PL-ease

The End

2010-12-02T20:21:00.000Z

Dear All

It has been decided to call it a day with "PL-ease". The charity has run for two years and raised £3k through a number of activities. We have had some great times along the way and won't forget the abseiling and treetop challenge in a hurry!

However, we are finding it hard to keep motivated when we haven't been able to identify a way to actually spend the money raised.

The trustees have agreed that money raised from the charity will be transferred to MillFord Special School PTA. The school has been let down in recent years when a promised new build project was cancelled. Money from PL-ease will go to the PTA to be spent helping to replace ageing equipment and facilities around the school.

I will continue to fundraise in the future, but all efforts will be directed to helping MillFord School, and ensuring that the children and staff have equipment and facilities that they deserve.

Anyway, many thanks for following this blog. I will let you know when the money has been transferred and will keep you informed of future fundraising activities!

Take care, and many thanks for following.
PJ

Plymouth half-marathon

2010-10-10T21:39:00.002+01:00

The Plymouth half-marathon takes place on 29th May 2011. We are looking to put a team together to help raise additional funds for PL-ease. If you would like to book a place in the team please e-mail admin@pl-ease.org.uk

If you raise more than £150 in sponsorship, we will pay for your entry fee.

We will be having a weekly run on Sundays, to cater for all abilities, gradually building up the distance to see us all sail around the 13.1 miles!

Please help support this charity, and help yourself to get fit at the same time!

Also note that the course is different to previous years! See http://www.plymouthhalfmarathon.co.uk/ for more details.

Happy New Year!

2010-08-22T11:06:00.000+01:00

Yes, it is a bit late, but things have been pretty hectic for the trustees this year - change of jobs, more time away from home, other commitments, kids growing up too quickly etc.

Fundraising has been slow this year, but we are currently looking at opportunities to start putting the funds to good use.

We have also been reviewing fundraising activities, and it looks as though 2010/2011 will see more of the bigger sponsorship events rather than local street / shop collections. We are currently looking at sponsorship events...more details to follow soon.

Keep in touch, and if you would like to join our committee or help with an event, please let us know.

Many thanks
PJ

Happy Christmas

2009-12-24T21:36:00.000Z

Happy Christmas to you all!

Thank you all for your support through 2009.

PJ

Charity CD available

2009-12-20T21:42:00.000Z

Just to let you know, we still have copies of our 2009-2010 Cd available. These CDs are amazing value at £5 each and contain 15 tracks from local musicians including Katie Marie, Josie Newton, Kat Marsh, Chris Woods, Sounds Like A Plan, The Vics, Kosa, Marnie, Jenny Keegan, Karen Money, Auction for the Promise Club.

Every penny from the sales will be going to PL-ease.

The Cd was recently featured on the Gordon Sparks show (BBC Radio Devon).

Send an e-mail to admin@pl-ease.org.uk and we will send you details of how to order.

Many thanks - and have a very Happy Christmas!

What a load of santas!

2009-12-13T18:11:00.008Z

Thank you all - all the runners, supporters, Saltram Park and Plymouth Coasters Running Club.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the run - great weather, great course and great fun!

The running club presented us with a cheque for....£1267-25. Staggering. Thank you all!
We also managed to collect another £45-35 on the day, bringing the total to £1312-60.

This takes us a step closer to meeting the requirements to become registered with the Charities Commission. This will enable us to get a Gift Aid number, and set up on-line accounts through organisations such as Justgiving. We also think we are now in a position where we can start to use the funds to help local children with complex needs. Keep an eye out in the local press and by following us on this blog.

The next twelve months look very encouraging.

Good luck to the Plymouth Coasters for the future success of this event, and for their chosen charity for 2010.

We are always looking for ideas on future fundraising events, more fundraisers, volunteers and trustees. If anyone is interested, or would like to know more, please e-mail us at admin@pl-ease.org.uk

Many thanks - and Happy Christmas - to you all!

PJ

Santa at the ready!

2009-12-12T20:48:00.002Z

All ready for the Santa run at Saltram Park tomorrow. Very many thanks to whoever managed to arrange for a decent weather forecast!

Run starts at 11:00. 300 santas will be running through the park - getting a bit of exercise before helping to load the presents in two weeks time.

The run has been organised by Plymouth Coasters Running Club, and they have chosen PL-ease as their charity for 2009.

See http://www.plymouthcoasters.co.uk for more details of the club.

