It’s May, it’s ME Awareness month and it’s time to celebrate! The Big Sleep for ME, a fundraising and awareness event in aid of Invest in ME, are getting in the party mood. They’ve lined up a whole load of fab competitions which you can take part in throughout the month. There are some great prizes to be won, including their very popular Snugzie bear, a signed copy of Ros Lemarchand’s book of poems, ‘My A – Z of ME Myalgic Encephalomyelitis’, and a chance to have your own artwork feature on their merchandise. They even have a competition especially for children.
Their prize draw to win a bear is very easy to enter. All you have to do is simply register to take part here and you’ll be automatically put into the draw. You must register by 10th May to qualify. The draw will take place on 11th and the winner will be announced to tie in with the first day of ME Awareness Week and their Sleepathon. If you’re taking part in the event, you can also get your hands on one of their bears by just submitting photos to them of you taking part. They will award bears to those they consider have sent the best in.
The Where’s Bear? Competition looks great fun! Snugzie will be off travelling from 11 – 17 May, to coincide with ME Awareness Week and the Sleepathon, all you have to do is say where he is. There’s a bear up for grabs each day, so there are plenty of opportunities to get your mitts on one! This is how it works; each day a picture will be posted up of Snugzie on ‘location’ on their website homepage, Facebook Event’s page and tweeted via Twitter. You then submit your answer of where you think he is by email, commenting under the picture on Facebook or replying to the tweet on Twitter. All the correct answers will be put into a draw and the winner will be announced the next day. We understand from inside information that he certainly gets around! There’s no stopping that adventurous little bear!
With the next two competitions, it’s time to get creative. First up, for those budding poets out there, is the Poetry Competition. This competition is inspired by the popularity of Ros Lemarchand’s poems posted during last year’s Big Sleep. Not only does the winner get a signed copy of Ros’s book of poems, ‘My A – Z of ME’, but it’s also a chance to shine because the winning poem will be shared on Facebook, tweeted and have its own dedicated blog post. Big Sleep HQ has said that if there are a number of very good entries the number of winners will be extended. It has even been mooted; they might put together a book of the best ones. Your poem could be in print! How amazing is that?!
The competition is open to anyone, but the poems must relate to ME. Just email your poems to info@thebigsleepforme.com, post them up on their Facebook Event page or even tweet them to The Big Sleep for ME. Each entrant is allowed to submit up to 3 poems and the deadline for entry is 31st May, the winner(s) will be announced on 28th June.
The T shirt Design Competition is equally exciting. For those with an artistic bent, just submit a design/s to feature on their T shirts and other merchandise. The design brief is pretty wide; it just needs to relate either to the event, ME or both. Be as inventive and creative as you like! The winning design will not only feature on their merchandise in their shops, but the winner will get to wear it as well! Since The Big Sleep is giving away an item of clothing of the winner’s choosing with their design on. How fab is that?
The artwork must be your own , be submitted in digital format and emailed to them. For drawings and paintings just scan and send them, if you’re more into graphics and editing that’s fine. But again, it must be your own work: any elements contained which are not your own must not be subject to copyright. You are allowed to submit up to 3 designs in the following formats; JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, PDF, AI, EPS. The image must be good quality and be at least 300dpi. Large files need to be zipped so they can receive them. The entry deadline is 31st May and the winner will be announced on 28th June.
The Big Sleep for ME likes to be as inclusive as possible, so they’ve also got a competition especially for children. The Bear Detective Competition is a fun way for children to engage with ME. All they have to do is help Big Sleep HQ find the suspicious Big Sleep Bear by letting them know where he is and what disguise he’s wearing. He’s hiding somewhere on their website. Answers can be submitted here. Only children 11 and under can enter, with only one entry allowed per child. All children must have parental consent to enter. Deadline for entry is 16th May. All correct answers will be put into a draw and the winner will be announced on 17th, which ties in with the end of ME Awareness Week and the Sleepathon.
