Carmel's New M.E Awareness Store

A selection of M.E Awareness t-shirts.

Carmel Hillary first opened her Cafepress M.E Awareness store in support of Let's do it for ME and Invest in ME charity in November last year. Her t-shirt design "M.E. - it's not for wimps", along with a wide range of other designs, proved popular and raised funds for biomedical ME research.

Now Carmel has opened up a second M.E Awareness store with many of the same popular designs but this time with Spreadshirt.co.uk where UK shipping costs are more favourable. The New Spreadshirt M.E Awareness Store is in addition to the first which will remain open offering customers the widest choice in available products.

Certain products are only available through the Cafepress M.E Awareness store, this includes the pyjamas, phone covers, magnets and bumper stickers shown here - which have also proved popular and have been successful in attracting attention to our cause.

Carmel's stores are also selling the Global Action International Awareness Day t-shirts for the UK, with kind permission from event organiser Joni Comstock. For more information on the International Awareness Day campaign or to purchase a Global Action t-shirt in the US visit the Global Action May 12th website.

As with the official Let's do it for ME Standard Spreadshirt Shop and Designer Spreadshirt Shop (where you can re-size our designs and add your own images and slogans) all profits from both of Carmel's stores go directly to Invest in ME and towards biomedical ME research in Norwich. With thanks to Carmel for all her hard work in setting up and running her M.E Awareness stores despite being very unwell herself and for her support of Invest in ME charity and the Let's do it for ME campaign.

There's really never been a better time to get some M.E Awareness clobber in your wardrobe
 - Let's do it for ME!

Your Photos for Mosaic by 30th April

Invest in ME plans to create a mosaic of photographs of those who have contributed to our campaign so far to make into a full page in the 7th Invest in ME Conference Journal with an article about Let's do it for ME.  Thanks to those who have sent in their photos already.

If you would like to be included in the mosaic, please send your photo by 30th April to:

fundraising4me@gmail.com

For previous Invest in ME Conference Journals, please click here.

About the Conference - IIMEC7

Invest in ME charity has held an international conference on biomedical ME/CFS research every year since 2006. This year's venue is the magnificent Lecture Theatre of One Birdcage Walk, in the heart of Westminster, London on 1st June.

The conference will appeal to healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, paediatricians, occupational therapists, researchers, ME/CFS support groups, people with ME/CFS and those working in social services, educational support and the media.

The conference provides an opportunity to network with other researchers, healthcare professionals and patient groups/charities, and for people within government, health departments, social services and education to be able to be informed of the true nature of ME/CFS and of the current status of diagnosis, treatment and current/future biomedical research possibilities. Maximum 6 point CPD-accreditation is available to those registering in the professional category.

The conference is a ticket-only event - please see the Invest in ME website for full details.

A conference DVD will be available in due course following the event. 

Don't forget that if you would like to be included in the mosaic of photos for the conference journal, please send your photo by 30th April at the latest to:

fundraising4me@gmail.com

Thank-you for your support.

Let's do it for ME!

New designs in our Spreadshirt Shop

We have a new design now available in our Designer Spreadshirt Shop  Our new design is clearer about what Let's do it for ME stands for and includes Invest in ME's charity number and our new web url.

The design has been added in two colour-ways to the designs already available in our Designer Shop where you can size and place our designs, and other free designs from Spreadshirt, onto the products you like yourself and customize them to suit your needs. *You can also upload your own photos and designs

The new designs will also be added to our standard Spreadshirt shop soon - http://ldifme.spreadshirt.co.uk/

All funds from both our shops go direct to Invest in ME and towards biomedical research and the Norwich centre. In our designer shop IiME receive 20% commission on every item sold, in our standard shop £1 is generated on accessories and children's items and £2 from all adult items sold - as stated in the description per item.

So get designing and - Let's do it for ME!

Update on Teigan's Run for Mum



Teigan says Invest in ME!

Ten-year old Teigan ran to raise funds for biomedical ME research in The Grand Hotel Mini Mile Race in Brighton on 15th April.

She said, 

"I want to raise all I can for Invest in ME (IiME)". 

This is Teigan's story:

"I am 10 years old, since I was 5 my mum has suffered with M.E and other illnesses. I want to raise money to help gain research in the UK which may help get treatment and maybe even one day, a cure.



"LET'S DO IT FOR ME!"

 "It breaks my heart to see my mum suffering and in pain. We dont get to go out often like my friends do, but my mum does her best. I know it upsets her as I have seen her wiping away tears. When we do manage a day out, mum has to use a wheelchair, even then it tires her out for days, she catches viruses very easily too. All I want is my well mum back.  It upsets me to know children suffer this cruel illness. I know how lucky I am that I don't have it, so I will do what I can do to help not just my mum but children and adults suffering too.

 
 

"Thank you for reading my story"



  Thank you for reading my story -
please DONATE what you can." 



"Pease donate what you can"













Running for Mum and everyone with M.E

 
Teigan completed the race in under 10 minutes (9:43) and plans to train in preparation to take part again next year.

As very proud Mum Claire says,

"What a good sport!"

Meanwhile, Teigan is taking part in a dance competition this weekend. We hope she has a wonderful time and also wish her the best of luck with her SATS in May.




"Thank you for sponsoring M.E"

The Grand Hotel Mini Mile Races are age-related races - open to 7 - 17 year olds - staged along the seafront on the morning of The Brighton Marathon, covering a one mile distance. 2,000 children took part this year and Teigan is one of three children selected for a promotional video for the race.