Many thanks
PJ

First orders

2009-11-25T21:32:00.003Z

The first orders for our CD have been received. The first E-Bay sale - (thank you Jamie!), and the first e-mail order/request for 3 CDs - (thank you Simon!).

The CD is now being advertised via the iHerald website / discussion list. A batch of E-mails have gone out to my contacts. We also hope to get a mention on BBC Radio Devon. Discussions with the producer tomorrow...

Keep listening!

PJ

Charity CD - now available!

2009-11-15T21:51:00.004Z

Yes - it's finally here! The phenomenal PL-ease charity CD is now available for purchase.

Priced at £6, the CD features 15 tracks from local artists including:

Katie Marie
Jenny Keegan
Karen Money
Chris Woods
The Vics
Auction for the Promise Club
Sounds Like A Plan
Marnie
Kosa
Kat Marsh
Josie Newton

To order, send an e-mail to us at admin@pl-ease.org.uk and we will provide you with further details.

Thanks
PJ

Santa Run

2009-10-19T20:58:00.002+01:00

As mentioned earlier in the year, we have been chosen by Plymouth Coasters running club as their charity for the year.

One of their events is the famous Santa Run. This will be taking place on Sunday, 13th December at Saltram Park in Plymouth. 5km over country park and traffic free roads. £10 covers entry fee and a compulsory Santa suit.

Please help make the event a huge success by running or turning out to support. Entry forms can be obtained from: The Race Secretary (Santa Run), c/o Mainstone, Honcray, Plymstock, Plymouth PL9 7RP.

All runners must be 13 years or older.

Many thanks
PJ

Charity CD

2009-09-29T20:22:00.002+01:00

The idea of a charity CD featuring music from a range of talented local musicians has really taken off! Within the space of a week we have had offers from enough artists to complete the CD!!

Artists include Katie Marie, Chris Woods, Karen Money, The Vics, Jenny Keegan.

All proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to PL-ease. Keep your ears peeled for announcements regarding the sale of this wonderful (dare I say Christmas?) gift.

Have a good week.
PJ

Music to my ears

2009-09-25T23:32:00.003+01:00

Money starting to come in from the charity treetop adventure. £300+ so far. Thank you treetoppers!

Looking forward to our next charity fundraising effort. The plan is to get a number of our most talented local musicians to provide one or two songs to go onto a CD. The compilation will then be sold with all profits going to PL-ease. Positive response received so far from Jenny Keegan, Karen Money and Chris Woods. Thank you all.

Watch this space...

PJ

Absolutely Wow!

2009-09-06T19:27:00.002+01:00

As the young lad who followed us down the last zip slide said - "Absolutely Wow!"

Many thanks to our team of intrepid treetoppers - and very many thanks to the excellent guidance from the Rock Centre. What an excellent way to spend a Sunday morning!

The treetop adventure involved walking across a series of walkways between platforms up in the trees. The first walk was on wooden decking (2 planks wide). The next went to one plank wide, and the next went to stepping between planks suspended from rope. The final walkway was along a single rope, with rope rails to hold on to. The last couple involved a lot of swaying..and thought of how high we were and how far there was to go!

The zip slides were fantastic. As with other things like this - the first step is the worst. The feeling of whizzing through the trees then takes over. Very exhilarating.

Anyway, many thanks to everyone involved - and time for the sponsors to pay up. Every penny was well earned!

PJ

Treetop Adventure

2009-07-24T18:40:00.002+01:00

Our next, long-awaited, event will take place on September 6th. It will be a sponsored treetop adventure at the Rock Centre. We will be taking a team of up to 12 people on a treetop expedition moving from tree to tree on zip slides, swings, rope bridges and much more. This will be a surefire winner if we can get 12 people to raise ~£100 each. Let's see how it goes!

Charity abseil

2009-05-11T20:54:00.002+01:00

We are arranging a charity abseil for Sunday, 28th June.

The abseil will take place at the Chudleigh Rock Centre at 2pm. All training and equipment will be provided. All proceeds will go to our charity - this will help towards our object of providing specialist support and equipment. It will also help our aim of becoming registered with the Charity Commission - we need to show that our income will exceed £5k this year.

If you are interested in abseiling for our charity, please let me know by e-mailing admin@pl-ease.org.uk. It is an excellent place to learn - they have practice slopes, and full professional training.

