Let's March on a Million!

We Can Do It For ME!

We said last month that 2015 marks the 10th year of Invest in ME charity and the 10th of their world-renowned international biomedical research conferences. Well, February was a landmark month for Let's Do It For ME. We raced past the milestone of £500,000 - yes, HALF A MILLION POUNDS - in real money!

This has allowed Invest in ME to initiate possibly the two most important research projects for ME in the UK: a gut microbiota study in the Norwich Research Park with IFR/UEA and a project leading to a clinical trial of the rituximab drug in cooperation with UCL.

March 2015 begins with a total of £502,000 donated or raised or pledged for Invest in ME Biomedical Research Funds since we launched our campaign to help the charity fulfil its plans to establish a centre of excellence for ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis).

This means we begin March at £502,000 on the way to the next target of a
magic million! How fantastic would it be to reach £1m in May 2016?  

A wonderful way to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of Invest in ME Charity.  Can we do it? With you and the help of your equally amazing friends and families .. YES WE CAN!

Kindly summed up in last Friday's edition of this unmissable weekly column: 

"The reason I’m so proud of one of the charities I support Invest In ME is because it’s run entirely by a few volunteers who themselves either suffer with the illness or are parents of children with ME. There are no salaries; every penny that’s raised goes where it should go and alongside the Lets Do It For ME team who are also voluntary, what they have achieved is nothing short of phenomenal."  Stacy Hart, Watford Observer. 

The Let's Do It For ME website is being revamped and we'll post more

March updates soon. Meanwhile, you can also find us on Facebook or
follow us on Twitter @Letsdoit4ME.  Do let us know if you have plans 

or events you'd like us to highlight or any ways you'd like to help. Our email is:
fundraising4me@gmail.com  Ways to simply donate are at the end of this blog. 

The press release issued by Invest in ME on 21st February may be read
in full on their website or in pdf. Here's an extract:

Five years ago Invest in ME created a proposal for a Centre of Excellence for translational biomedical ME research. The centre would provide clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment for patients andtraining and information for healthcare staff and work collaboratively with international researchers. 

With comparatively few resources the charity (all volunteers) and its supporters have established a foundation which could provide a real basis for future development and which will lead to better understanding and treatments for this physical illness. 

The model we have is, with enough support, able to continue and expand and augment and achieve a real breakthrough in ME research in UK and Europe and the world.

Let’s Do It for ME is a patient-driven campaign to raise awareness and vital funds for the centre of excellence. The campaign was set up in2011 and is run by ME patients who have the same objectives as the charity - high quality biomedical research resulting in a better understanding of the pathogenesis of ME as well as in the development of appropriate treatments. The campaign has supporters from all over the world and it has forced change through imaginative ideas, selfless efforts, dedication and positivity - a Can Do approach to a disease where so many have suffered unnecessarily for too long.

It is the Let's Do It for ME spirit - empowerment of patients and their families for action, a Can Do approach and positive campaigning and fundraising.

Together we are trying to improve the future for people with ME and their families and after reaching a milestone of £1/2 MILLION we are ready to reach our next target of £1 MILLION.

Our thanks go to the patients and their carers and friends and relatives who have campaigned for change and forced action to be taken and please join us in reaching our next target.

With enough support we can change things forever.

One small charity, one BIG Cause, one band of supporters – progress – change.  “Things do not have to be the way they are – we can change things.” - Dr Ian Gibson.

Let’s Do Change. Let’s Do It For ME.

Contact: info@investinme.org tel: 02380 251719 or 07759 349743

*****

A BIG THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

March 5th update - matching donation offer - http://bit.ly/1A15euJ

Ways To Donate

(add Gift Aid if UK Tax-Payer)

Paypal

paypal@investinme.org

Bank Transfer

Bank: Lloyds TSB Eastleigh

Sorting code: 30-92-94

Account number: 02252685

Bank Transfer from outside the UK

IBAN: GB63 Loyd 3092 9402 2526 85

BIC/SWIFT: LOYDGB21209

Cheque

Payable to ‘Invest in ME’ to:

Invest in ME

PO Box 561,

Eastleigh,

Hampshire,

SO50 0GQ

UK tax-payers can add Gift Aid to donations - Invest in ME Gift Aid form

JustGiving 

(worldwide - minimum £2 donations)

https://www.justgiving.com/ldifme

JustTextGiving 

(UK only)

Text: BMER99 - £1-£5 or £10 - to 70070 

You can choose to add your name and Gift Aid by text if eligible 

Text donations add to the totals on the Just Giving link above.

