The Gift of Life Memorial

The Donor Family Network has announced a £250,000 fundraising appeal to create a National Memorial for Organ Donors - The Gift of Life Memorial will be situated at the National Memorial Arbortetum in Staffordshire with regional memorials planned around the country.

The Gift of Life Memorial will be a place of reflection, remembrance and recognition that can be visited by all of the transplant community as well as by the general public.

The design features a central mosaic featuring a butterfly and a forget-me-not made from bronze and glass.

For more details go to http://www.giftoflife.org.uk/

Liverpool Study

A Liverpool study wants to find out about the experiences of South Asian and African Caribbean families who were asked to donate their relative's organs after their death.
If you were asked about organ donation after your relative's death, and if you are from a South Asian/Asian British (Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi or Sri Lanken heritgae) or African-Caribbean/Black British (Caribbean Heritage) ethnic background living in the North West of England or Yorkshire, would you be willing to discuss your experiences with the project team.
Contact us for more details

Family Stories

If you would be interested in telling your story in the media this month in support of our new memorial appeal or if you have experience of organ donation in A&E please get in touch.
Many thanks

Live Music Nights 2010

Friday 8th January 2010
Friday 5th February 2010
Friday 5th March 2010
Friday 9th April 2010

The Shed Live Music Venue (Cellar Bar), Yeoman Street, Leicester

8pm
Admission £3
in aid of the Donor Family Network

Please support these fantastic events

Swimming the Bristol Channel

Another one of our wonderful supporters is doing something amazing to raise funds for us - this time swimming the Bristol Channel from Ilfracombe to Swansea. Check out Geth's story below and please give him your support. :]

http://www.justgiving.com/geths-bristolchannelswim/

Climbing Snowden

Good luck to the fantastic team climbing Snowdon to raise money for the Donor Family Network later this month. See the full story by clicking on the link below


JustGiving - donate to charity and raise funds online - Raise money for charity online
Source: www.justgiving.com
JustGiving - the easiest way to fundraise and donate to charity online

Music Nights

Live Music Nights

Friday 7 thAugust 7th
Friday 4th September
Friday 9th October
Friday 6th November
Friday 4th December

The Shed Live Music Venue (Cellar Bar), Yeoman Street, Leicester

8pm
Admission £3
in aid of the Donor Family Network

Please support these fantastic events

British Transplant Games

Please come and join us at this fantastic event.
Opening Ceremony: Thursday 30th July - starts at 7pm
Meet outside Coventry Cathedral at 6.30pm
Sunday 2 AugustAthletics 0900 - 1700
Westwood Campus, University Of Warwick
You can come for all day or just some of it, I'm not sure of our exact location but we'll be somewhere by the athletics track

National Donor Family Gathering

There are still places available for this year’s National Gathering for Donor Families. The day takes place on Saturday 4th July at Tally Ho Sports and Conference Centre in Birmingham from 9.30 to 4pm. The Donor Family Network AGM takes place at 4.30pm on the same day to which everyone is invited.
The day is free including lunch, refreshments and all the workshops. The day consists of workshops including children’s craft workshops, exhibitions, and a special ceremony of recognition. This is a unique opportunity to meet other donor families who have been through similar experiences and a way to make new friends.
The annual service of hope and thanksgiving is held the following day, Sunday 5th July, at St Margaret’s Church Chapel Lane Great Barr at 2pm and we hope you will be able to attend.

Just Giving

You can now donate and fundraise for the Network using the Just Giving website - check it out ! http://www.justgiving.com/donorfamilynetwork

What Next?

Well, Coffee-Raise month is over - my event raised over £160 so a big thank you to everyone for their generosity. We'll wait and see who else held events and how much was raise in total.
Now its time to finalise the plans for our next events - the National Gathering and Service in July. The National Gathering takes place on Saturday 4th July and includes workshops, a service of recognition and a chance for donor families to meet. The Precious Gift service of hope and thanksgiving takes place the next day and is always well attended event. Don't forget to put the dates in your diary and let us know if you are coming to the gathering.

I've booked my coffee-rasie event - have you?

My Coffee-Raise event is on Tuesday 19th May at St Nicolas Church, Kings Norton, Birmingham from 2- 4pm. I've ordered balloons and stickers and pens and leaflets so I'm all set. Do come and join me if you are in Birmingham.
Don't forget to organise your own event and help raise funds for the Network.

COFFEE-RAISE

May is Coffee-Raise Month! Did you know that the Network is entirely funded by donations? Coffee-Raise is your chance to get involved by helping to raise funds for the Donor Family Network and to promote organ and tissue donation. And its something that anyone can do.

All you have to do is hold a coffee morning during May. At the coffee morning you can do whatever you want to raise money - charge for the coffee, sell cakes, hold a raffle, sell our pin badges. It’s also a great opportunity to talk about organ donation and encourage people to join the Organ Donor Register. It’s also a great way to get involved, meet people and have fun. All this while working to promote organ donation and raise much needed funds for the Donor Family Network.

Everything you need is on our website.

Do It Now - Do It For Jess

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Two Minute Hero

Holly Needs Your Help on April 7th - new venues

Kidney recipient Holly Shaw is running a campaign to mark World Health Day (7 April 2009) to encourage more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register. The aim is to talk to people about Organ Donation and encourage them to be pro-active and sign up by setting up Donor Desks in public places where people can ask questions and join the register. Holly's aim is to see how many people she can get to join the register in one day.

How you can get involved

Donor Day will only work with the help of volunteers - there are currently 15 Donor Desks all over the country on 7th April - could you go along and help on one near you?

London (University College Hospital)
London (Canary Wharf)
London (The Treasury)
London (City University)
Swindon
Croyden
Epsom (Market Square)
Isle of Man
Cambridgeshire
Sheffield
Cardiff
Birmingham x 2
Manchester
Warrington
Liverpool (RLUH)
Newcastle
York

Not one near you? Then perhaps you could run your own? Either way Holly would love to hear from you if you think you can help.
Contact Holly via her blog http://lifeondialysis--waitingforthecall.blogspot.com/

Bethany

Some of you may recognise the face of little Bethany. She has just featured in Tesco magazine as the face of their organ donation campaign - click here to read the article. She's only 5 and up until 20 days ago needed a liver transplant to save her life.

20 days ago Bethany had the call her family had waiting for. She had already been through two false alarms but this time the operation went ahead.

As of 29th January 316 people in the UK were waiting for a liver transplant. 21 of those were children.

The two pictures show Bethany before transplant (left) and just 9 days after (above). She is now home and enjoying the snow with her sister.

Somewhere a family said yes to organ donation and made this amazing transformation possible. They made it possible for one little girl to play in the snow with her sister.

Please talk about Bethany's story so that we can give all those currently on the list for transplant the hope of playing in the snow.

BATTLEFRONT

The amazing Holly is still working on the Battlefront campaign. This slideshow says it all - check out the web page and register your support.

http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/the-gift-of-life/

William Gets His Call!!!

Last week little William (see below) had the call he had been waiting for. A donor had been found and his transplant took place just a week ago. The little lad is doing well and for the first time in three years able to take fluids by mouth. How amazing is that!

He's still a long way to go but these pictures show just he is doing amazingly well - out of ITU in just 24 hours.

Please send your thoughts and prayers to William and mum Sarah via her blog http://sarahmilne.blogspot.com/

Sue and Nigel Burton

Our amazing trustees Sue and Nigel allowed The Guardian to follow their meeting with their son's liver recipient. This is their story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/video/2008/nov/18/organ-donation