Fundraising Stories


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Read stories from our inspiring supporters who raise money for us in a range of challenging and fun ways.

COMEDY BINGO JUNE FUN !!

 

  A LAUGHTER AND FUN FILLED FRIDAY NIGHT OUT !! WE RAISED A WHOPPING £805 !! 

Jo ran our first comedy bingo night in Crosby, thanks to all who attended and joined in.

Special thanks to everyone who donated prizes and bottles towards the evening/ raffle too.

Brendan was a star and had us dancing too !!

Watch out for our next one.. details to follow soon.

 

 

LEEDS MARATHON RUNNER

RICHARD JACKSON

WOW.. Richard you done us proud !! £301 raised for us too..

Richard ran the Leeds Marathon in the May heatwave..

The temperature and the hills made it hard work, but a beautiful route with fantastic support from all the crowds.

Richard really enjoyed the day and beat his target finish time of 3h 45m.

Thanks for all your support, and please keep those donations coming in!

You can donate here … Richards Just Giving Link

EASTER RAFFLE 2023

 

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who supported are recent Easter chocolate raffle !!

We raised £306.50 through raffle tickets and Cream Egg chicks, kindly knitted and donated by Rachael Barton.

We had 14 LUCKY WINNERS …Lorraine, Brenda, Rebecca (csc), Andreas (csc), Joe (csc) Hazel (social group),Jean (social group), Mary (pmp), Lynne Bailey, Tom Brennan, Joanne Williams,  Joe Stephens, Doreen Kerr, Rachael Parkinson.

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE & BAKE SALE 2022

 

At our November Social Group meeting we held a Christmas BAKE SALE, Some of the group supported with their own bakes and we enjoyed a great afternoon with tea & cake and selling raffle tickets.. Overall we raised over £260. Thanks to all who supported .

 

BROTHERS ON WHEELS- RIDING FOR CRPS

James Pursey is back supporting us again this year this time he’s on wheels!! He has got his brother Mike involved too. James suffers with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome *CRPS. But He has found cycling an amazing outlet for him, enabling exercise without wiping out the ability to move for days/weeks/months. It’s not pain free but it’s tolerable for him.

From James: Most charitable organisations that focus on chronic pain, do so from the perspective of helping care for those that experience it. That’s great and definitely needed, but I believe that chronic pain conditions like CRPS and many more can be better understood and treated. I’m all for being positive, but living like this is not fun and I want to do everything I can to help change my life, and the lives of countless others, for the better.

*CRPS stands for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and is a condition that causes extreme chronic pain in one or more limbs. 35% of patients report that the condition spreads to every limb in their body over time. According to multiple studies, CRPS is the most painful medical condition known to man (e.g. McGill Pain Scale).

The brothers are doing a 156.9 mile (252km) bike ride around London.

So far James and Mike have raised £687.. If you would like to support them. click on the link.

                                        https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pursey-crps-ride

 

CHARITY GARDEN SHOPPING EVENT

What a fabulous day !! Charity Garden shopping event was held by Jo our fundraiser recently ..

Thank you to those who attended & supported the PRF.. Lisa for her gorgeous boutique Tallulah Belle Boutique based in Lymm .. Sophia from the social group, Susie a charity supporter and the lovely Rachel Barton for your baking some delicious cakes & Jo had her body shop stall too !

A lovely way to spend a Sunday & we raised £161  💙  #fundraiser #shopping #supportyourfriends

 

 

REMEMBERING CHARLIE BEECHING

It is with sadness we are sharing this story about the late Charlie Beeching with the permission of his family and friends.
The Family have chosen to support Pain Relief Foundation and Papyrus for suicide prevention in young people.
There are many who feel like Charlie did, in PAIN and hard to accept Fibromyalgia.
There is concern that there are more people like Charlie who became ill during COVID and lived in hope for being better once things returned to normal, but found it was worse.
Is there a link between undiagnosed/ untreatable pain with suicide?
Charlie was sure it was a physical issue and wasn’t happy with how Doctors implied it could be psychosomatic. Charlie did chat with family about how the differentiation between body and mind isn’t binary and it didn’t mean the Doctors necessarily meant it was in his head/ making it up.
Pain Relief Foundation was chosen to be supported as we look at PAIN holistically, we seek the answers which Charlie and others desperately need when it comes to causes and spreading knowledge.
We will continue always to get answers, seek new treatments and support all chronic pain suffers to have a life without PAIN.
                       Thanks to the Beeching Family for supporting us they have helped raise £1,413 so far.
We offer our deepest condolences.
If you would like to donate just click on the link:

 

 

 

SKINFLINT RALLY 2022 In the Valleys

Please show your support for Jozef & Calum who took part in a charity car rally to raise money for Positive Action in the Community (PAC) and the Pain Relief Foundation. They drove an old sports car worth no more than £500 around Wales in June. A journey of over 1000 miles on tough windy roads in an old motor! What a challenge!

