Asda Bag Packing

My friends, Charlie Chipmunk and I all went Bag Packing in Asda the other week and had a fantastic time raising some money. we only spent 3.5 hours there and managed to raise just over £500!

I spent the first hour dressed as Charlie the Chipmunk and LOVED it! I got to dance up and down the aisles, shake my bum, harass all the good looking guys and scare the children! I can't wait to go back and do it all again. I think Sally (who normally dons the outfit) was slightly jealous of all the fun I had and has clearly stated that she is coming next time as Charlie.....ummmmm, I can feel a dance off on the horizon!:)

So, my fundraising pot is now just over £2500 and I will be returning to Asda in a couple of weeks time for more boogieing (and of cause to raise some cash!)

Before I go I want to thank all the guys for there help, again I could not have done it without you.

R. I. P Patrick Swayze 1952 -2009 x

Leanne McCann 1990 - 2009. A local girl from Melton who sadly passed away at the young age of 19. A brave girl who fought so hard but was taken too soon. x

Thats another £758 in the kitty!

Well I have had a lovely week off work which I spent in Melton Mowbray with my friends and family. I thought this time at home would give me the perfect opportunity to gather my friends and raise some more money for Macmillan Cancer.

I decided to organise 2 events which would be easy plan. The first; A Pamper evening for the ladies and the second; The Locks performed for the party animals!

So, the planning of these events commenced about 3 months ago. I designed the Tickets, the Posters and then once again hassled my friends to help with the ticket sales! At first it seemed like The Locks was going to be a huge success and the Pamper evening a failure. I had asked a couple of friends if they wanted to come but they did not seem keen on the idea of being pampered (although I reckon they could have all done with it, ha ha only kidding!) As a result of their attitudes towards the evening I decided to cancel. My friends had always supported me in everything I had ever achieved in life and therefore I thought if they were not willing to be pampered for charity then nobody would.

I informed Trish and Paula of my decision (2 very close friends) and they were not impressed. They were both adamant that they could sell at least 15 tickets between them. So, the tough cookie that I am, gave them a week to prove me wrong and turn the evening in to a sell out, and that they did!

Before you read what I am about to write, please take a seat......."I was wrong!" Yep, it is not very often you hear me say that, as lets face it, I am always right :) But, I take my hat of to everybody who sold tickets for the Pamper evening, you all did a fantastic job and raised me another £310 for my challenge. The event was a sell out and in the end I had to turn people away. Everybody I spoke to on the night said they want me to hold another evening and that I will. Tickets were £10 and everybody got a free glass of Wine - Nibbles and at least 2 treatments. So, not only did they all get a bargain, but I managed to bank some more money.

I want to say a HUGE thanks to the Therapist who worked so hard on the night and I promise next time you will get a break! The stars of the evening were:

Nina Hubbard - Hair Stylist

Jade Cokien - Hair Stylist

Jenny Pick - Foot Spa/Facial

Sally Ann Brown - Foot Spa/Facial

Karen North - Indian Head Massage

Chelsey Skiffington - Eyebrow and Lip Waxing

Claire Graham - Nail Painting/Manicure

Sally Cokien - Glass Collector!!!!

Thanks so much guys and I hope you will join me on the next evening.

Now, moving on to The Locks who helped me to raise £383. This evening was easy to arrange, all I had to do was nag at the Guys for a date and sort out the venue. I then had a few glasses of Wine and enjoyed the music! I think I deserved this as I was actually really stressed at The Pamper evening as I was getting bombarded with questions. Therfore, I decided a few glasses of White and a good boogey was needed, as after all I was on holiday!!

The Locks are on Facebook under 'Locks Room', so if you want to book the band or know where their next playing, please add them as a friend.

My sponsorship is now at a £2,033.00 as Kris Mayo also sold me £75 worth of Pin Badges, "Cheers Kris" If you would like to Sponsor me please visit http://www.justgiving.com/mariamunro/ I have now reached 51% of my target which I hope to smash before the middle of next year.

I am Bag packing in Asda on the 19th September and 24th October in Grantham. I am looking for helpers so if you have 4 hours to spare please come and join me in raising more money for Macmillan.