Many thanks
PJ

Plymouth history

2009-04-23T20:49:00.002+01:00

Been looking at photos and comments on the Herald website. Found this really interesting site containing photos, stories etc regarding Plymouth's history. http://plymouthlocalhistory.blogspot.com/

Full marks to the organiser for keeping the site running and updated.

PJ

Pity...

2009-04-12T19:55:00.003+01:00

Pity we didn't have a bigger audience at the charity concert. All those who attended said how much they enjoyed the music and the great venue. Videos of the performers are on our myspace site www.myspace.com/plymouthplease

The concert just about made a profit, but we are hoping to put together another concert in the future. Many lessons were learned through this experience - we probably started too early and lost a bit of momentum towards the end. We also agreed to "tickets on the door" - perhaps we should have pushed harded for the sale at the time. And...many who said they would attend simply did not show.

I think we also took too much on, with one or two people trying to juggle too many things. We will look to get more support for the next event - perhaps trying to get other charities involved, having a more prolonged marketing campaign, and looking to others with more experience of these kind of things.

Looking forward to the challenge!

Finally, we are now twitter-ing! We have signed up to Twitter. (See below). Not sure how useful this will be - but time will tell.

Hope you are all enjoying Easter. Let us know if there are events we should try, or if you want to help arrange future events.

PJ

Charity concert

2009-03-23T22:48:00.003Z

Final push for ticket sales ahead of Saturday's charity concert.

The concert is taking place at the Devonport Playhouse in Fore Street, Devonport. Live music will be provided by a number of top local musicians including acoustic/folk/jazz from Steve Osman, Josie Newton, Sam Ho, Katie Marie and Jenny Keegan.

Doors open at 7pm, with music from 7.30pm.

Tickets £5 each - available on the door, or can be reserved by e-mailing admin@pl-ease.org.uk.

All proceeds going to PL-ease.

Please support this event, and spread the word to family, friends, colleagues, contacts.

Very many thanks

Thank you.

2009-03-15T21:05:00.004Z

Thank you to the staff and customers of Waitrose! Our bucket collection broke the £200 mark. (£200-74). The staff made us very welcome, and the customers showed genuine interest in our work.

Also, thanks to the Plymouth Coasters for listening to my presentation a fortnight ago, and for raising some useful questions about the charity. The Coasters have chosen PL-ease as their charity of the year for 2009. If anyone else would like a presentation on the Objects and fundraising activities of PL-ease, just drop me an e-mail : admin@pl-ease.org.uk.

Spent the last few weeks finishing off a pretty demanding 10,000 word assignment for a management course. The course has provided me with an insight into some useful techniques in terms of supply chain management, marketing, change management etc. Looking forward to putting these to good use for the charity!

Now that is out of the way, more effort will be put towards publicising the charity and future events. Tickets for the concert are going pretty slowly, but there will be a blitz on e-mails, flyers etc this week and next. Don't forget to buy some tickets - the concert features five very talented local musicians. All are giving their time for free. The only expenses are the hire of the Playhouse. It will be a great opportunity to hear some fantastic live music, and to learn a bit more about the charity.

See you there?!

Thanks
PJ

Bucket collection

2009-02-16T19:51:00.002Z

Our next fundraising expedition takes us across the bridge to Saltash. Waitrose have offered us 21st and 22nd Feb for bucket collections at their store. Not sure of the exact timings yet - as there are only two of us available at the moment we may do a couple of 4 hour stints over the weekend, or one full day.

This is a useful way of fundraising - costs nothing other than time, and allows the opportunity to give more details of the charity to members of the public. Most probably haven't heard of us, or are aware that we exist, so it is always useful to get the opportunity to spread the word. Never know what the next donation, or donor, will bring.

We will have concert tickets with us, so hopefully can sell a few more of those at the same time.

Offers of help for the bucket collection gratefully received!

Take care,
PJ

Tickets on sale

2009-01-24T21:03:00.009Z

Tickets for our March charity concert are now on sale.

Priced at £5 each, the tickets give you entry to the Devonport Playhouse on the evening of March 28th. The concert features music from talented artists including Sam Ho, Jenny Keegan, Josie Newton, Steve Osman and Katie Marie (pictured).

You can purchase tickets by post or phone. E-mail us for details at admin@pl-ease.org.uk.

ALL proceeds go to PL-ease.

Examples of Katie Marie's songs and style can be found at http://www.myspace.com/funkeegirl

See you all there.

