Following the untimely passing of well known Felixstowe businessman Charlie Manning, the ladies who formed ‘Ladies Who Care’ (LWC) decided that they would like to organise a Winter Charity Ball in Charlie’s memory.  The Manning family were approached about the idea and they readily gave their support.

Incredibly, from an initial meeting and discussion the event took place within 10 weeks.  It was held at The Orwell Hotel Felixstowe on the 11th December 2011 and was attended by over 200 people and raised £12,500 for Woolverstone Wish.  The charity was chosen as it was felt that it was local and the work it does touches so many people.

The organisers were overwhelmed with donations from the many sponsers and numerous people who gave so generously to the Grand Auction and Tombola.

The ladies said that the success of the Charity Ball was due to the fact that Charlie Manning was a much loved and popular personality and his family stated that he would have been very proud to know that in his memory much needed funds were raised for such a worthy cause as Woolverstone Wish.

The picture above shows some of the Ladies Who Care presenting their cheque (l-r Shirley Alexander, Judy Cattermole, Francesca Shelley, Cheryl Thayer from Woolverstone Wish, Sarah Manning, June Webb and Lyn Sallows).  Also involved in organising the event, but missing form the photo, were Karen Shelly and Patsy Weichett.

A cheque for £1000.00 has been presented to the Woolverstone Wish following a successful Cabaret Night held in Felixstowe Conservative Club.  The evening was arranged by Karen Deary and her husband Wayne and featured the comedian Mickey Zany and keyboard player Annie.  The packed house was also treated to an excellent buffet supper provided by Karen.

A raffle took place during the evening and the Conservative Club kindly paid the entertainers' fees, helping to maximise the money raised for the charity.

Over 100 chemo bum-bags have been made and donated by the members of the the Great Blakenham Craft Club.  The bags are used to hold chemo drug containers, allowing patients to more easily move around while their treatment, which can often taken several hours, is administered.

Some of the Craft Club members are pictured on the left.

Calum and Lewis Deal have raised £500.00 for the fund by organising a Bake Sale.

Their father, Chris, is a patient of the unit and the boys wanted to do something to help him and other people who are being treated for Cancer.

They raised a total of £1000.00 for Cancer charities and donated half of it to the Woolverstone Wish.

The boys are pictured on the left with their parents Chris and Lorraine.

Steve Dougall, a patient of the Oncology Department organised a raffle before Christmas and raised £450 for the Woolverstone Wish Fund.

The picture on the left shows the raffle draw taking place at the BT offices in Adastral Park with (l-r) Steve Dougall, Nigel Lecky, Fay Owston, Joanne Crowe and Maria Dalby.

Representatives from Crane Building Services and Utilities recently presented a cheque for £4386.00 to the Woolverstone Wish Fund committee as part of company's annual charitable giving programme.

The Woolverstone Wish Fund is one of 5 charities in the region who have benefited from Crane's donations.

Each year, Crane staff are invited to nominate local charities which have some form of affiliation to them and there families - particularly smaller ones that provide direct services to the needy and disadvantaged.

This year, the Wooverstone Wish Fund was nominated by an employee who underwent chemotherapy at Ipswich Hospital as part of her breast cancer treatment in 2010.

Woolverstone Wish committee member Victoria Barber said: "We are delighted to receive support from Crane.  Our current total is over £206,000 and the long-term goal is to raise £800,000 to enable the hospital to increase the available space, improve patient privacy and provide a more comfortable treatment area".

The picture above shows (l-r) Julie Collis, Cheryl Thayer, Judy Lumsden and Victoria Barber.

Thanks to everyone who completed and returned the Woolverstone Christmas Quiz, we hope you all enjoyed it. We had 68 entries with all questions answered correctly and the winner, drawn at random by Paul Ridley, was Nic Arye who very kindly donated his £25 prize to the Woolverstone Wish making the final amount raised £327.00.

Thank-you very much Nic for your generosity and well done on all those correct answers!

The picture on the left shows Nic receiving his prize from Wendy Page.

You can view the correct answers here.

In memory of Lynne Powell and as thanks for the care and treatment she received from the Oncology Unit, Emily Shevlin and her sister Kayleigh raised £1,705.00 for the Woolverstone Wish by taking part in the Capel St. Mary 5 Mile Run.