The event was organised by Coventry Round Table but 100% of the money raised will be donated to PAC and Pain Relief Foundation

The guys raised £210 for us. You can still donate on the link too.

   Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving

https://www.justgiving.com/team/Blackburnroundtable

 

 

        VALENTINE’S RAFFLE

We had to celebrate Love Week..

A beautiful Pamper Hamper full of Body Shop goodies donated by Bloom & Beauty with Jo & a gorgeous little graze box.

Winner Kerry Trickett was delighted!!

Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket we raised £158.00

 

AMIE’S AINTREE 5K RUN

Huge thanks to Amie Marshall who supported us in December by doing the Local 5k run at Aintree Racecourse. 

Amie has watched her mum Karen suffer with Fybromyalgia & wanted to support us in our research. 

Thanks to Amie from all at PRF for raising awareness of our charity & over £100 too.

 

 OH WHAT A NIGHT!!

                                                   

What an amazing night we had !! Our first FUN event & we certainly raised some funds £1,323.90 to be exact.

  Thank you to all who attended & supported us ..the room looked amazing..

We are such a small team but we smashed a great night !!

Our wonderful Dj’s, Ste & Kev got into character & done us proud 🤩 we had a local singer Linzi Wood sharing the old tunes & Heidi Lou with her first ever gig sharing some giggles too.. All of them done it FREE OF CHARGE !!  

 

HUGE WELL DONE TO THE TAYLOR FAMILY

Just wow a huge well done to the Taylor family !!

Becky, Matt and Mark of Taylor family fame completed the  National Three Peaks Challenge to raise awareness and funds for the Pain Relief Foundation.
They finished their trek in 23hrs 37min, despite challenging conditions on Snowdon.
They made really quick progress on the first two mountains with plenty of time to spare, but needed it on the final leg due to poor  visibility and the weather taking a turn for the worse.

In their own words why they took on such a mammoth challenge;

Our mum, Jo, has been dealing with various types of pain since aggressive cancer treatment in 2003, the worst of which set in around 7 years ago, intensifying in the last couple of years.
For Mum, this means constant, dizzying discomfort which is felt strongest while sitting, preventing her from doing basic things like enjoying a meal. Mum is incredibly stoical and pushes through her condition with laughter and positivity, but as it stands there’s no guaranteed treatment for her specific diagnosis.”

This is why we’re keen to raise money for a cause which, in our experience at least, rarely gets talked about.

Fundraising is still ongoing, and we’ve seen a few more donations trickle in over the last few days and to date you have raised a staggering £11095.25

We are lost for words at this absolutely amazing support, thank you so much for choosing Pain Relief Foundation

 

JULIA’S WINDERMERE END TO END SWIM

Thank you Julia what a selfless and amazing thing to do.

On Friday 17 September Julia swam the full length of Lake Windermere a distance of 10.5 miles at a temperature of e 16-18c, which is normally wetsuit territory.  Julia a wetsuit-hater is  acclimatised from swimming two Channel relays this year so did the swim without.

Julia chose to raise funds for the Foundation as we support research into chronic pain.  Julia’s lower back is held together with bits of titanium following a rowing injury in 2008, she lives with continuous chronic pain.  Julia said ” A 7 hour swim won’t do me any damage (I promise), but it’s fair to say that it might turn out to be more pain than I can swim through.  Hopefully not, let’s find out!  My longest swim up to now has been 4.5 hours.  Give me an incentive to keep swimming by donating to chronic pain research, pretty please.”

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. http://www.justgiving.com/Julia-Maguire2

SimilarWeb runs for Chronic Pain

In 2019 James Pursey registered to do a 5k, despite suffering from CRPS*. The company he works for, SimilarWeb, raised the majority of the £1,200 in fundraising to go to a charity with a focus on treating and curing chronic pain conditions like his.