Back to work blues

2009-01-12T20:54:00.004Z

Is it me, or have the "back to work blues" not bothered to put in an appearance this month?

Back to work for a week, and everything seems to be going okay. Voluntary redundancy is on the cards for those who applied, but the rest of us seem secure at the moment. Work is busy - no budget cuts in our area, and more work coming in.

Went into Plymouth City Centre on Saturday morning and realised the same cannot be true for everyone. So many shops now being boarded up - the recession / credit crunch seems to be hitting. I hope that this will be short-lived. It seems that people get divided into two widely spaced camps at times like these. Those who are cutting back and making savings just to make ends meet, and those who are fully employed in (fairly) secure employment who are making the most of the sales and special offers being made by those stores who are trying to survive.

Will there be any casualties among charities in times like this?

Here's hoping that 2009 brings an end to the economic downturn.

PJ

Welcome 2009

2009-01-04T18:42:00.003Z

The start of a new year. This brings great anticipation for us as a charity.

We reached the £1000 mark in fundraising at the end of 2008, and are now looking to put this to good use. We also have a number of fundraising events lined up for 2009, and are looking forward to working again with some of the people who helped us in 2008.

So, our aims for 2009:

to show the Charities Commission that we believe our income for 2009 will exceed £5000
to become registered with the Charities Commission
to spread the word about our charity as far and wide as possible
to organise a wide range of creative fundraising activities
to recruit a few more trustees
to recruit volunteers for fundraising events
AND TO START MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE TO THE LIVES OF CHILDREN WITH COMPLEX NEEDS

Please spread the word, and get as many people supporting us along the way.

Let's make 2009 a truly great year!

Last post before Christmas

2008-12-23T19:00:00.005Z

Wishing all of our followers and readers a happy Christmas. I hope that Christmas and the New Year bring the things you are looking for.

The charity has certainly reached a good point in its development. We now have agreed "objects" with HMRC, we have organised a few fundraising activities in 2008 to get the ball rolling, and we have developed a programme of events for 2009.

Main events for early 2009 include a 2-day bucket collection at Waitrose, a charity acoustic night at Devonport Playhouse, and the Dartmoor Jailbreak...

The acoustic night features 5 local artists: Sam Ho, Josie Newton, Jenny Keegan, Katie Marie and Steve Osman. See www.myspace.com/plymouthplease. Tickets for the event are currently on sale at £5 : e-mail admin@pl-ease.org.uk to order some! This event will be held on March 28th - our 1st birthday! Help us celebrate in style and reach our aim to become registered in 2009!

Plans for the jailbreak are still being made. We are looking for team members if anyone wants to join us. Not sure where we will end up yet...it's all part of the fun!

Anyway, thank you all for your support to date. Have a great Christmas!

PJ

Santa Run

2008-12-15T20:50:00.002Z

In preparation for Christmas, 300+ wannerbie Santas completed the Santa Run around Saltram on Sunday 14th of December.

The event was organised by Plymouth Coasters to raise money for their chosen charity for 2008 - the Daisy Garland charity (http://www.thedaisygarland.org.uk/)

By some stroke of luck, the weather took a turn for the better, and glorious sunshine and a crisp morning made the 5km trip somewhat pleasurable!

Plymouth Coasters running club (http://www.dmlrunningclub.co.uk/) have chosen PL-ease as their charity for 2009. We look forward to working with them to help raise funds and the profile of our charity.

MySpace & Facebook

2008-12-12T16:15:00.005Z

MySpace and Facebook "Friends" wanted!!!

We have a MySpace account set up - see www.myspace.com/plymouthplease - with 300+ friends. Please help us to increase this number and keep in touch regarding future events by adding us to your "friends" list.

We also have an account on Facebook - search for "PL-ease". Again, feel free to add us as a friend to enable us to keep up to date, and to increase awareness and publicity for the work we are doing.

Also, you can become a "Follower" to this blog by clicking on "Follow this Blog" at the bottom of this page.

Please feed back any comments to help us improve the information we are providing.

Many thanks

PJ

Father Christmas

2008-12-07T22:20:00.003Z

We took our children to see Father Christmas at the Plym Valley railway today. Our children have never been too keen on meeting the bearded man in red, but today was different. The man himself made a fuss of children (and adults!). We have a great photo of our kids - actually smiling with him! A first!