When asked why she wanted to take on the challenge of the run, Emily (who is Lynne's son Jordan's girlfriend) said, "Lynne was such a special person and I wanted to support the Woolverstone Wish because of the help they gave her during her illness".

Lynne's husband, Mark, also commented, "Lynne was such a beautiful, caring and hardworking person, would do anything for her family and went out of her way to help others.  I want to thank Mr Morgan and his team for everything they did for Lynne and the wards in the hospital for the help and care they gave Lynne during her stay.

The picture shows (from left to right) Jordan Powell, Emily Shevlin, Kayleigh Shevlin, Joshua Powell and Mark Powell.

The Woolverstone Wish Christmas Bazaar, held in Martlesham Community Hall on Sunday, 4th December has raised over £2,000.00 for the charity fund.

With some fantastic stalls, including Jewellery, Tombola, Pretty Chic, Christmas Gifts & Decorations, Velvet Photography, Just Sew, Homemade Cakes & Preserves, Jewellery, Sweetie stall, Soaps and Christmas Wreaths, there was a steady stream of happy customers for the duration of the event.

The event was so successful and popular that plans are already beginning to be made for the next bazaar at Easter...watch this space!

To turn the experience of their mother having cancer into something positive, sisters Jenny Jewers, Julie Brightwell and Claire Squirrell organised a Dinner Dance at Stowmarket Golf Club back in October.

After feeling frustrated and quite helpless, they found out about the Woolverstone Wish and decided it was the perfect charity to support.  They also wanted to do something to say thank-you to the staff for looking after their mother Jean Squirrell.

As a result, £2270.00 has been raised for the fund and the organisers would like to thank the local companies and friends who generously gave auction and raffle prizes.

Following her successful treatment in the Oncology Unit, Sonia Saunders and her husband Mark decided to raise money at their wedding in July by asking their family and friends to make a donation rather than buy wedding gifts.

As a result they raised £300.00 for the Woolverstone Wish.

Sonia commented, "I was a patient at the Woolverstone Wing last year while having treatment for breast cancer, which I am very happy to say is now clear.  I received the very best of care right from my diagnosis through surgery and radiotherapy.  Everyone was so supportive to both myself and my husband Mark, for which we will always be thankful".

Sonia and Mark are pictured on the left on their fairytale day.

Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple!

Following her successful treatment at the hospital, Sue Gilder has raised £1861.62 for the Woolverstone Wish and the Cancer Care Unit

"You hear many compaints about the NHS", said Sue, "but I can only praise the way that I was looked after by the Cancer Care Unit at the hospital and the support given to me by the Woolverstone Wish.  You could not wish for better care".

A keen carpet bowler, Sue enlisted help from her husband Andy and good friend Mick Watkins to organise a Carpet bowls competition at Needham Market Community Centre back in August.  The event was supported by bowls teams from across the region, including Cambridge, Bedford, Essex and Norfolk.

Local companies and individuals helped in many ways, including making donations and providing prizes.  There was a 12 hour bowls marathon between Cambridge and Suffolk, a Fours competition, a raffle and a tombola.  The total raised was augemented by donations received after the event - even from as far away as Durham.

The picture shows Sue Gilder and her friends Mick and Shirley Watkins presenting a cheque to Wendy Page from the Radiotherapy Unit at the hospital.

The Woolverstone Day Unit has received a new recliner chair in memory of David Goddard who was a patient in the ward, but sadly passed away in December 2010.  David's family and friends donated money to the Woolverstone Wish with a request that it was spent on something that would make a difference in the unit.

The new chair will help improve the comfort of patients for many years ahead.

The picture shows Sarah Haddock during her abseil down the side the Ipswich Hospital building.

Sarah braved the heights and raised £385.00 for the Woolverstone Wish fund as a thank-you for the treatment received by Denise Girling.

