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!

small change to CHANGE M.E

New fundraising idea for 2013 by supporter Sue Page!  Please join in if you can and spread the word.  Sue wrote ..

"Last year as a gift, I was given a piggy bank. I have saved 1p 2p and 5p pieces in it until it is full.  I counted £6-00 out and put the extras back in the piggy to start again .. I had always planned to give the money to Let’s Do it for ME.

 

Then I thought how “every little helps” (!) and what if lots of us did this next year to raise funds for Let’s Do it for ME ....... ?

So my proposal is that I have set up a just giving page called “small change to CHANGE M.E”.... and I will start it with my £6-00 collected so far, and I will continue collecting .... I hope as many of you as are able, plus friends and family members will join in collecting small change in a special container and donating it to the Just Giving page for Invest in ME in this way. 

PLEASE let me know if you think this is a good idea, and most importantly if you are prepared to join in. I am setting the total to aim at as £2013 which sounds a lot ..... but if several people commit ....we will exceed that by the end of the year easily (not good at maths, but I think we will!!)

LET’S USE OUR small change ... TO MAKE BIG CHANGES FOR M.E.!!

http://www.justgiving.com/Sue-Page1

A little about me..... 

My name is Sue. I was very fit and healthy until 1993 when I contracted a virus......I never fully recovered....I was diagnosed with M.E. in 1995. I know the horrors of this illness and will do anything I can to help bring research and hopefully treatment and a cure.

A little about M.E....... 

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a debilitating and disabling illness affecting both cognitive and physical functioning. It can affect any person of any age, and its effects on life style are profound......often leading a sufferer to be housebound and dependent on others. There are a range of horrid symptoms and currently NO CURE......

PLEASE HELP US TOWARDS OUR GOAL.
Thank you.

http://www.justgiving.com/Sue-Page1

Here are some comments on the Small change to change M.E. event page on Facebook. 

Alison: "Great idea! My children will love doing this and it's so easy to do.Well done for the inspiration, will find a jar and get collecting!"

Stuart:  " I've suffered with ME for around 10 years, so I'll do this. I must find a suitable vessel into which I can place the loose change, give it a sort of 'home', so I'm reminded about this pledge every time I see it. Great idea. Let's do what we can to get the necessary research to beat this debilitating condition."

Thanks to Nadine for this picture of her choice of collection vessel.



What will you use to collect your loose change for M.E?



Rob is using an old Paul Masson caraffe-shaped wine bottle, Linda is using a piggy bank that she received as a free gift with a purchase from Orange - no prizes for guessing its colour - and true to form, fanatical fundraiser Paul Kayes suggests using something the size of a beer barrel! 

Sue said, "So great to check in here this morning and see more people joining....thank you everyone! Please invite any friends and family who may wish to join us in this too."

Many thanks to Sue for this great idea and to all those joining in to help the small charity Invest in ME to create big changes for M.E in 2013!  

* March Update:  Invest in ME is now registered with Ploink! a simple but brilliant way to collect your small change online that fits in perfectly with "small change to Change M.E" - it's free to sign up - there are no service charges to the charities throughout 2013 - and you can nominate Invest in ME as Charity of the Month for a chance to win extra funds for our cause - click here to read more about Ploink!

*  The Let's do it for ME campaign hopefully has something for everyone who wants to take part, whether you are a fit and well supporter or bedbound by illness.  All efforts are greatly appreciated, from raising funds to raising awareness of the reality of myalgic encephalomyelitis and the urgent need for biomedical research and treatment.  Please see our main website for ways to help.  Thank you for your support - Let's do it for ME!