Father Christmas will be visiting the CoyPool based railway again on Sunday 14th and 21st. See http://www.plymrail.co.uk/ for more details.

The railway is run by volunteers, and the association is aiming to extend the track up to Plym Bridge. This will offer families an excellent way of getting to Plym Bridge and back. Please visit and support them in their journey!

PJ

Agreement on charitable objects

2008-12-06T21:32:00.002Z

At last..,

HMRC have provided us with alternative words for our "charity objects". If you have been following this blog you may recall they had an issue back in April/May time. This centred on our trust deed and the objects (objectives) of the charity. We had used the phrase "to raise funds for...". HMRC said that raising funds was not in itself a charitable objective, and we offered to remove this phrase leaving " provision of specialist equipment, support and resource....".

They have just come back with alternative words, which although a bit long-winded, I think we should accept. The new wording is:

"To relieve children of all ages with complex needs (that is suffering from two or more special needs) arising from mental, physical, behavioural or educational difficulties residing within the "PL" postcode through the provision of specialist items, equipment, resource and support which may be required".

phew...

We will look to incorporate this into our trust deed at the next update, and continue to pursue a gift aid reference number.

Although this is a bit frustrating in the time taken to resolve, it should make life easier when we come to register the charity with the charity commission in 2009. We are preparing paperwork for submission which will show that we believe our income for the year April '09 - March 2010 will exceed £5k. This is the level at which a charity needs to become formally registered with the charity commission.

Finally, what a great piece of negotiation by all involved at Princess yachts this week. Rather than make people redundant and face losing everything, the employer, unions and employees have agreed a reduction in hours across the board. A great example of people working together to make the best out of the current economic situation.

PJ

Acoustic Night - March 2009

2008-11-30T19:22:00.004Z

Planning for our next event is well under way. It is an acoustic night featuring many of our top local talented artists. We have booked the Devonport Playhouse for the evening of March 28th, and are looking to fill the place to the rafters.

In return for £5 of your hard-earned cash, we will be providing three hours of entertainment including acoustic sets from:

Josie Newton,
Sam Ho,
Katie Marie and
Steve Osman.

We are working on a few more people and hope to finalise details in the next week or two.

In the meantime, we are offering early-bird tickets available for £5. All we ask is that you book and pay before Christmas.

E-mail admin@pl-ease.org.uk for more details.

Keep watching!

PJ

Santa's Xmas Pud Run

2008-11-10T20:49:00.006Z

We are PL-ease'd to announce that we have been chosen as the 2009 charity for the Plymouth Coasters. The Plymouth coasters arrange and take part in a number of fundraising runs throughout the year. This includes Santa's Xmas Pud run around Saltram in December.

To thank the Coasters for choosing us for 2009 and to meet some of their members, we are taking part in this year's run. We are hoping to raise money for their chosen charity of 2008 - the Daisy Garland charity.

The Daisy Garland charity is a family run charity, set up by parents to turn a hugely devastating tragedy into something positive to help other children. See http://www.thedaisygarland.org.uk/.
The charity works to provide active support for children with epilepsy. It aims to improve the quality of life for children with difficult to control epilepsy accompanied by developmental delay. If you would like to sponsor us and show support for this worthwhile charity, please see our justgiving page by clicking on the widget on the left of this blog.

Very many thanks to the Coasters! Here's hoping we can raise a decent sum for the Daisy Garland charity.

PJ

...going once, going twice...

2008-11-06T21:24:00.003Z

GONE! The Brian Pollard artwork has been sold for....£236....

Very many thanks to Brian for donating this wonderful piece, and thanks to those who bid.

With money raised from the charity night, this makes a total of £396.

Now we can start putting more detail on the next events. An acoustic concert in March, and the Jailbreak in April.

In between times, we have a bucket collection at Waitrose (Saltash) in Feb, and are looking to have a Christmas collection in the City Centre (to be arranged).

Keep watching!

Many thanks
Paul

...3 days to go...

2008-11-03T21:53:00.002Z

With only three days to go, the Brian Pollard picture is standing at £102.

It is great to break the £100 barrier - but hopefully we will see this figure go even higher by the end of the auction.

It is being offered for local pick-up only. We didn't want to risk losing it or getting it damaged in transit, and also it means that someone local to Plymouth gets to benefit from the picture whilst also supporting a local charity.

Win-win situation for the "PL" area.