But that’s not it! They’re also having a Facebook disco which will be announced shortly and Ros, The Big Sleep Bard, is back for 2014 with more of her great poems. It’s all happening at The Big Sleep for ME!
If you want to find out more about the competitions or are interested in taking part go to their website. You can email or tweet them too.
My A-Z of M.E. is a book of 50 poems about experiences of living with myalgic encephalomyelitis, written by Ros Lemarchand. The book is dedicated to all those living with a chronic illness and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Invest in ME.
"It is really good to hear Ros decided to publish her poems. They are so good and to the point. The foreword is very good too as a short explanation of what ME is. People get a good idea of ME by reading this book. Many thanks Ros, and all others involved."
Many people on Facebook will know Ros from the information and support she provides and where she has been sharing her poems over a number of years.
Her poems on the subject of sleep were featured throughout May 2013 M.E. Awareness Week for The Big Sleep for ME annual event, run by Julia Cottam in aid of Invest in ME. Julia gave Ros the encouragement, help and support to publish her work.
The book is available in paperback and for Kindle on Amazon - links below. If you don't have a Kindle, the Kindle app can be downloaded for free onto computers.
Ros said, "I am pleased at last to be able to share all my poems about M.E. in one book. I have been working on this slowly over the last year or so and at last it has come to fruition. I hope you will buy my book so as to raise more awareness and understanding about this very difficult illness. At the same time you will be helping Invest in ME. as a percentage of the sales will be going to that charity. I hope you enjoy my poems and you feel that you can empathise with them. Perhaps you might like to share them with friends and family so that they can have a better understanding of how it feels to live with M.E. Although my poems are primarily written with M.E. in mind, some of them may also just as well apply to other chronic and invisible illnesses."
In the introduction to her book, Ros writes:
I first became ill in 2002 and at the time I didn't know what was wrong with me. It felt like the worst flu ever but it didn't go away.
I tried courageously many times to carry on working until I completely collapsed. My doctor at the time hadn`t got a clue. So I changed doctors, was sent for lots of tests and by a process of elimination I was told in 2003 that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Although it was a relief to have a name to my illness I knew nothing about it. So I read as much as I could in order to learn more. I soon discovered the more appropriate name was Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and I prefer to use that at all times. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome just sounds like I'm a bit tired and it's so much more than that.
Since my diagnosis I have struggled with this very difficult and invisible illness. I have faced disbelief and ignorance from family, friends, doctors and many others. I still do to this day. Many people with M.E. or other chronic and invisible illnesses share the same experiences.
I had to stop working and consider my health. I was suffering on many fronts and was only getting worse not better. It was a hard decision to make. So my life has had to change.
At times it's made me feel angry, frustrated or even depressed. I have gone through a grieving process. I've lost that person I once used to be. I've lost the life I once had. I have been forced to change, adapt and learn ways of coping with a chronic illness. As M.E. is a remitting and relapsing illness I've had good periods and some really bad ones. It's an illness forever changing and new symptoms developing all the time.
With little or no support from the medical profession I've had to learn about this illness and how best to manage it myself. Over the years I have probably become a self expert. Yet even now this illness can still take me by surprise.
Fortunately I have found help and support from others like myself on social networking sites and other internet forums. Without this support I don't know how I would have survived. It's comforting and reassuring to know that I am not facing this alone. I have observed others expressing the same feelings, emotions, experiences and problems as myself. This has given me the source for many of my poems.
Through my poems I want to show the reality of a life with M.E. and to increase understanding and awareness. And that's why a percentage of this book will go to the UK Charity Invest in ME. (IiME) who do so much for the cause of M.E. in raising awareness and understanding.
Thank you
Ros LeMarchand
My A-Z of M.E. is available in paperback here on Amazon.co.uk
Kindle version is here on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
Buying from Amazon via easyfundraising has the bonus of an extra donation to Invest in ME at no extra cost to the buyer - easyfundraising is very easy to register with and to use - a great way to raise extra funds for free: click here.
 |
| A big thank you Ros! |
