT, by donating at http://www.justgiving.com/tony-cox

CHARITY NEWS: And the Award(s) Goes To…

Co-founder and all round ACLT angel Beverley, was the proud recipient of two glowing accolades in the space of five days. Winning the coveted Special Inspiration Award at 2011 Inspiration Awards for Women, capped off a week that had begun with a trip to Windsor Castle to be bestowed with an O.B.E. by H.R.H. Princess Anne – as Charlie might say… “Winning!”. But perhaps unlike the notorious Hollywood actor, this was recognition that was merited through decades of selfless work for the benefit of others.

It was a Monday like no other, (03/10/11) for Beverly and her immediate family. The subject of a special television feature on ITV1′s London Today and London Tonight news programmes, Beverley was filmed going door, (her own), to door, (the Queen’s), to capture for the viewing audience, the experience of accepting an invitation to a Royal residence to receive such an honour. If you missed it, here’s a beautiful picture of Beverley with her ‘gong’…

EVENTS: Donate 4 Daniel Week

BBC’s Holby City actor Jimmy Akingbola giving blood at the West End Donor Centre

The annual blood donation drive held in the honour and memory of our charity’s original motivating figure (Daniel De-Gale), reached communities further afield than ever before. 9 regions across England saw hundreds of individuals donate blood to help save lives up and down the country, with many people becoming donors for the very first, (but not the last) time. London kick-started the campaign in the first week of October, with simultaneous drives held in the West End and Croydon. The baton was ably picked up by our volunteers in Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, meaning the campaign was truly a national one.