Before I leave, I just want you to take a couple of minutes of your time to remember some great guys who have unfortunately lost their lives to Cancer over the last couple of months:

Sir Bobby Robson aged 76 - He lost his life after a long battle with Cancer

Edward Kemmedy aged 77 - Brain Cancer

Don Hewitt aged 86 - Pancreatic Cancer

Harry Towb aged 83 - He kost his life after battling Cancer for a short time

Rebecca Lipkin aged 48 - Breast Cancer

Dominick Dunne aged 83 - Bladder Cancer

Farrah Fawcett aged 62 - Anal Cancer

Simon Dee aged 74 - Bone Cancer

These are just a few people from the media who have sadly passed away due to Cancer and not forgetting friends or family, who have also died suddenly, or after a long battle with the disease. They may be gone but never forgotten. R.I.P

Before Sir Bobby Robson passed away he said:

"I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometimes and I have enjoyed every minute."

So, I intend to enjoy every minute, whilst raising money for a good cause. Please help me to achieve this so hopefully in the future, people affected by Cancer will loose their battle later rather than sooner. x

Hello all, if you are new to this Blog then please read my first posting dated 'April' to find out why I am climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for MacMillan Cancer.

As you can see from my lovely photo, I recently had a stall at Melton Day to raise money for my Kilimanjaro challenge. It was a fantastic day and we managed to raise £710.00.

I decided to have the stall in Melton and not London because that is where the majority of my friends live. However, unfortunately for them, I lumbered them with the burden of collecting donations for me!! I was panicking like mad, thinking I would only have a small number of prizes for my Tombola, but ended up with just fewer than 200!! I had a fantastic response and everybody was really munificent, too generous in fact, as it meant I had to spend 8 hrs on the Sunday folding Raffles tickets…….was I stressed? Slightly. Ask my sister Claire, as she was unfortunate enough to be at the brunt of my frustration. I was the only one to blame though, as I spent Saturday night partying until 3.30 am, so as you can imagine, I was slightly tired and feeling a little tender.

So, with the prizes numbered and tickets FINALLY folded, we packed the van and got a good nights sleep in preparation for the long day ahead of us. My sister Julie, her husband Kevin and their son Harry picked me up at 7.30am Monday morning and we headed to the park to set up stall. It was a bit of a tight squeeze fitting all the prizes on, but as you can see it looked fab! We had the best stall down there which attracted a big crowd. I could not believe people were actually queuing for the Tombola. I also had a Lucky Dip which proved popular and a few other games which sadly generated little interest.

People were just fanatical towards the Tombola and my stall, for what I believe to be two reasons; One being the excitement of peeling back the Raffle ticket and realizing you have a winning number and two because it was for MacMillan Cancer. I have started to acknowledge that the most charitable of people are those who have been affected by cancer. I have donated £110 to Cancer Charities in the last 2 months through sponsorship. Would I have donated this much before my Mum was taken ill? No. Would I donate this much to other charitable organizations? No. I, like others, feel it is my duty to support those charities that are going to prolong the life of our loved ones. I feel the need to reiterate that 1 in 3 people are affected with Cancer sometime during their lifetime. Taking this into account, maybe we ALL can make a difference to those affected by this illness. Sponsor a friend, organize an event, have a go on that Tombola that you casually walk past at fetes, do the Race for Life or just use your imagination and do something different. Go on have a go, it gives you a wicked sense of achievement, a warm fuzzy feeling of doing something "good", something "worthwhile" and something to be proud of. Like Billy Elliot once said:

"Sorta feels good. Sorta stiff and that, but once I get going... then I like, forget everything. And... sorta disappear. Sorta disappear. Like I feel a change in my whole body. And I've got this fire in my body. I'm just there. Flyin' like a bird. Like electricity. Yeah, like electricity."

We all have a passion in life and don't get me wrong, I have many, but for me raising money for Macmillan gives the opportunity to "forget everything" "sorta disappear" and focus my attention on something worthwhile. It stops me reminiscing on the bad times and thinking of what the future holds, and once my mission is accomplished, for that split second I feel a sense of "electricity" generating through my body! Once that ceases, I endeavor to start again, to prevent my mind from drifting to that place that drives me insane.

So, that time has now come and I have two more fundraising events in August. A pampering night on the 19th and The Locks are performing at the Cricket Club on the 21st. These will be taking place in Melton so if anybody wants to come please contact me for a ticket. Ticket prices are £15 and £5 respectively. A word of warning, the nagging will commence in approximately two weeks time!

To end this posting I want to say a huge thank- you to everybody who donated prizes for my stall and to the guys who helped me on the day. Thanks for putting up with my persistent nagging “prizes, I need prizes, get me more!”, but most of all thanks for the constant support you show me every time I embark on a new challenge!

