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Welcome
The evening started with a warm welcome to all those present at the Bulkely hotel in Beaumaris. Everyone had been invited by way of a thank you for their help & support in our fundraising efforts to send a certain young lady on a special holiday.

Plans get going

As many of you reading this are aware that young Courtney has suffered more in 12 short years than most of us have to cope with in a lifetime and I think it’s fairly safe to say that how she has coped is an inspiration to all of us. It was during a conversation with Trish about Courtney’s courage that our fundraising marathon came about. After throwing a few ideas at me, including abseiling down Penrhyn Castle – like that was ever going to happen, we came up with the idea of Fish for Courtney.

It started off as just a small event, with me asking a few friends if they’d help out with sponsorship etc. It soon grew larger with more people coming forward resulting in us needing 3 boats to run 6 trips to get everyone afloat and fishing. With all this underway I received a message from Jason at Menai Marine with the offer of some prizes or raffle donations to the appeal. This left us thinking then - what can be done – Carol came up with the idea of the Auction night then set about obtaining additional lots - emailing, writing or phoning many of you here tonight.

We received over 50 lots to the auction and numerous prizes for the raffle table.

It was then clear that with the fishing and auction night, we should be on course to raise an extremely good amount of money. Quite possibly more than what was required for the holiday.

During one of our committee meetings we asked Courtney’s mum Melanie to join us. Partly to let her know how our plans were going, but also we had an idea that maybe 1 or 2 charities could benefit from some additional support.


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Charities benefit
Mel told us about 2 charities that had showed her and the family some immense support through the years - Ronald McDonald House at Alder Hay, which I am sure all here have heard of, but also a local charity called Cath’s Communities that also helps out families of children suffering from Leukaemia and cancer. Jan from Ronald McDonald Houses in Alder Hay kindly offered some words of support and information to the packed hall. to offer a few words. Unfortunately, Eleri from Cath's Communities was unable to make the meeting, however she sent words of support and thanks that were read out on her behalf by Sara Owen.

So it was agreed that once Courtney’s Holiday fund had been credited, any additional money would be split equally between both Alder Hay and Cath's Communities.

The Auction night went without a hitch with all those present entering into the spirit of things, bidding against each other to help increase the final amount to an amazing £2500.

With the sponsored fishing still to come on the following day, we were already well on the way to achieving a staggering amount money.

For the last few years I’ve run sponsored fishing events for various causes and we’ve always had a fancy dress theme. This year there was to be no theme - so long as you came in fancy dress it didn’t matter. Believe me, there were some sights to be seen on that day – quite a few of the regulars in the marina really didn’t know where to look.

Please click here for more information and photos from the Auction and Fishing events.

Our DVD from the fishing day was then shown.

With all this going on we managed to generate a fair amount of publicity for our endeavours with various Newspapers and Websites all helping raise awareness. From these avenues many individuals and businesses came forward and offered a variety of donations to our appeal – lots for the auction and also financial donations.


Tremendous Support

	[photo to follow]
Mr John Jones & his son performed a martial arts block breaking demonstration at The Bulkely Hotel last month, raising a great £420 in the process.	Holyhead Young Fire Fighters raised money towards our appeal by washing cars at Holyhead Fire Station a couple months back. They were able to attend our evening and present Courtney with a cheque for £400.

A brief look through everything that has taken place and I think it is fair to say that a few hundred people have been involved; from friends and family to those at the auction night & sponsored fishing day. All of whom are in addition to auction and raffle donations and also the money gifts; so in a nutshell there are far too many people to single anyone out for a personal thank you here tonight. Every donation towards our fundraising has been gratefully received, every pound given to the appeal has helped make this evening possible.

So to the final figure!

Ladies and Gentleman – I am overwhelmed to announce that the fundraising total has reached a whopping £8000.

We had yet another committee meeting on the weekend before the presentation night to finalise plans and complete the allocation of money etc. With everything - Euro Star, all inclusive Disney Land Paris holiday for all the family – it was agreed to credit the Holiday fund with £4000. this would leave an amazing £2000 each for Ronald McDonald Alder Hay and Cath's Communities.

Carol Owen, Gethin Jones, Jan Thomas, Gethyn Owen

Gethin Jones from AAC Waterproofing receiving the cheque on behalf of Cath's Communities & Jan Thomas from Ronald McDonald Alder Hay

Heart FM is our local radio station. in 2009 Courtney received their young bravery awarded for her courage and determination. Sadly during the official glitzy event in September of last year, Courtney was still in Alder Hay recuperating. Tonight though, with representatives from Heart FM at the presentation ceremony, Courtney was awarded her award in person amidst an exhilarating round of applause from everyone present.