We can now reveal our newest fundraising event to be held is going to be a night of spiritualist mediumship.
We have managed to get the services of Adrian Clark and Jackie Kershaw.
Adrian is a Leeds gentleman, having been born and bred here. He began his journey into spiritualism in his teens when he used to go to Kirkstall Abbey with his friends at night to check out the rumours of ghosts being present.
Jackie is based in Horbury, Wakefield and began her journey into spiritualism following a series of personal tragedies. She is available for church services and also provides individual sittings, groups and public or private demonstrations.
I have always been interested in the work of mediums but admit that I am also a little sceptical. I have been and had a private session last year and there were elements of the session that made me feel that she was definitely getting messages for me. The information she knew was too specific to be guesses.
We have had a lot of interest already in the event and have sold quite a few tickets. It is looking to be a great evening and will be a brilliant fundraiser for us. If you are interested in attending please go to our website to purchase tickets. www.Charlies-Angel-Centre.org.uk.
Busy, Busy, Busy.
That's how I would describe the charities 2016 calendar looking at the moment.
We are only in February but we are booking several events to take place throughout the year.
It really feels like we are on the way to having our most successful year.
We all thought that 2015 was a really good year for us but things are just getting bigger and better.
When we started the charity we often felt very frustrated as things were not happening as quickly as we wanted them to.
We were told by people that it takes a long time to get a new charity off the ground and a lot of charities often fold within the first 3 years.
We knew that we were not going to fold as we have such strong motivation to keep fighting.
Last year made us feel that we were now on the radar for lots of people, the NHS were taking us seriously and wanting to work with us, companies were much more willing to help us with prizes or services, the general public now knew who we were.
2016 has so far made us feel very proud of what we have been able to achieve in Charlie's name.
To now know that we can get families bereavement counselling started within a week rather than up to 18 months in the NHS, the support we can now give at our fortnightly Community Support Groups and the continued help we offer via our social media and telephone.
One of this years events we are currently looking at booking is an evening with 2 Spiritualist Mediums.
Once again The New Middleton in Leeds has given us the use of their room to host the event. They have been amazingly supportive of our charity and we can't thank them enough.
We have a young lady who is taking part in 'Gung Ho' in Leeds, and has chosen our charity to benefit from her participation. It looks like it will be an awesome day for her and if I was just a few years younger I would love to have a go myself.
We then have our Autumn Charity Ball, which is coming along really well and is looking to be a really good evening. The added bonus of Tom Bleasby coming to perform during the evening is fantastic.
The charity auction taking part at the event is starting to get items donated, the first major one being a holiday donated by http://www.caravanrenting.com/
As we get more events confirmed and auction lots donated we will keep you up to date.
Thanks for your continued support, it really does mean so much to us.
We have had a really productive week for the charity.
More and more arrangements are being made for our Charity Autumn Ball, and our first event invitations have been sent out to our patrons.
We are now in the process of confirming a magician for the event to keep our guests entertained whilst at their tables.
Tickets are now available for people to purchase and we are on the look out for local companies to come on board as sponsors for the evening.
Even though the event isn't until September we are all getting very excited. Discussions have started about decorations and colour schemes and even the addition of a red carpet to greet everyone in.
This week has also seen us have another meeting with the Bereavement Liaison Team to discuss how we can work together to provide the care and support bereaved families deserve.
Although we can't say too much at the moment, things are looking very positive for us and for the future of the bereavement services in Leeds that we are providing.
Today has also seen us be able to arrange the first counselling sessions for a family going through a loss.
They will now not have to wait for months to be assessed for
counselling, as is currently the case through the NHS, but will meet with one of our counsellors offering free sessions within the next week.
It is a wonderful feeling to know that we can help this family on their journey through grief, and makes us feel so very proud of our Charlie for the changes he has already made to the face of bereavement support.
We hope in the near future to be increasing the number of families that we are supporting with counselling and to increase our collaboration with the local hospitals and maternity units.
Thank you to everyone that has helped us so far, it has been a lot of hard work and determination but we are now seeing the rewards for all that work
This week has seen us book a venue for our very first Ball.
None of us have ever done anything like this before and it feels a very daunting task but we are all so excited to now have somewhere to host it.
Our very first Charlies Angel Centre Autumn Ball is to be held at South Leeds Golf Club on Saturday September 17th 2016.
The event is set to start at 6.30pm and will go on until around 11.30pm.
