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Fish for Courtney |
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Courtney Rose Jones is a
young girl, who with out thought has become an inspiration to many
people. Whilst still at the tender age of 11years old, Courtney has
endured more pain and hardship that confronts most of us in a
lifetime.
Having recently had a 4th
tumour removed; Courtney’s story has touched not only those near by,
but also those of us who have heard of her troubles. Learning of her
courageous fight against such a terrible sickness, thoughts turned
to how a few of us, could help give her something special; a memory
that would not only serve Courtney well, but help the whole family
take time out to forget the years gone by, but enjoy time ahead. |
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Plans get going |
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Fish for Courtney was the
plan. Whilst kitted out in a variety of outrageous fancy dress
costumes, friends, family and anyone who wanted to help would be
asked to fish and raise money through sponsorship to take Courtney
and the rest of her family on a dream holiday to Paris and the Euro
Disney Resort.
Saturday October 17th
was chosen, whilst planning the fishing day, many people came
forward with requests to take part and help, along with my own boat
My Way, charter skippers Gareth Williams and Toby Reed offered
their services and vessels Spindrift and Coegfran free of charge for
the day.
Everything was falling into
place nicely. A few weeks after the initial plans were made between
me and Carol Owen, Courtney’s teacher at Ysgol Llangoed, the offer
of prizes and donations started to flood in. Overwhelmed by the
support from the public, we had a few meetings trying to decide on
the way forward, best for us and also for Courtney. The Auction
night was then put forward to run alongside our fundraising plans. |
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How about an Auction? |
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Naturally with so much interest, prizes and donations our
humble event had grown in stature and was sure to raise a significant amount
for Courtney. With the target of £3000 now our goal, it was agreed that
another charity could possibly benefit from further funds raised once the
family holiday had been catered for. In discussion with Courtney’s mum
Melanie, Ronald McDonald House Charities and local Group Cath’s Community
were chosen as our additional causes. |
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With the Anglesey Arms in Menai
Bridge keen to help in our fundraising event, Friday October 16th,
the day before the fishing was chosen to hold our Auction and Raffle
night.
With many lots being donated
direct to us with out request, additional lots from a variety of causes
were sought hard by Carol and her team of Chris and Sara. Fortunately
all their efforts paid off and boosted the auction lots alone to a
staggering 65 units. Items included limited edition paintings, 2 tickets
to see Man Utd V Burnley in January, with various items of fishing
tackle to a selection of signed photographs and CD’s from famous
singers. A list of lots can be found
here. |
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Raffle prizes donated, and a £1
gem game already planned for the night Carol was also successful in
securing the services of Heart FM’s Owain Llyr as auctioneer for the
evening, everything was in place for a weekend of fun and fundraising.
The event went with out a hitch
with the end sum raised between the 100 strong crowd exceeding all
expectations. Everyone attending had contributed in a variety of ways
resulting in a remarkable £2529 for the evening; leaving us less than
£500 shy our initial target.
Fantastic, thank you to everyone involved |
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Lets Fish for Courtney |
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The day of the Sponsored fishing
was upon us, and thankfully the weather gods had looked kindly down on
us. Waking up to no wind and bright sunshine in the middle of October is
often surprising but on such a special day, very gratefully received.
As the anglers turned up at
Holyhead Marina, it was clear to see that everyone had made that special
effort with fancy dress costumes. What the lovely yacht owners thought
of the variety of costumes including Ozzy Osbourne, Superman, Vicky
Pollard, Jason from Friday 13th A couple Indians, Katie Price
and my very own Bet Lynch impression descending on their idyllic pontoon
setting we’ll never know!
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Our plans for the day consisted
of a couple hours fishing in the morning, a return to the pontoon for a
well earned buffet feast, before venturing out once again for a few
hours fishing in the afternoon. With limited time for each trip, a nice
easy to fish mud flat was chosen just outside Holyhead Breakwater, were
those fishing many of whom had never been fishing or on a boat before
were rewarded with dogfish, whiting, gurnard, huss and thornback ray.
At the end of the day we
returned to the pontoons to have a count up on our fundraising efforts.
Between the 30 individuals fishing a further £1078 had been initially
raised with an additional £1603 pledged; the figures having an
overwhelming and tearful effect on many involved, organisers and
participants alike. |
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At present, with donations still
coming in the efforts of everyone involved with Fish for Courtney has
raised
Total
received £5055
Total
pledged £1635
Total at 19th October
2009 £6690
To end this brief overview of our Auction and
sponsored fish I am truly lost for words.
Thanks to everyone who helped out.
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Yes, I did dress up as well |
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