Other Ways to Help or Donate to Invest in ME 

http://www.investinme.org/helpus.htm

March 9th update - IIME has kindly added the above as a newsletter on their website - http://www.investinme.org/IIME-Newslet-1503-01.htm

Great Start to 2015!

Wow, thanks to everyone supporting, what a busy start to the new year, hard to believe that January's over so soon! This is a landmark year, as 2015 marks the 10th year of Invest in ME charity and the 10th of their renowned international biomedical research conferences (IIMEC10). You can read more in the first Invest in ME newsletter of 2015, published in pdf on 27th January - http://bit.ly/1wAnt7L  You can sign up to receive their free e-newsletters by email. 

Jam-packed as usual with news of their amazing work on campaigning, advocacy, education, and with updates on the research and fundraising on pages 8 and 9 of the pdf. You'll see links to some of the new fundraising events organised so far for 2015 including: Walk for ME, Twighlight Colourthon, Brighton Half-Marathon, Sheffield Half-Marathon, Brighton Half-Marathon, Thames Path Challenge, Tough Mudder South-West, 2015 miles of running in 2015, A Birthday Challenge. 

Also new for 2015 is the New Year, New ME fundraiser, an all-year round extension to the very successful Stoptober for M.E. Awareness and fundraiser organised by Ali Head, whereby supporters gave up something they enjoy and donated what they saved to Invest in ME. Aimed at the family and friends of people suffering with ME in hope that they will support the search for treatment and an end to the neglect of this devastating disease. Event info here -
https://www.facebook.com/events/852973618102072

Watch this space for the launch of The Big Sleep for ME 2015. Meanwhile, Team Princess is polishing up their tiaras in readiness to play their role. You can find them on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/meprincesses 

Two more major awareness and fundraising events are Mike Harley's EU Marathons and Mike Shepherd's North Pole Challenge. You may remember Mike Harley from last year as Team Leader of 92 for ME, the amazing tour of 92 football league grounds in 92 hours. He's now embarking on a mammoth challenge to run a marathon in 28 EU countries! Mike's EU Marathons Facebook page is here - https://www.facebook.com/mikeseumarathons

Mike Shepherd's North Pole Challenge is set for April 2015 and is all the more remarkable as he will be the first person with a heart pacemaker fitted to run a full marathon at The North Pole. Mike's wife Lara has fibromyalgia, and he is doing this amazing challenge for the sake of his teenage daughter Elizabeth, as she has had ME for several years of her young life. Mike's North Pole Challenge Facebook page is here - https://www.facebook.com/Northpolechallenge

Sue Page's Small Change to Change M.E. Fundraiser will run again throughout 2015. The £2014 target was reached by 31st December 2014, so Sue has raised the target for this year to £3000. Loose change – it all adds up! The event page is here - https://www.facebook.com/events/1536858226585701/

You're welcome to let us know if you're planning any events for Invest in ME, or if you'd like to help out in any way with our awareness and fundraising in support of the charity.  We are mostly severely ill and the charity itself is also run by volunteer patients or parents/carers, with no paid staff.

Current Invest in ME Research Fund Totals are:

Gut Microbiota Research - £130k raised of £200k target.
Rituximab Research - £368k of £450k target. 

So, just £2k shy of a whopping £500,000 raised for Invest in ME Biomedical ME Research Funds since our campaign launched in July 2011 support of the charity's proposal (published May 2010) for a centre of excellence for translational biomedical ME research and patient care! 

Oh, is 1st of the month? The day to donate just £1 to IIME's 1st class biomedical ME research!

http://blog.ldifme.org/2012/06/one-day-one-pound.html

Thank-you for your support.

 

Let's Do It for ME

ldifme.org 

in support of Invest in ME (Research)

investinme.org

Invest in ME International Biomedical Research Conference (IIMEC)

investinme.eu

IIME/UCL/UK rituximab trial 

ukrituximabtrial.org

 

  Let's Do It for ME is a patient-driven campaign helping to raise awareness of the work of independent UK charity Invest in ME (Research) on developing a UK centre of excellence for M.E. and funds for the biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis that the charity is organising and/or funding. Invest in ME is run entirely by unpaid volunteers who either have ME or are parents and carers of ME patients. They are driving the agenda of scientific biomedical research into diagnostic tests and treatments for myalgic encephomyelitis in UK in collaboration with international researchers of world renown. 2015 marks the 10th year of amazing progress made by this small charity with a BIG cause. Will you help them make it the best yet? Let's do it for Invest in ME!