Derek was a very kind and caring person with a great sense of humour and always willing to help others. He was born and bred in Ipswich, was a wonderful husband and soul mate to Helen whom he married in October 1961, had two daughters Tracy and Trudy and two granddaughters all of whom he adored. He enlisted in the Army and served with 1 Suffolk from 1955 to 1958 and was stationed in Wuppertal (BAOR) and Cyprus during the EOKA terrorist campaign. On leaving the army he worked for BRW and then British Telecom before taking early retirement in his 50’s. He was co-founder and Vice-Chairman of the recently formed Ipswich & District Branch of the Suffolk & Royal Anglian Regiments Association.

After being diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in January 2010 Derek was referred to Dr Soomal at the Oncology Department and he valued the wonderful support and care that he received from all those involved and wanted so much to help others who found themselves to be in similar position therefore the Woolverstone Wish was chosen for donations in his memory to help them achieve their goal for a better environment for patients to be treated and for the staff working there. The sum of £530 was raised in his memory £320 from his many friends who attended his funeral and £200 from a raffle kindly held in his memory at the Standard Dedication Ceremony of the Ipswich & District Branch of the Suffolk & Royal Anglian Regiments Association of which he was Vice-Chairman.

The photograph shows Peter Cracknell, Chairman of the Suffolk and Royal Anglian Regiments Association presenting a cheque for the money raised.

A team of 8 people, led by Paula Clark from Holton St Mary recently completed a walk along the length of the West Highland Way - raising £900 for the Woolverstone Wish.

The walk started in Milngavie near Glasgow and finished 97 miles away in Fort William and included some rugged and extremely picturesque countryside during its 6 day duration.

The picture on the left shows the walkers - Paula Clark, her partner John Partridge, Naomi Ellis, Chris Huntingdon, Jane Whyman, Alan & Shirley Suckling and Tony Howard.

Paula, Chris and Tony did the same walk in 2000 along with their friend Gordon Walker, who sadly died from cancer of the oesophagus shortly after.  The walk this year was partly in tribute to Gordon.

Paula's mother has been receiving treatment for cancer at Ipswich Hospital for the last five or six years and as a result of the friendly, helpful and efficient care, Paula decided to make Woolverstone Wish the beneficiary of the money raised.

Some of the Woolverstone Wish team and their press-ganged helpers recently made a 5am start to raise money at a local Car Boot Sale.

With items left over from the Easter Bazaar and some newly donated goods, the team raised a total of £314.75 for the fund.

A total of £7,447.00 was raised by Matthew Clarke and his friends by running in the Dubai Marathon and the Brighton Half Marathon.

The runners were:

Dubai - Matthew Pickering, Adrian Tiwari, Barney Mundell, James Elliott-Square and Matthew Clarke.

Brighton - Charley Clarke and Will Tomlinson.

Commenting on their great success, Matthew said, "All runners took part in the Dubai Marathon at the beginning of this year on behalf of the Woolverstone Wish, the nominated charity of my mother Rosie Clarke, who received excellent treatment at the Ipswich Oncology Unit during 2010. My mother could not speak highly enough of how well looked after she was made to feel by all staff and we are proud to represent this charity. A total of £7,447.00 was raised which we hope goes some small way to help this most excellent cause. Additionally, my sister Charley and her boyfriend Will, also managed to complete the Brighton half Marathon again at the beginning of the year and made a valuable contribution to our raised total".

Many thanks to Matthew and his team for organising and succeeding in such challenging events.

A concert of Gilbert and Sullivan music held in Playford Village Hall on 21st May raised £1025.00 for the fund.  The musical evening featured the talents of Carole King (soprano), Rachel Dawson (Mezzo-soprano), Caroline Dyson (contralto), Paul Bloomfield (tenor), Peter Dawson (Bass),  Jane Burn (piano) and was ably compered by Bryan King.

Carole arranged the concert in memory of her good friend Irene Brunning who was treated in the Oncology Unit and her target of £500.00 was well and truely beaten.

In explaining her reasons for organising the event, Carole said, "Irene was an amazing woman and during her life she committed a lot of her free time to working for charities, fundraising and supporting others.  She carried on much of that work even after she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Like the words of the well known Gilbert and Sullivan song, she had the most wonderful 'sparkling eyes', and hopefully this concert will re-capture some of the joy she brought to our lives".

The evening also included a raffle and light refreshments donated by the Ladies of Grundisburgh, which all helped boost the total money raised.