Unfortunately, due to medical complications, James is no longer able to run and likely won’t ever be able to do the event. It just didn’t seem right to take the money without earning it, so given that the majority of the cash came from SimilarWeb, the plan changed!

Now, everybody at SimilarWeb is invited to run $5k for charity, either on their own page or to raise additional funding for this one! This will all happen on one day, likely in March 2020

From James: Most charitable organisations that focus on chronic pain, do so from the perspective of helping care for those that experience it. That’s great and definitely needed, but I  believe that chronic pain conditions like CRPS and many more can be better understood and treated. I’m all for being positive, but living like this is not fun and I want to do everything I can to help change my life, and the lives of countless others, for the better.

Current Participants:

  • Antonello Musina, Lawrence Penfold, Maxime Carenton, Chris Foale, Jason Schwartz, Elliott Davies, Nikki Radu ,Diana Golovko, Emilie Rochedy, Roxanne Vickerman
  • Emmanuel Heymann, Jonathan Toub, Aaron Friedman, Gilles Haumont, Maoz Lakovski, Lior Friedman

*CRPS stands for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and is a condition that causes extreme chronic pain in one or more limbs. 35% of patients report that the condition spreads to every limb in their body over time. According to multiple studies, CRPS is the most painful medical condition known to man (e.g. McGill Pain Scale). 

A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL FROM ALL AT THE PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION

FOR SO FAR RAISING AN AWESOME  AMOUNT OF £1335.96

 

 

Pain Relief Foundation Christmas Raffle

 

Thanks to the generous donation of prizes which included a 2 night stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel,Liverpool the Pain relief Foundation were able to make up 5 fabulous hampers which we were able to raffle and raise over £1000.00.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO BOUGHT TICKETS

 

EMMA DOES THE WIRRAL COSTAL WALK 2019

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO OUR SUPERB REGULAR FUNDRAISER EMMA PRICE FOR COMPLETING

THE 2019 WIRRAL COSTAL WALK ON THE  23rd June. 

Emma currently a PhD student at the University of Liverpool studying ‘Investigating the role of retrotransposons in chronic pain. A  project  which aims to assess the impact of mobile genetic elements (retrotransposons) on gene regulation in sensory neurones. Emma kindly gives up her very limited spare time to help raise funds for the very underfunded research into human chronic pain.

The Walk follows the Wirral coastline from Seacombe Ferry on the River Mersey to Wirral Country Park Visitor Centre at Thurstaston, a distance of 15 miles.

It is a fun event for walkers of all ages and abilities. Its main attraction, apart from the exercise and the opportunity to view the beautiful Wirral coastline. A fantastic coastline ensures you enjoy your walk, starting off with views across the River Mersey to Liverpool and the huge docks complex, passing the small seaside town of New Brighton and onto a beautiful Beach lined coast against the Irish Sea before the final turn onto the more rural and peaceful countryside overlooking the River Dee.

The Wirral Way – Once a busy railway line, closed in the 1960’s but reopened for walkers in 1973 as part of the Wirral Country Park , the first of its kind in Britain . It offers scope for birdwatchers, artists, botanists, photographers, and walkers.

 

Merton College rows from Oxford to London

 

Merton College Boat Club took on the challenge to row from Oxford to London in just two days. From Iffley lock to Teddington lock 32 beautiful locks, and a gruelling 160 km… a long but beautiful journey.  The team were confident they could reach London on Sunday evening!

The reason why we  did this; as rowers, we sometimes have to enter the ‘pain cave’ in order to push our bodies to perform… but when we reach our goal, we are lucky enough to go back to a pain-free life. Unfortunately, too many people are not so lucky. Chronic pain patients have to tolerate unwanted pain on a daily basis, and we are only beginning to understand the causes of their symptoms, and how to relieve them.

With this in mind, all your donations will go towards The Pain Relief Foundation, a UK based charity which funds research into the causes and treatment of human chronic pain. We would be thrilled if our two days of voluntary pain could improve the lives of those who suffer from unwanted pain on a daily basis.

 

We made it!! 6:10am at ULBC… Cold, wet and tired, but alive and happy! 32 locks, 160km, 24h on the water, 17 blisters, and gallons of rain water. What a fantastic and memorable journey.

