New Year Matching Donation Offer!

What a great way to help us see in the New Year - all donations to two of our JustGiving fundraising pages for Invest in ME charity - including donations by text - will be matched £1 for £1 up to a combined amount of £1250 until 6th January! 

We have received the wonderful offer of £1250 (£1000 + £250 Gift Aid) as a matching donation by an incredibly generous friend of Team Let's do it for ME! This is in support of the UK rituximab clinical treatment trial being organised at University College London by Invest in ME.. The matching period runs from New Year's Eve to Twelfth Night on 6th January. It will apply to two of our JustGiving pages.

1. Ruth Gilchrist's 1st of each month One Day – One Pound (1 Day - £1) - minimum donation is £1 by JustTextGiving by texting this code - APFR99 - and the amount - £1 (or £2, £3, £4, £5, £10) - to 70070 - or from £2 via the JustGiving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/onedayonepound

2. Sue Page's small change to change M.E., which she launched on 1st January last year, so if you've been collecting your small change over the year, time to add it up and be counted in! http://www.justgiving.com/Sue-Page1

The £1250 includes Gift Aid (25% extra from the government on donations made by UK tax-payers so don't forget to tick the Gift Aid box when you donate if it applies to you) but all donations will count towards the total matched amount, whether or not you live in UK or are a UK tax-payer.

The combined total of the two pages at the time of the announcement was £6505 (inc. Gift Aid) so all donations from this amount will be counted and matched £1 for £1 until a combined total of £7755 (inc. Gift Aid) is reached or until 6th January if we haven't reached the full matched amount.

So don't delay – donate today and let's get the New Year off to a flying start!

Links to more info ..

IiME/UCL/UK rituximab trial microsite
http://ukrituximabtrial.org/
Invest in ME (Research)
www.investinme.org
Let's do it for ME!
http://ldifme.org/

*Let's do it for ME! is a patient-driven campaign in support of the independent UK charity Invest in ME (Research) 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 - 2014 will be an exciting year for progress in M.E. research*

Thank you for your support throughout the year - Happy New Year to one and all!

The Big Sleep for M.E. is back for 2013!

Following the great success of last year’s event, The Big Sleep for M.E. is back for 2013. And this year with your help, it’s going to be even bigger and better! This fun and inclusive awareness and fundraising event for the UK Centre of Excellence for ME, includes a mass sleepathon that runs throughout ME Awareness Week 6 – May, as well as an opportunity to hold your own ‘sleep inspired’ event, such as PJ parties, PJ Pride Days and Sleepwalks, Sleep-cycles and more, so that even more people can get involved.

The ‘Sleepathon’ is extremely easy and flexible to take part in and means that anyone, even those with severe ME, can do their bit. All you need to do is lie back, make yourself comfortable, and, if you really want to, sleep! Do it at home or anywhere that takes your fancy, either on your own or as a group. And if you feel like it, dress up for the occasion. If fundraising, just get people to sponsor you, and for awareness, just let others know you’re taking part. The same applies if you are holding your own ‘sleep inspired’ event.

Whilst the Sleepathon takes part during ME Awareness week this doesn’t mean you can’t have your own sleepathon or ‘sleep inspired’ event at other times of the year. We need to keep up the pace if we’re going to beat ME!

The Big Sleep for ME has expanded massively since last year, and to get in the party mood it will be running a number of competitions and special events, including ones for children. There’s even a special Kids’ Den webpage for children with activities and competitions. It’s a fun way for them to get involved and keep them busy.

The event now also has its own online shop where you can buy Big Sleep merchandise such as sleepwear, tops and, the very popular Big Sleep Bear, that comes complete with his very own nightcap. For those on a budget, there are free stickers and transfer downloads.

The Big Sleep for ME was set up to fill the need for a completely inclusive ME event that anyone, including those with severe ME, could take part in. Given the limitations severe ME imposes, a great deal of thought went into what kind of event could take place. In the end, the solution was so obvious. Since, many with ME have to spend a lot of time lying down either on a sofa or in bed and some sufferers are completely bedbound, why not turn this into something positive and have a mass sleepathon. The Big Sleep for ME was born! Whilst the event now encompasses all manner of ‘sleep inspired’ events and is about having fun, it also has a serious side which is to not only raise much needed awareness and fundraising for the Centre, but also to increase awareness of ME generally.