Teigan is raising funds for research focussing on virology and immunology, aiming to find effective treatments for ME as rapidly as possible, with the potential to benefit many thousands of children and adults throughout the UK and beyond.  Please click Page tabs for FAQs and Details.

Teigan's Just Giving fundraising page remains open for donations - she has raised over £800 including Gift Aid so far - many thanks to all Teigan's sponsors and a big THANK YOU from us all to this little star!

Teigan's Just Giving Fundraising Page

 


Until next time ....

 
(The above post is an update of "Teigan's Run for Mum" posted on 18th March)





Sit for ME!



Joyce Barrass and friend

 Joyce Barrass says:

"Now that I've got a dog-shaped hole in my house since I lost my sheltie in 2009, I often dogsit by looking after friends' dogs while they are on hols or courses etc. This little lass's owners, ex-colleagues of mine, have decided that cos I'm saving them kennel fees, they will donate to Invest in ME for each time I look after her! She's already booked in here quite a few times over the coming year. I love all dogs so this is a win-win situation, even on some of my worst crashed days.

"Luckily, most of the dogs I usually look after are old, so a run sniffing round my long back garden chasing toys is all the exercise they want these days. Occasionally, I've looked after younger dogs and then my mum stays over to help, walk etc. I know that frustration of being too sick to go far, or go out at all. With my own dog, I used to get round the corner to the local woods on good days and I was also blessed that some of the friends I now dogsit for also returned the favour on my immobile days."

What a great idea for those too ill to care full-time for a dog of their own, and what a thoughtful gesture by Joyce's friends, who can add 25% to their donation at no extra cost with Gift Aid.

If you're thinking the name sounds familiar, Joyce and her sponsors also generously donated her 50th birthday gifts to Invest in ME in October, raising over £900 towards the biomedical research planned at the UK Centre - see Joyce's 50th Birthday Gift for ME!

Many thanks to Joyce and her supporters and a tickle behind the ear for all her 4-legged friends!

If you'd like us to post about your awareness and fundraising activities for Invest in ME, please drop us a line and photo(s) to: fundraising4me@gmail.com

You can print off the campaign leaflet to show friends what your raising funds for.

Together, we can do this - Let's do it for ME!

Tara Mawer's Video

Tara at Nottingham Capital FM Radio

Hi my name is Tara Mawer and I fell ill with M.E. in November 2010, when I was just 10 years old – I’m 12 now.

I haven’t been able to go to any kind of school, since I first got it, because it started to just push me back. My parents decided to de-register me from school, and now I get home-schooled by my mum.

M.E has changed my life, quite a lot. I try not to complain too much though, because I’m getting things which are helping me feel a bit better, whether it's medicine or treatment. I have nearly every symptom, except for they all come at different times, I get: -

· chronic pain - back ache and joint point (I take Amitriptyline to help with the pain and muscle spasms)

· headaches (But I found out today I’m long-sighted so maybe when I’m doing stuff I need to focus on, my headaches will be a little better from the glasses I’m getting.)

· dizziness (blacking out, or just faded vision) – this may be because my blood pressure goes very low when I stand up and my heart rate is faster.

· regular sore throats and swollen glands

· nausea (I take Cyclizine which is an anti-sickness medicine to try and help make this not too bad)

· noise sensitivity (I wear ear defenders or stay in my room when mum hoovers). Which is also why I couldn’t manage school.

· & fatigue.

Those are just a few/main symptoms there are.

Before M.E./C.F.S I went to tap dance, modern dance and musical theatre. And when they were on I also went to after school dance clubs.

I have to use a wheelchair for when I go out anywhere with a lot of walking, because walking too much tires me out and can cause me to crash. It also can give me back & joint pain. Whenever I think I can walk, I try not to use it, because if I take a few rests sometimes, it’ll be okay, we’ve also got a blue badge, which means I can park a lot closer to places and its easier for me because I don’t have to walk as much.

But, my friends understand my illness so they’re okay with me taking breaks and they try their best. I made a stop motion video about M.E to explain a bit more to them, because a lot of people are calling M.E, the illness which makes me tired, which is quite annoying.

My M.E./C.F.S can also have illnesses with it, I have; Hypertonicity, Hypermobility, Restless Leg Syndrome, IBS, Orthostatic Intolerance/POTS and Vitamin D deficiency, and apparently so do many people with M.E.

I have met some people who also have M.E./C.F.S. usually from the hospital , or my mums M.E forum friends children. Since M.E I’ve just realized how much I love editing videos, and I got a proper editing software for Christmas. I’m getting a better quality camera soon as, and I have a tripod which makes things much easier.

Tara Mawer

(My mum and dad are doing a sponsored weight loss to raise funds for Invest in ME. so if you would like to spread the word for them to get more sponsorship that would be great.) The links are:

http://www.justgiving.com/TonksWeightLossChallenge

or Text

XPDL95 £* (*insert donation amount) to 70070

Invest in ME has as its objectives to change how Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is perceived and treated in the press, by health departments and by healthcare professionals. We aim to do this by raising funding for biomedical research and improving education about the disease.

Invest in ME - Charity Registration No. 1114035

Tara's M.E Video

Many thanks and well done to Tara!

Please take a few minutes to watch Tara's great stop motion video and share the link widely.

Thank you for your support.

Team Let's do it for ME!