A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL FROM ALL AT THE PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION

FOR RAISING AN AWESOME  AMOUNT OF £870.00

 

Kyle McCullough Raises Funds for CRPS

 

Kyle is a 13 year old boy describes his own words why he chose to raise funds for Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

“I wanted to raise money for the Pain Relief Foundation as they support Research into CRPS. I believe that with enough support and help a cure could be found.

The reason behind my decision to raise funds is because my Dad has CRPS in his ankle and it is very bad affecting his ability to walk normally and is very upsetting for him and our family to see him struggle and be in constant pain.

I want to help in any way I can so that hopefully in the future other people and families do not have live with this awful condition.”

From all the Pain Relief Foundation we would like to thank Kyle for all his efforts and raising the grand sum of £54.14

 

Pain Relief Foundation Scales Dizzy Heights

Jo Stephens our new Fundraiser has settled nicely in tho her role, we’ve had a small cake sale within the building allowing her to in introduce herself  and raised a little money too.

Next she set the ladies in the office, Julie, Lorraine and Hayley a task, along with volunteers Sarah Bennett, Emma Price and Jack Marshall all of whom have their own reasons as to why they would want to do this .… to abseil down the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral last month.. What a fantastic achievement! We’ve raised over £1,200 and we are still accepting donations via just giving page.

Sarah’s Why ?

PRF relies entirely on charitable donations and fund raising. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts for more than 3 months. As well as physical impact, chronic pain can cause a number of problems affecting a person’s well-being. These can include reduced activity, fear of further damage, worry, loss of confidence, isolation, relationship difficulties and much more.

PRF is helping people make positive changes to their lives to the full, in spite of chronic pain….” It’s for this reason that I’m chucking myself over the side of Liverpool Cathedral, a.k.a abseiling”.

Emma and Jack’s Why?

Myself and my best lab buddy Jack Marshall are swopping our lab coats for a safety harness and abseiling down Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral (Britain’s BIGGEST!!). This is to help raise money for Pain Relief Foundation. PRF funds my research at the University of Liverpool to help those suffering with chronic pain- and we all know somebody who is !! Please help us raise money and give back to this fantastic cause..

Lorraine’s , Julie’s and Hayley’s Why?

To raise much needed funds, so we may continue to fund research into human chronic pain and its treatment, to provide an information service to chronic pain sufferers and patients on chronic pain conditions.

PRF are truly grateful for all donations big or small, they matter.

If you would like to do something to raise funds for us please get in touch. On 0151 529 5824 or email jo.stephens@painrelieffoundation.org.uk

 

A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL FROM ALL AT THE PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION

FOR RAISING AN AWESOME  AMOUNT OF £1284.05

 

Katie’s Twin Peak Challenge

Katie Elder Twin Peaks

Katie Elder from Basildon, Essex recently completed the Twin Peak challenge of trekking to the summits of Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike in the Lake District (the highest peaks in Scotland and England) to fund raise for the Pain Relief Foundation. Katie has to manage M.E. so knows how difficult it can be to explain a misunderstood condition such as Chronic Pain.

At Scafell Pike Katie encountered minus 3 degrees temperatures and 60 mph winds making it extremely slippery. The guide told her they were the worst conditions he had taken people up in for many years.

Katie decided to do this to fund raise for the Pain Relief Foundation because she and her younger sister have grown up knowing their Dad has been in constant pain from when she was 3 and her sister 1 year old (some 30 years). Katie says “Sadly I can’t remember my Dad prior to his constant pain”.

 Katie Elder

Over the years I have visited my Dad in numerous hospitals, residential Pain Management Programmes and attended many appointments where we always hoped that would be the surgery or procedure that may not cure him but at least help him. He has also been to many alternative practitioners, been prescribed so many strong medications and tried so many self- help techniques but sadly none have had any realistic benefit.

Katie continues “I’ve seen the effects of ever widening chronic pain spread from initially Dad’s spine to now encompass pretty much his whole body. Even though he fights so hard to hide how much pain he is in and the devastating effect it has had on his life we as a family know only too well”

Katie says “We are very proud of my Dad but would love him to be out of pain. This is why I feel very passionate about the Pain Relief Foundation and recognising Chronic Pain as a serious life changing condition in it’s own right and to continue research to help others so that they do not have to suffer so much like my Dad”

So far Katie has managed to raise £640 for the Pain Relief Foundation through her Just Giving page and is looking for other ways to raise funding for the cause close to her heart.