The item can be seen or bid for by searching for "original Brian Pollard" at www.ebay.co.uk

Do I hear £150 anywhere???

We also have some great news for 2009, but will keep this until the auction ends....

Thanks
PJ

Charity auction now on!

2008-10-27T21:29:00.005Z

Brian Pollard is widely acclaimed as one of the most popular and successful naive painters in the South West of England.

With the kind permission from Brian, an original piece of his artwork is available for auction on ebay.

The artwork can be found by searching for "Brian Pollard" on http://www.ebay.co.uk/

All proceeds from the auction will be going to PL-ease.

Very many thanks to Brian for his support.

Further details of Brian's work can be found at : http://www.brianpollard.com/

End of the night!

2008-10-26T17:20:00.003Z

As advertised by the Herald : http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Charity-night-promote-group-s-work/article-426043-detail/article.html, our charity night managed to raise £147. We raised £97 from a raffle, and a further £50 from donations at the end of the night.

A little disappointed by the turn-out, but I guess it was our first event of this kind so we can only learn from this and move on.

We didn't auction the Brian Pollard artwork. We felt that we could make more through other routes or a future event. We will discuss with Brian and let you know.

The music was superb. CONTRAST provided a range of 60s/70s hits - this band would make an excellent choice for party / wedding bookings. Let me know if you would like further details and I will put you in touch.

Josie Newton - this girl has got talent. Forget about "Britain's Got Talent". Plymouth's got talent! Check out her songs on http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=323042522. Josie is featuring on BBC Radio Devon on Wednesday morning ~7.30a.m.

We can start planning our next events in more detail now. We are looking for an acoustic concert in March featuring some of Plymouth's finest talent.

Keep spreading the word, and checking out this log for details of future events.

Many thanks
PJ

Top prize

2008-10-17T20:45:00.003+01:00

Top prize for the raffle or auction will have to be the original Brian Pollard picture. Thought to be worth in the region of £200 - £250. There isn't a font size big enough to say "thank you" to Brian for donating this fantastic prize.

Not sure if this will be raffled or auctioned - we will see how many people turn up on the night. 25th October - Mount Pleasant Inn - 7.30pm onwards.

It's all looking pretty good!

Come and help us make this a huge success!

Thank you

PJ

Seth Lakeman!

2008-10-09T22:25:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately not appearing, but...Many thanks to Seth Lakeman and his management team for offering a signed album for raffle / auction.

For details of this great artist see : www.sethlakeman.co.uk

Also see our MySpace site : http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=389586827

PJ

...it just keeps on getting better...

2008-10-02T20:26:00.005+01:00

We are pleased to announce that Josie Newton has agreed to perform an acoustic set at our event on Saturday 25th October.

For an insight into Josie's work see www.myspace.com/josienewton

See you all at the Mount Pleasant Inn on 25th October!

Very many thanks

Free charity event

2008-09-26T19:51:00.003+01:00

It's free!

2008-09-21T19:38:00.002+01:00

Our next event has been finalised - and it's free!

We have booked an evening at the Mount Pleasant Inn (opposite the Plymouth Pavilions) on Saturday 25th October.

We have a local band, CONTRAST, who will be playing 60's / 70's covers from about 7.45pm onwards. It will be a great opportunity to come along and find out about the charity - and it's FREEEEEE!

Many thanks to the Mount Pleasant Inn, and to CONTRAST for offering their services free of charge.

If you want to find out more about us, please just turn up on the night. If you need more info about the event, please e-mail us at admin@pl-ease.org.uk

Hope to see you all there.

PJ

Next!

2008-09-14T21:57:00.003+01:00

We are now looking to put an event on to help raise awareness of the charity, and also to sell any raffle tickets that we are looking to produce.

We have local band lined up, and are currently looking to finalise arrangements on venue. The date is likely to be Saturday 25th October. Keep watching this space.... We hope to make the event free entry, and then have leaflets on tables to show where the charity has come from, where it is going, and to generally raise awareness. I know a lot of people in the area with children with special needs can't afford to keep stumping up large sums of money to support charity events. With this in mind, we are looking to have this as a free-entry night. Bit of 60's / 70's music, and a raffle.

Have been looking on 'myspace' at musicians in the Plymouth area. Never realised how much talent there is. This has got me thinking about arranging a bigger music event (I would say 'gig' if I was about 20 years younger...). I have e-mailed a couple of local acts and they have all come back with a positive response! Wow!!! Again, all we need to do is find a venue, secure a date, and away we go. What a great way of raising money for a local charity - showcasing local talent, for local people. Everyone goes home happy!