Before I go I will leave you with one last quote from somebody who conquered Kilimanjaro a few years ago:

"My main thoughts are that while it is a physical challenge it is also an extreme mental challenge, so you need to be prepared for it. Exhaustion, lack of sleep, lack of sanitary conditions, different food regimes etc Be prepared to dig deep."

I have a feeling I will not be sensing much "electricity" during this challenge! I think I best put down my Curry and head for the Gym x

Testing testing 1, 2, 3! OMG, I have no idea what I should be writing.....HELP!

O.K, well I suppose I should start by explaining why I have decided to write an online diary for the world to see!

My Mum was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme Brain Tumour in 2005. This type of Tumour is the highest grade glioma (grade 4) and the most malignant form of astrocytomas. Only about one out of every four patients with this type of tumour survives for two years and they are the leading cause of death from childhood cancers among persons up to the age of 19.

I am going to take you back now to 2005 and explain how we discovered my Mum had cancer. So, I want you to lay back, take a nice sip of Wine, visualise what I am about to explain and try to imagine what you would be feeling.

You have just woken up and you are getting ready for work. It is a normal working day in your household and everybody is fighting for the bathroom. Everybody leaves the house except your Mum and Dad. Your Mum enters the room and says she has a pain in her neck and blurred vision. Your dad, who, if is anything like mine and worries about everything, decides to phone an Ambulance (and thank god he did). The Ambulance arrives but your Mum seems OK now. So, your Dad is probably not panicking at this point because the worst health scare any family member has ever had is man flu. However, your Mum enters the Bathroom and collapses.......and that is moment your life is turned upside down*.

So that was how my Mums journey with cancer began and this was what followed....

The Ambulance driver rushed my Mum to Hospital and she remained unconscious for most of the day. I was at University whilst all this was happening and 60 miles away from home. My Dad was the person who made the dreaded phone call that every daughter/son fears "Your Mum has collapsed and is in Hospital." Well, panic just ran through my body as a family member had never been rushed into Hospital before so I knew it must be serious. When I finally arrived at the Hospital my Dad came to greet me, we all burst into tears, had a hug and headed up to the ward.

Seeing my Mum lying in that Hospital bed was the worst thing I have ever seen and it still brings a tear to my eye when I think about it. She could hardly talk and it looked like she had had a Stroke. Her bottom lip kept shaking when she tried to talk and she looked petrified. I had never seen that look of fear in my Mums eyes before and I never want to see it again.

After what felt like a lifetime of waiting the Doctors finally entered the room. They diagnosed my Mum with a Brain Tumour and decided to operate to try and remove it. There were so many risks associated with the procedure because they were entering into a part of the body which operates every function we use. They warned us that there was a huge risk of my Mum becoming paralysed, or even worse, not surviving the operation. Well, I have to say the happiest moment of my life was when my Mum returned from theatre and opened her eyes, as I knew she was still with us*. I can't describe what that felt like, but it was one of the best sensations in the world and one that I have never felt since. I wanted this feeling to last forever but it soon came crashing back down when we were informed that the Brain Tumour was aggressive and we should expect the worst*, so, that is what I did.

During my Mums time in Hospital I would go home or to my friends house (Nina or Karens) and just sit there and cry. In preparing for the worst I had already given up hope and in my mind I was already planning my Mums funeral. I never imagined I could have thoughts that upsetting, but my mind had gone away with the fairies to a place that was driving me insane as I imagined a life without Mum.

So, that is how OUR journey with cancer began. In a split second my Mum collapses and within two days she is diagnosed with a Brain Tumour and given a year to live...how are you feeling now? Fancy another sip of your wine? I do!!

You possibly cant imagine how this feels or maybe you can. Maybe you have experienced the worst case scenario each and everyone of us fears. If you have not experienced it yet, prepare yourself because you will. A staggering 1 in 3 people will develop Cancer sometime during their lifetime and over a quarter of a million people within the UK each year.

I would like to make it clear that my Mum has beaten all the odds and is still with us today. Her Tumour has been lying dormant for the last 4 years and will hopefully remain that way for many more to come. This is one of many success stories that should be publicised within the media to give others the hope and determination to win their battle against cancer.

To date I have raised over £7000, 00 for cancer charities and over the next year and a half I aim to raise over another 4. So, please sponsor me, donate to my events and do anything else you can to help me reach my target, because one day the money I raise will benefit either you or somebody close to your heart.

From now, this blog will focus on my journey in raising £4000, 00 and how I am preparing myself for possibly the worst trek I'm my life....Mount Kilimanjaro!! "Oy Thom, pass me the chocolates!"

*Note to readers: Take another sip of your wine!