Category: Charity

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21 Days to go before the charity run

We leave for the charity run in just 21 days .. and would really like to hit the £1,000 target for the guys at Feel the Force Day (www.feeltheforceday.com) also known as FTFD.

In between what is becoming a very busy August and September workwise (thanks to loads of very cool projects and more coming in) – I have been trying to find time for training and to promote the fact that 4 of us are running at the Disneyland Paris Magic Run weekend for the 4th year, to raise funds for this amazing cause.

If you aren’t comfortable using just giving, you can paypal me your donation, give me cash or bank transfer it and I will pay it on your behalf (message me if you would like to do that), Sam is collecting over at the Little Shop of This & That too – but EVERY PENNY helps keep this event going. FTFD is run completely on donations from people like us and sponsorship of local companies.

Founded in 2013 by Si Howard and JJ Lucia-Wright what started off as a small event in a backroom has grown into one of the biggest fan run Film, TV and Comic Cons in the country. So much so, they have outgrown the Kingsgate Conference Centre in Peterborough and they are moving to the East of England arena.

Si, JJ and their fantastic team put on an event that EVERYONE can feel comfortable at. FTFD events are accessible for wheelchairs and scooters of all shapes and sizes, aisles are wide to allow guests with walking aids to pass, tables are at a height that chairs and shorter guests can access. There are sensory rooms and touch tables for guests with visual or hearing problems, quiet rooms for guests who are anxious, autistic and have other issues with noise and crowds. Guests are encouraged to touch props and costumes – it is a festival of sound and vision, touch and taste – something for all the senses – even if that means very quiet and one on one experience.

In 2018 over 6,000 visitors came through the doors, moving to the bigger venue means there will be even more space, room for 8,000 visitors, more room for displays and vehicles – bigger space means more costs, which is why the 2019 run needs to raise more funds. If you can help in anyway please let us know

Feel the Force Day is by far the most inclusive best day out if you are a geek and it makes no difference who you are as Feel the Force Day is for everyone no matter what.

This cause is so close to my heart which is why I am slogging my way around 3 races in 3 days and getting up at 4am on a saturday and sunday 🙂

So please if you can #GiveUsAQuid to help FTFD – please visit our Just Giving Page to donate, contact me to donate another way, check out our website for more information or visit our facebook page.

I am eternally grateful to my awesome employeer BCC who allows me the time off to do this – I couldn’t ask for a more supportive bunch of people to work with … and THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us so far

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Run 4 Feel the Force Day 2019

Hello lovely readers …

It is that time of year again when I am preparing to spend a few days at Disneyland Paris running to raise money for my favourite charity .. yes you heard that right RUNNING.  Every year since 2016 my best friend and fellow Disney fan and costumer Sam Edgar have headed to Disneyland Paris in September to take part in the Disneyland Paris Run Weekend.

Feel the Force Day is the world’s only Film, TV and Comic Con designed for visually impaired people, disabled people & people with learning difficulties.Founded in 2013 by Si Howard and JJ Lucia-Wright, what started off as a small event in a backroom has grown into one of the biggest fan run Film, TV and Comic Cons in the country. So much so, they have outgrown the Kingsgate Conference Centre in Peterborough and they are moving to the East of England arena which can hold a massive 8,000 people.

 
Si, JJ and their fantastic team put on an event that EVERYONE can feel comfortable at. FTFD events are accessible for wheelchairs and scooters of all shapes and sizes, aisles are wide to allow guests with walking aids to pass, tables are at a height that chairs and shorter guests can access. There are sensory rooms and touch tables for guests with visual or hearing problems, quiet rooms for guests who are anxious, autistic and have other issues with noise and crowds. Guests are encouraged to touch props and costumes – it is a festival of sound and vision, touch and taste – something for all the senses – even if that means very quiet and one on one experience.
 

Since 2016 Sam and I (and our amazing team) have ran 203km and raised almost £3,000 for Feel the Force Day.

