Another donation, this time to Connect25 Foodbank. A little food, kids, clothes, books and toys, all gratefully received. Thanks to those who contributed.

Thanks to Melanie Dunnett who donated a load of clothes left over from a jumble sale. I got them to Destiny Streetworx on Saturday teatime who were taking them out just a couple of hours later to distribute to those in need. Given how cold and damp it was and then the snow that followed on Sunday the timing could not have been better.

Thanks to everyone who donated to my first drop off for the homeless charity, Destiny Streetworx. They were incredibly grateful to receive:

• Three big bags of mens clothes, coats, shoes etc.
• One large bag of women’s clothes
• A large bag of bags
• A bag of toiletries etc
• Two cool bags

Quiz Night Update

The quiz night took place as planned and before I tell you any more I must say a massive thank you to the near 300 people who donated, attended, bought raffle tickets or football cards etc. I’m overwhelmed by the response and generosity. The Junction provided a great venue with food and prizes.

Everyone seemed to have a great time with the quiz and the raffle, etc, with the winners scoring 42 out of 60 and winning on a tie break question. The 50 raffle prizes were awarded and listed with the winners below.

The generosity of everyone concerned led to us making over £750 which will be given to or spent on the four charities.

Many people also donated items of food meaning there’s two full bags of groceries to be delivered to the foodbank.

Some of the donations and items bought with money from the quiz.

Quiz winners

The 4  football card winners were:

Teams were:

Raffle prizes and winners

Who am I?

• I, Roy Clark, work at Newcastle University as a Training/Testing Analyst for some software called SAP
• I volunteer for the UK & Ireland SAP User Group where I am the co-chair of the Training & Change Management Special Interest Group
• I’m the husband of Sue and father of Alex

Why me?

For the last few years I’ve been fundraising for various charities, including:

• 3 marathon walks along Hadrian’s Wall and cake sales for MacMillan Cancer Support
• 1 marathon walk along Hadrian’s Wall and a cake sale for Help for Heroes
• 1 ten mile walk along Hadrian’s Wall for The British Heart Foundation
• 4 five kilometre runs/walks with my son Alex for North of England Children’s Cancer Research
• Shaved and grew a moustache (twice) for Movember (Mrs Clark has banned future attempts!)
• Collected donations of money and food etc for the Connect25 Foodbank and Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter

But for 2018 I want to concentrate on local charities helping some of the most needy and vulnerable in our area.

Contact details

• Email roy.clark@ncl.ac.uk
• Mobile 07503 169 279
• https://www.facebook.com/roy.clark

Thank you to all of the individuals for donating cash, food, clothing, prizes, help, support and encouragement. I could not do all of this with out you.

I’d also like to thank the following companies for their donations to:

• The Junction (pub) for use of their premises for the quiz, catering and 3 prizes for the quiz.
• Heaton Dental Clinic for toothpaste for the homeless
• Greggs for a £10 voucher
• The Crow’s Nest (pub) for their prize donation
• The Goose at the Garden for a £10 voucher
• The Junction (pub) for use of their premises for the 2 bingo nights
• Crowne Plaza – Afternoon Tea for two
• Newcastle Eagles Basketball – 2 tickets
• Stand Comedy Club – 2 tickets
• As you like it – 5 x £20 vouchers
• Zapatista Burrito Bar – meal for 2
• Dala (Newcastle Quayside) – meal for 2 (x2)
• Kevin Dick Paintings – Angel of the North Print
• Paul Flannigan Photography – 3 Quayside Prints
• Helen’s Top Shop (Burnhope)
• Tyne Bank Brewery – vouchers

In order to raise funds for the causes, I’m considering some of the following. None of these are confirmed yet – please watch this space.

Quiz Night (Thursday 29th March 2018)

Cake morning (possibly early July)

Winter raffle (tickets to be sold and prizes awarded 1st Dec)

Treasure Hunt???

Wine tasting???

Race night???

Bingo night???

Please take a look through this list and see if there is anything you already have which could be reused or if there is something you could buy. Look out for any bargains – I recently had a code to join Damart.co.uk and get £10 discount plus free delivery, so I got two pairs of thermal gloves for 50 pence. If there are buy-one-get-one free offers, could you donate the free one? Do you have any unwanted Christmas gifts?

The charities (and events to help the charities) could use:

• Male, female, boys and girls, new or used (good quality, clean) clothes
  • Hats, gloves and scarves
  • Socks and underwear
  • Coats and shoes
  • Trousers, shirts, blouses, t-shirts, jumpers etc
• Toiletries
  • Deodorants, shampoo, shower gel
  • Toothbrushes and toothpaste
  • Sanitary products
• Backpacks, holdalls, shopping bags
• Tents and sleeping bags
• Food and drink
  • Pasta and spaghetti
  • Tinned soup, fruit, vegetables, beans etc
  • Jams and spreads
  • Tea, coffee, sugar, sweeteners, cocoa, disposable hot drinks, long life milk, dilute juice
  • Cereals, crisps, biscuits, sweets
  • Pot noodles
• Cleaning products
  • Disinfectant, washing up liquid, cloths etc
• Small gifts
  • Games, playing cards, toys, books, ‘smelly’ sets
• Pet items
  • Dog and puppy food, cat or kitten food, dried, tinned or pouches
  • Bedding, blankets, towels, tea towels
• Vouchers such as Greggs or Tesco (for someone to buy a lunch)
• Quiz and raffle prizes (each quiz team will be asked to donate one raffle prize)
  • Alcohol
  • Tins of biscuits or sweets
  • Gift sets

If you could donate any of these items or think you have anything else that may be suitable please let me know and we’ll arrange collecting it.

I might be able to organise this but I can’t make any of this work without your help. Any help you can give will be most appreciated, not only by me but more importantly by the charities and the individuals that they can help

With that in mind you could help in any of the following ways:

• Money! Either donate cash to my collection tins or I have set up a bank account especially for this year. You could make a one off payment or even set up a direct debit/standing order – even £1 per month would make a big difference.
  • The bank sort code is 09-01-29 and the account number is 21588042
  • If paying into the bank account please specify one of the following:
  • • Your name FB (for Connect25 Foodbank)
    • Your name HL (for Destiny Streetworx)
    • Your name PK (for People’s Kitchen)
    • Your name CD (for Cat and Dog shelter)
    • Your name NP (for no preference)
• Take a look at the shopping list post and see if you can contribute any of the items listed
• Participate in one or more of the events
• Help collect in your own area and promote the events

The People’s Kitchen in Newcastle was established in 1985 and serves 140 hot meals per night. Over their 30 year existence they have served over a million meals. Over 800 people use their services each week. As well as meals they offer clothing, bedding and toiletries as well as offering showering facilities.

My target for them is to obtain the following:

• 20 Christmas meals (£5 each)

They have their own website at: https://www.peopleskitchen.co.uk/about-us/