THANK YOU KATIE FROM ALL AT THE PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION 

 


 

Artist Pik Vincent Auctions Painting to Raise Funds for CRPS

Pik Vincent

I have been painting, daubing since I was a nipper, then I started seriously painting in my teens, landscapes in watercolour, mainly. Unfortunately there came a time that I lost the use of my writing hand, my left, through CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome). I suddenly found I could not paint and it took me nearly a decade to find the confidence, with the help and enthusiasm of friends and family, to try and use my right hand. It was a ‘trial and error’ experience but then I found canvas boards and acrylic paint and we were very much compatible.

However, through using my right hand suddenly I found I had such a different style, it wasn’t delicate but it had an intensity that seemed to acknowledge my daily pain and stress that I suffer with and I found I could put that into my brush somehow.

Thus ‘Hidden Women’ began.

Disability is not always seen and shouldn’t have to be described to people to get it to be acknowledged

My ‘Hidden Women’ are there to show just what people are they are not there to be judged and their lives shouldn’t have to be explained.

THANK YOU FOR DONATING THE PROCEEDS FROM THE AUCTION OF ONE OF YOUR AMAZING PIECES OF ART

 

 


 

 

 Ben Braves the Shave to Raise Funds for ‘CRPS’

Ben Beacham of Bridgewater is only 12 years old but he has fast become one of our regular fundraisers. Ben has already single handily raised £651.00 for by doing a 30 mile cycle ride and organising a school disco and now he has completed the challenge to shave his head all in the name of research into Chronic Regional pain Syndrome ‘CRPS’

ben-head-shaveimgid85656548

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In his own words Ben is still really keen to fundraise for ‘CRPS’ and decided to do a total head shave and sell some wristbands in his school. He has raised the grand sum £184.00 by doing this and he also designed a t-shirt for the charity.

“I hope they eventually find a cure for ‘CRPS’ as it’s a very painful condition and incredibly hard to beat! Next year I am thinking about doing a sponsored swim or maybe a sponsored silence, so watch this space!!

ben-tshirt

Ben has also become a celebrity in Bridgewater making his local newspaper the Bridgewater Mercury. Click here to see the article.

To read more of my story or to make a donation I now have a page on ‘Just Giving’            Click here to view ‘ just giving

Click here to see Ben’s photo gallery

A BIG THANK YOU TO BEN FROM ALL AT THE PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION 

 


 

 

Rebecca Bresnahan does Tough Mudder 

rebecca-9

I subjected myself to high levels of pain including a gruelling 12 mile run complete with various challenging and, quite simply, horrendous obstacles for The Pain Relief Foundation because so many suffer from crippling pain every day

rebecca-6

The Pain Relief Foundation is a small charity which supports research into the treatment and prevention of chronic pain conditions. I am supporting this charity because I have seen first-hand the work that it does and the patients which it helps. 

1 in 5 people suffer from chronic pain which severely impacts their quality of life and is often debilitating. At present, there is no medication specific to the treatment of chronic pain. For this reason, I am raising money to support research into finding a much needed treatment!

Any donation, however big or small, is much appreciated!  

Thank you Rebecca you successfully raised £410.00.

Click here to see Rebecca in action

 


 

11 year Old, Ben Beacham runs for Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome – CRPS

Ben eacham photo 2 Ben Beacham Photo 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben was diagnosed with CRPS in his left foot following a small fall at the park. His foot displayed unusual skin symptoms and Ben suffered unbearable, unrelenting pain which had a dramatic effect on his life. Attending school, social activities, even sleeping and wearing socks or shoes became very difficult and Ben was often hospitalized and eventually confined to a wheelchair.

His world was completely changed and to see him in that much pain was awful. We worked hard together with various consultants to gradually bring the situation under control and eventually after months effort Ben could use his foot again and beat CRPS.

Ben is now committed to fund raising and promoting awareness of this condition. He wants to help as many people as possible. He is 11 years old but has single handedly raised £651.00 by doing a 30 mile cycle ride, selling wristbands and organising a school disco. He is still keen to raise more money so watch this space!!