Have a good week!

PJ

..and more money...

2008-09-09T21:59:00.002+01:00

Our two intrepid abseilers raised a total of £188 for the charity. Very many thanks to Debbie and Phil. With the steady flow of money into our charity account, we can now start to look at requests for support from families in the PL area.

We have also written to a number of other supermarkets requesting permission for bucket collections between now and the new year. Hopefully a couple of these will prove positive, and allow us to raise more money and awareness.

Finally, if you want to see an excellent example of spending money on children's education, have a look at http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Pride-goes-parade/article-313914-detail/article.html. What a terrific achievement! Must be the first time in ages that so many children have actually been looking forward to going back to school. Wouldn't it be great if this became the standard for school buildings across the Plymouth area?

Bye for now
PJ

Money!

2008-09-04T21:35:00.004+01:00

Made the first cash payment into our bank account today. In total we paid in £139 (of £146-46) from the bucket collection. Our kids enjoyed putting all the pennies, 2p's, 5p's etc into bags for the bank. Money that we couldn't make up to £1, £5 etc to fill a bank cash bag, has been kept as petty cash - until our next bucket collection. Recall an article from the banks saying how many millions of pounds were effectively out of circulation because people had pennies, five p's etc stored at home. Would make things easier if they accepted pennies rather than ask for them to be collected in bags of £1. We had thought about putting the cash into one of those cash collector machines that you see outside supermarkets and around town - but the charges seem a bit on the high side.

Great feeling to be paying our first pile of cash into the account. We also handed over our first standing order for regular payment by a donor (thank you!!!) into the account. £6 a quarter - all helps. We have additional standing order forms if anyone else would like to make regular contributions to our charity. This can be made weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually....

Following on from last Saturday's collection, we have now written to another set of supermarkets asking for permission to hold a collection between October and March of next year. See how it goes. Might be looking for volunteers to help!! Let us know if you are willing and able.

Bye for now,
PJ

Bucket collection

2008-08-31T17:37:00.003+01:00

Bucket collection complete. Managed to raise £146-46 at the Sainsbury's store in Plymouth's Armada Shopping Centre. Not as much as we had hoped, but pretty good considering we were up against two other collections that had been arranged through the Armada Centre itself. Happy Hospital Children's Fund and the Merchant Navy Association had arranged for collections at the centre and were positioned by the escalators, and entrance/exit. The Armada Centre had double booked. Realising what had happened, the Merchant Navy Association collectors stood down. They said that they would always back down when children's charities were involved. They also put money in our collection box. Very many thanks to them for showing such consideration.

It was a good day. I think we learned many lessons on where to stand and what to wear. Sainsbury's have a rule that charities are unable to hand out leaflets - this gave us an excellent opportunity to explain the role of the charity to those who showed interest. The key words and phrases that they bought into seemed to be 'children', 'local', 'special needs' and the fact that we are all volunteers and no-one in the charity draws a salary from the charity.

Looking forward to the next collection!!! Also looking at developing the ideas for our future fundraising events now that we have kicked things off with the abseil and bucket collection.

Many thanks to staff and customers at Sainsbury's.

Holiday blues

2008-08-23T20:38:00.002+01:00

The blues are setting in. Back from holiday, suitcase emptied, washing on, photos downloaded! 469 photos this year compared with 489 last year. Not bad for a week in Cornwall, in what has probably been the worst August for a long time. Stayed dry for most of the week - couple of heavy downpours overnight. Beautiful day on Friday - went to Paradise Park and St Ives. Paradise Park is excellent for kids - especially on a sunny day! We have also found a superb static caravan park which we have used for two years running. May change scenery next year, but it will take some beating. Anyone got any tips on good sites (or sites to avoid)?

Back to the charity - the bank account is now live. We have a cheque book and paying in books. Hopefully we can put these to good use with money raised from the abseil, and from the bucket collection at Sainsbury's Armada Centre on August 30th. Haven't caught up with the abseilers yet, but will add a post here when further details of amount raised is known.

Now looking to progress plans for future events - Jailbreak, half-marathon etc.

Hope your holiday has been a good one.