This year a team of 4 are heading to DLP for run weekend between us we will be running 108km between us.

The adults in the group will be doing the challenges

I am running the 36k challenge which is 3 races : 5k, 10k and half marathon

Sam & Ben are running the 31k challenge which is 2 races: 10k and half marathon

5k is on Friday night at 8pm, 10k is Saturday morning at 7am and the half is on Sunday morning at 7am.  We have to be in the corals an hour before the race so that is a 4:30/5am wake up – lovely 🙂

We do this because we all believe that Feel the Force Day is an amazing cause. It is completely run by volunteers and is funded by donations and the kind sponsorship of local companies.

If you can spare £1, €1, $1 or any amount in any currencey to sponsor us  that would be amazing. You can donate to our run by visiting our Just Giving page or hit the donate button below. If you wish to donate or pledge a donation in person please let us know.

All donations go straight to the 1st Sensory Legion charity who are the team behind Feel The Force Day and every penny really does count.

JustGiving - Sponsor me now!

Thank you SO MUCH to our regular supporters who have sponsored us every year – you are amazing people and we love you.

To find out more please see the following links:V

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Who knew my love for StarWars would win me a prize

On May the 4th (also known as StarWars day – you work it out) one of my good friends and former co worker (not sure how he put up sitting opposite me for 2 and a half years 🙂 ) Mr Dave Sheryn pinged me with an interesting link to a starwars costume competition ..

“That’ll be fun”, I thought, “will give it ago .. have a snowballs chance in hell of winning” – so I posted this pic of me

With the message

O well if we are showing off star wars costumes .. this is my mandalorian - made, painted & worn by me :D

Didn’t expect to hear a thing back ..

For those of you that know about my StarWars obsession – I spent about 2 years inbetween life, work, illness, getting married etc. to make my mando costume – it was a labour of love which I made and painted myself and its always in upgrade mode 🙂

Imagine my surprise when I recieved this tweet on Revenge of the 5th (that’s the 5th of may incase you were wondering) …

O M G was one of the nicer expletives that may have left my lips …. I NEVER win anything …

The prize is a Nerf Millenium Falcon and I can’t thank The Freaky Clown enough for this .. thanks again for picking me

It’s bloody amazing … I haven’t unboxed it yet as I am worried I will spend hours playing with it and not want to stop 🙂

I do have plans for it though .. I am going to lend it to Feel the Force Day for their touch table – and i really need to find it somewhere to live at home ..

 

 

 

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Been kinda busy .. BUT

Had a bit of a beast of a project which is almost done ..  Connections on IBM i (iSeries, AS400), with Docs on Windows, Kudos analytics and a bunch of other stuff .. I have loads to blog about that .. that is for another day as I am currently writing all the documentation up ….

 

In other news .. it may be a bit of a secret but I am a tiny bit of a Star Wars and Disney fan and I do like to throw a Costume on to raise money for a good cause or two. I have also been inspired by my good friend Mr Tim Clark who has recently blogged about making a change to lose weight and get fit. I have decided to follow his lead.

So two weeks ago I started the same Cambridge Weight Plan as Tim and I also have the support of the amazing Marissa – It hasn’t been easy as it is a massive shock to your body to basically stop eating *crap* and just give it what it needs, but I feel amazing ..

So on the back of this ..  my Best Pal, fellow Disney and costuming nut, the lovely Samantha Cunningham talked me into running a 5k at the inaugural Disneyland Paris Marathon Weekend .. initially I was terrified of the thought as I haven’t done any kind of real running since I was in High School (I used to be a 100 and 200m sprinter). The more I thought about it, I realised that I can use this as a goal and to keep me motivated to keep on with the weight loss and exercise.

I am not known for my will power I must admit, I was worried I may cave or give up !! To stop this from happening I am running for a charity. Specifically the 1st Sensory Legion who are the driving force behind Feel the Force Day.