We are also so pleased and excited to announce that we have also managed to get Tom Bleasby to come along and perform for us.
He starred on X Factor 2015 and is a Leeds lad.
When we heard back from his management team saying he would be happy to come along and perform we actually began to realise that this event is really going to happen.
Each year, since we set up the charity, we have wanted to arrange a Ball but have always found it a little overwhelming.
Now we are into our 3rd year as a charity we are feeling a little more confident in our own abilities to make this happen.
We have learnt so much over the last 3 years and whilst we still feel overwhelmed, we know that we are all so determined and motivated we will make it happen.
Our next task is to get as many businesses involved to help us with sponsorship for the event and to attend the night.
Out tickets went on sale yesterday and we cannot wait for the bookings to come in.
Each ticket bought will build our confidence in our event and will go towards our funds to open up Charlies first support centre for bereaved families.
If you know someone who you think would be able to help us with sponsorship or auction items, please show them this blog.
We will keep you all informed of all the developments as they occur.
I want to put out a big call for as many of you as possible to click and vote for Carrie in the Yorkshire Choice Awards 2016.
Carrie has been nominated for the Inspirational Individual of the Year.
Carrie and her brothers have always been an inspiration to us as a family throughout their lives, as all children are to their parents, but Carrie has become even more so since she became pregnant with Charlie.
Being just 19 at the time pregnancy can be tricky enough, but to then have to deal with the news that her baby was seriously ill, made it almost impossible to comprehend.
Carrie spent many hours researching Charlies condition and trying to get as much information as she could to enable her to deal with the situation and be prepared when she met with professionals to ask questions.
Each scan bought less hope as far as the medical profession were concerned, but Carrie never gave up hope. She gave Charlie every possible chance and opportunity to survive. She made sure she ate healthy and took on plenty of fluids, in the hope that it might have an effect on Charlies condition. She got as much rest as she could and tried to stay de-stressed, not easy at all going through a difficult pregnancy.
When it came time for Charlie to arrive Carrie yet again amazed us all with her strength and courage. I don't know if any of us could have been as strong as she was.
This strength has continued since Charlies birth and death.
It has been her determination to ensure that no other parent or family should have to go through the lack of support she received upon discharge from hospital that has driven us all on, even when times have been hard or frustrating.
We know Carrie is Inspirational but we would love her to be recognised by others for the truly inspirational young lady she is.
Please ask all your family and friends to go along and vote for Carrie.
Thank You xx
Today we have made another big step forward with our charity.
We are now featured on Leeds Bereavement Forum, Directory of Bereavement Services
Leeds Bereavement Forum:directory of bereavement services.
"The Leeds Bereavement Forum is a city wide network of organisations and individuals who offer services to bereaved people. It holds twice yearly conferences and has several special interest groups. A small team have been appointed to develop and improve services in Leeds
http://www.lbforum.org.uk/module_directory/view_entry.php?id=159
It means so much to us every time we make another step onto the ladder of services available to support parents and families going through the loss of a baby/young child.
We feel like we are now being taken seriously by the authorities and that they now realise we are not going to go away.
We may ruffle a few feathers on our journey but sometimes that is the only way to make people sit up and take notice.
All of us at Charlies Angel Centre are passionate about campaigning for improvements to bereavement support and with providing a good quality service ourselves.
This passion is what has driven us on even when we have had doors closed in our face and had numerous emails unanswered.
Our stubborn determination is what has got us to the point we are now at and will continue to drive us until we open the doors to our first bereavement centre.
Please stay with us as we keep going on our journey, the support people have given us so far has been totally amazing.
We have been following a page on Facebook for a while that provide families with beautiful clothes for their angel babies from peoples old wedding dresses.
The site is called Angel Wings and Child Loss Support.
The little outfits they make look absolutely amazing, and what a beautiful idea to make these outfits for these angels to take their final journeys in.
We decided to contact them to ask if we could put a link to their site on our website as we feel it is a service that some of our families would like to use.
Today we have heard back from them and they are happy for us to publicise their site on our website and social media.
They also asked if we might know anyone who would be prepared to help them with sewing the dresses into the outfits.
So if you or anyone you know would like to do this please get in touch with them as this service is so unique and special.
The ability for bereaved parents and their families to be able to have such a special final outfit for their babies can mean so much. They will never have the opportunity to choose any other outfits for their child so to be given the chance to have a one off hand made dress or suit is irreplaceable.
https://www.facebook.com/Foreverdressedinlove/