There are so many ways to get involved and the fantastic thing about The Big Sleep for ME is that everyone, from sufferers to healthy supporters, can unite together to do something positive for ME.

If you want to find out more, the event’s website is a good place to start. The event also has its own Facebook page and is on Twitter, you can also email them. If you fancy taking part, the team has set up a group JustGiving page which you can join to make it even easier for you, and there are extensive online tools and information to help as well. You need to register to take part, but as thank you, you’ll be entered into a Free Prize Draw. The team have introduced this to keep track of everyone and plan for future years.

If you can’t take part, but would like to support the event you can always sponsor someone you know, or make a donation to The Big Sleep for ME fundraising group via its JustGiving page or by texting BSME99 to 70070 with the amount you would like to give (for example BSME99 £5 to 70070).

With special thanks to Julia Cottam from our ‘Let’s do it for ME’ team for thinking this up, and for all the hard work she’s put into developing and launching this inclusive and positive venture, as well as to everyone taking part.

We can all make a difference to ME!

The Big Sleep for M.E. has arrived!

The Big Sleep for M.E. has arrived - so start plumping those pillows now!

Start: 6/5/12 00:00:01 Finish: 12/5/12 23:59:59

The Big Sleep for M.E. was Julia Cottam’s idea to create a fun, easy and inclusive event to raise awareness and money for the UK Centre of Excellence for ME that would coincide with ME Awareness Week.

The event is extremely flexible. All you need to do is lie back, make yourself comfortable, and if you really want to - sleep; a sort of mass sleepathon. Anyone, anywhere can take part. You can take part for just a day or the whole week if you like. Why not wear some silly sleepwear or an outrageous nightcap, as Julia’s proudly modeling, to make it even more fun! Anything goes - from your everyday comfy PJs to something more ridiculous. It's entirely up to you. And because this event is about fundraising and awareness you can do either or both. There are even group fundraising pages set up to make it even easier.

The Big Sleep for M.E. was thought up to take into account the fact that the illness restricts many sufferers to spending a lot of time lying down and in bed - some are totally bedbound; with the idea to turn this into something positive for our cause. The wonderful thing about this event is that for those ‘willing wellies’, healthy supporters, out there you’ve never had a better excuse to put your feet up and have a lie down knowing it’s all for a good cause! Those that are bedbound through this illness can also join in the fun for a change!

The response to this event has been very positive. As one ME sufferer said, ‘…. finally an event that I don't have to say no to!’ It has particularly struck a chord with those that are severe. And there are several severe sufferers fundraising either individually http://www.justgiving.com/thecagedbird or on The Big Sleep for M.E. JustGiving group page

http://www.justgiving.com/thebigsleepforme with more taking part for just awareness.

There have also been some unexpected and delightful deviations to the event with pets now joining up. Bubble and Squeak, two eighteen year old cats, have their own fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/Squeak-and-Bubble-Cats, and the tortoises Hector and Hamish are helping out Ruth Gilchrist on her page http://www.justgiving.com/Ruth-Gilchrist. Kaiser Bill and Thomas are now team members of The Big Sleep for ME group fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/thebigsleepforme. Kaiser Bill being the feline representative and Thomas the canine; although if they actually met in up in real life there could be some diplomatic differences.

There are also sleepover parties taking place in aid of The Big Sleep.

As you can see there are so many ways to join in. And the wonderful thing about this event is that healthy supporters and sufferers can all come together to do something positive for M.E. So far there are people from all over the UK, America, Italy and Sweden that have signed up.

If you’re interested to find out more go to the website www.thebigsleepforme.com or visit the Facebook page www.facebook/TheBigSleepforME, or email thebigsleepforme@btinternet.com.

If you’re unable to take part but would like to show your support you can give a donation either by going to the JustGiving pages mentioned or by texting BSME99 to 70070 with the amount you would like to give (for example BSME99 £5 to 70070).

With thanks to Julia for all her hard work developing and launching this inclusive and positive venture and to everyone taking part. We can all make a difference to M.E!