SBT Charity

REMEMBER ROCKINGHORSE

CHARITY URGES SUPPORTERS; DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER ROCKINGHORSE

ROCKINGHORSE GOLF DAY

RAISES OVER £7K FOR ROCKINGHORSE CHILDRENS CHARITY

CHOSEN CHARITY PARTNER:

Charity urges supporters; Don’t forget to Remember

Rockinghorse

Rockinghorse Children’s Charity is urging their supporters, old and new, to ‘Remember Rockinghorse’ in their new campaign.

Since March Rockinghorse, the

Charity official fundraising arm of the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, have seen fundraisers supporting the charity whilst in lockdown across Sussex.

However, just when it felt like there was some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of being able to organise a program of fundraising events throughout the county, the new ‘Rule of 6’ has seen the cancellation or re-postponement of the vast majority of events planned for the last few months of 2020.

Due to these postponements Rockinghorse are now finding it increasingly challenging to organize any of their usual money-raising activities which would normally account for a large proportion of their annual budget.

The ‘Remember Rockinghorse’ campaign aims to remind people to continue to support the charity, so they are able to carry on the invaluable work they do for thousands of babies and children across the county. Without ongoing support, the charity will find it increasingly difficult to provide the lifesaving equipment and services they are best known for.

Equipment such as paediatric ventilators that helped Theo Gartside survive.

Three-year-old Theo, from Worthing, was born in 2016 but at only 18 months old developed cold-like symptoms and a high temperature that wouldn’t drop. His mum May explains more: “Like many young children, Theo developed coughs and sneezes, but this was different. He became so hot that he wasn’t breathing properly, and we had to call an ambulance. They rushed him into the HDU and put him onto one of the ventilators as he was so congested that he couldn’t breathe on his own.

“That machine was the only thing that could keep his lungs open and breathing properly as he just didn’t have the strength in his muscles to

breathe for himself. Without it he would have had to be airlifted to London or Southampton and might not have pulled through.”

It turned out that Theo was battling three separate infections, all quite common on their own but difficult to fight off all together, especially when you’re so young. After three days on the ventilator and a course of antibiotics, Theo gradually came round, to the great relief of May and Mike: “There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that Rockinghorse saves lives. If they hadn’t donated that ventilator, Theo might not still be here with us. You never know when you might be in a position to need this kind of help and the support that Rockinghorse provides certainly doesn’t go unnoticed.”

So, the charity is urgently asking their supporters to ‘Remember Rockinghorse’ and help in any way they can. This could be anything from holding a garage sale, setting up a Facebook fundraiser in place of a birthday party, or taking on a challenge like stopping drinking or smoking for a month. If you want to fundraise at your school, why not give your teacher a rest by having a sponsored silence? Or you could arrange a ‘Wear Red for Rockinghorse’ day or a sponsored ‘Read for Rockinghorse’ to see how many books your class can read over a set time.

And for business owners, there are lots of ways to offer support. If you’re a fitness instructor you could hold an online class with the profits coming to Rockinghorse, your company could set up their own Just Giving page or Rockinghorse could provide you with a branded collection tin to leave in your shop or office.

Rockinghorse CEO, Ryan Heal, is keen to encourage people to think about what they can do to help:

“We are always amazed at the ways people find to raise money for us; their creativity is boundless! But we also recognize that we are all currently in a situation that most of us have never and will never experience again. Life certainly is challenging but it’s exactly at times like this that we need people to remember us.

“We aren’t a big charity; we don’t get any government support and we weren’t one of the charities to benefit from the recent £750m Government funding package. Our calendar of events has vanished and at the moment we have no idea when this will resume so we are asking the local community throughout Sussex to think of us at this challenging time.

“Whatever you can do, however small, every single penny makes a difference. We want to continue to help more families like Theo’s who may suddenly find themselves in need of life-saving support. That’s what we do best. And that’s what we will continue to do with your help.”

So, if you have a brilliant idea to raise some funds, just ‘Remember Rockinghorse’! You can find out more about the campaign and other ways to raise money on the Rockinghorse website at: www.rockinghorse.org.uk or to speak to the charity about how they can support your ideas, call: 01273 330044 or email them at:

enquiries@rockinghorse.org.uk

Rockinghorse golf day

raises over £7k

The Rockinghorse golf day proved a great

Charity success with golf lovers from around Sussex helping to raise £7,000 for the children’s charity.

76 keen golfers, making up 19 teams, attended the successful event at the Mid Sussex Golf Club in Ditchling, one of the first events that the charity has been able to hold since March due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Set in the stunning surroundings of the South Downs, the Mid Sussex Golf Club proved to be a wonderful venue for the teams to enjoy 18 holes of golf followed by a delicious lunch, raffle and prizes handed out to the longest drive, nearest the pin, nearest the line, winning player and winning team.

The event was generously supported by sponsors FRP along with co-sponsors County Business Clubs, Face Media Group and prize sponsors Black Dog Hill Vineyard.

Chris from FRP really enjoyed the chance to get out and play golf with friends whilst supporting Rockinghorse: “We were delighted to once again sponsor the annual Rockinghorse golf day. It is a pleasure to support such a worthy charity. The day was once again expertly planned and fully booked. All of the participants thoroughly enjoyed the day. We will continue to support this event moving forwards.”

Keith Murray from the winning team, who took part with a team of his colleagues from the vehicle concierge service Ryan Canter Club, really enjoyed the event: “A very enjoyable day on a lovely course, well organised as ever by the Rockinghorse team. We are proud to be have been associated with the charity for many years and looking forward to supporting their great work for many years to come.”

Stella Buckingham, Events Fundraising Manager at Rockinghorse, thanked all the players, sponsors and the Mid Sussex Golf Club for hosting the event and added: “We haven’t been able to hold any events for so long and it’s wonderful to see everyone out enjoying themselves - this will make such a difference to our fundraising.

“Unfortunately, due to the new social distancing guidelines we aren’t able to hold any large events for a while but we

hope to run other outdoor and virtual events and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can resume our full events calendar early next year.”

Most of us will never have experienced anything like the last six months, and we have all seen the massive impact the pandemic has had on every part of our society but Ryan Heal, Rockinghorse CEO, is positive about how the charity has responded: “It’s been a real challenge for many charities since March and we’re no exception. But as a team we have worked incredibly hard to maintain links with our supporters and develop innovative fundraising ideas.

“And whilst of course we are disappointed not to be able to hold our other planned events over the next few months due to the new restrictions, we won’t let this dampen our resolves to keep working hard, raising funds and supporting children throughout Sussex.”

For more ideas about how to support Rockinghorse, take a look at their website at www.rockinghorse.org.uk where you can find a range of virtual events that you can get involved with to help raise much needed funds for the charity.