 

Feel the Force Day events are film and TV conventions with a difference. They are the only conventions that are designed around disabled people and make them as accessible as possible. Access does not just mean a disabled loo and a ramp, it’s about attitude, contact and all the subtle things that make things easier. They are an amazing bunch of people .. so Sam and I are running for FTFD … we want to raise as much for them as possible as everything is funded by donations and the whole team are volunteers with day jobs …

If you can spare a £, $, € or any other currency please head over to my just giving page or the team page.

 

Thanks in advance for all your support .. 😀

runForFTFD

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Can you spare an item to help raise money for two amazing causes?

Friends, Geeks, Costumers, fellow Disney fans, lovers of star wars, friends of friends, basically everyone ….

As some of you know I am part of a team behind a charity convention later this year (August 7th).
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Our aim is to raise much needed funds for two amazing causes

Demelza Hospice Care for Children – a charity supporting children and young people (0-19) who are not expected to reach adulthood, and offer support to their families across Kent, South East London and East Sussex

Feel the Force Day (registed charity – 1st sensory legion) – Feel the Force Day is an accessible film and TV event designed for visually impaired and disabled people. Days include tactile costumes, props, vehicles, TV and film related smell jars… plus a few new and original ideas at each event.

All proceeds from Invictacon will be split between the two charities above – as you will agree both great causes.

 

So how can you help us?

The Invictacon team are looking for donations from you .. not in the monitory sense (although cash donations are lovely) – we are looking for items that we can use in our raffle and blind auction.

It can be anything related to film, tv, sci-fi, comic books, gaming, sport, any fandoms etc… that will help us raise some funds for Demelza and FTFD

 

How can you get it to us?

  • IBM/LOTUS/Conference people – we are at Connect 2016 in Orlando and Engage 2016 in Einhoven – bring it along (as long as i can fit it in a case)
  • Costuming friends – we will be at a few sci-fi / comic cons this year – let us know where you will be and we will come and collect or arrange for a friend to accept it on our behalf
  • Anyone else -You can contact us to arrange pick up (if you are local to the southeast of the UK) or postal / courier

 

Any donations will be gratefully received – and we would love to tell the world that you have donated a prize (if you don’t want us to do that, that is also ok)

We are also looking for category sponsors for the costume / cosplay competition (or for the whole comp) – a small prize, trophy and certificate will be presented in each category

  • Kids under 10
    Kids 10 – 16
    Adults 16 and over
    Best Group

The competition is being judged by the lovely Alan Flyng – Star wars (ESB / ROTJ – storm-trooper and imperial officer) who is an amazing costume maker / wardrobe master who has worked on thousands of TV, film and theatrical productions.

 

Thank you

So my plee for help ends .. if there is anyway you could part with something no matter how small to help us raise funds for both causes the whole team would be so so grateful.

The team and I can not thank you enough – we are all volunteers and get nothing but a warm and fuzzy feeling for raising some well needed funds for two amazing causes.

 

So thank you

Sharon, Sam, Nathan, David and Nicky

 

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Calling my developer friends

Hello developer types .. as most of you know I do a lot of work with the iCosplay anti-bullying charity and we need some help (please).

We are looking to reward costumers for doing charity work, community work, visiting sick kids in hosplital, etc . Their progress will be voted on via FB which is straight forward enough – but at the end of the year the top community costumers will be invited to the Wyntercon event in Eastbourne (in Oct 2015)  for the *end of season* pageant where ultimately they will be recognized for everything they have done throughout the year.

We are after a mobile app that we can use for the team to mark each of the entrants – on their costume, community assistance and charity work and anyother details that they can provide about what they have done through-out the year. It needs to be able to run on ‘droid and ios, the backend / server can be anything really as long as I can put up a server for it ..

If any one can help out .. we will be eternally grateful, will happily promote your awesome skills via the iCosplay site and FB page and you will get tickets for the Wyntercon event.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give us on this .. please ping me via twitter / FB or Skype if you think you can help us ..