Countdown

2008-08-14T20:55:00.002+01:00

Only three days to go to the abseil. Feelings of excitement and disappointment. Excited - we can at last get our fundraising off the ground. Disappointed - that we didn't get more abseilers, and that I won't be able to attend - total mess up from me on the diary front with holidays!

Anyway - good luck to all of the abseilers on Sunday. We have used the Rock Centre before on two occasions. The training is excellent, and it is great to do an abseil on real rock rather than some fairly anonymous piece of concrete somewhere.

If anyone else is looking to do an abseil, caving or rock climbing, I can strongly recommend the Rock Centre. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~trc/ Wendy and the team there are excellent. I will set myself an objective to try one of their other activities. The idea of rock climbing and caving scare the pants off me - but...it must be done!!! As the saying goes - you only get one life - this isn't a rehearsal. A sponsored "scared the pants off me" event!! Hmmm... now there's an idea.

Insurance

2008-08-07T22:05:00.002+01:00

We have now finalised our insurance policy through a company called Access Underwriting. This has taken a bit longer than expected, but the team at Access have been excellent in understanding our requirements and finding the best solution. Many thanks to the team at Access.

Our bank account forms have been returned by the NatWest team in Hornchurch, with a note that due to the nature of the organisation we can open an account through our local branch and not the centrally operated system. This will take a little bit longer, but again will ensure that we get exactly what we are looking for.

Abseil just over a week away. We haven't had the response that we were hoping for, but still have enough volunteers to make this a worthwhile event. We have opened up the event to others who might want to raise funds for other charities. We have been joined by two people wishing to raise money for The Centipede Trust (formerly the Child Development Centre arm of "Give A Child A Chance"). Again, they will be raising valuable funds for a worthwhile cause. Many thanks.

..it's all gone quiet over there..

2008-07-11T19:37:00.004+01:00

It's been a quiet few weeks on the charity front. Abseil all lined up for August - still a couple of spaces left if anyone is interested. Abseil taking place on real rock, and will ensure that we get up and running on the funding trail.

Not connected with the abseil (!), but we also have a bucket collection arranged (end of August at Sainsbury's Plymouth Armada Centre).

Looking to get another collection arranged for Christmas / early New Year.

Then... jailbreakers wanted to join our team for the Dartmoor Prison Jailbreak! More details later.. "PL-ease release me, let me go..." Who sang that??? Half the money raised will go to Vranch House - an independent school in Exeter providing specialist support and equipment for children with special needs. Seems to tie in really well with what we are trying to do. Anyway, keep 'em peeled for more info on this blog.

Thanks
PJ

More abseilers wanted

2008-06-24T19:48:00.003+01:00

There are still a few places left on our charity abseil on Sunday, 17th August.

Event has just been publicised in The Herald:
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/New-charity-needs-volunteer-abseilers/article-195903-detail/article.html

Quoting from The Herald:
"A NEW Plymouth charity is searching for adventurous types to take part in an abseil to raise money for children with complex needs living in the city. The charity 'PL-ease' is holding the abseil on Sunday, August 17, at the Rock Centre in Chudleigh. Both new and experienced abseilers are welcome, and full training and equipment will be provided on the day of the event.
All funds will go to PL-ease, which is a brand- new charity in Plymouth aiming to raise funds to provide specialist support and equipment for children with complex needs in PL- postcoded areas.

Those who plan to take part in the abseil event are being asked to raise a minimum of £50 in sponsorship for the charity"

We hope to raise over £1000 from this event and set us on our way to making significant differences to the lives of children with complex needs.

E-mail us at admin@pl-ease.org.uk for more details

Doh!

2008-06-18T19:03:00.000+01:00

I received a letter from HMRC on Friday in response to my request in April for a Gift Aid reference number.

The letter stated that they were unsure as to whether "PL-ease" was capable of being a charity in law. Alarm bells ringing..... They stated that it is not a charitable purpose "to raise funds".

Hmmmm.. My initial thoughts were that this is what all charities do. If they don't raise funds, they can't be able to support the cause they were set up to help. The letter ended quite hopefully, stating that if I could provide additional information as to what we had done so far in terms of fundraising, and if we could define what was meant by "complex needs" then they would be able to suggest suitable wording for the objects of the charity.

I have read through our Trust deed and can see where the problem lies. At our first committee meeting we agreed that the aim of the charity was "To raise funds to allow for the provision of....". The aim had been cut and pasted into our Trust Deed (by me) and the section headed "Application of income" now stated that the trustees must apply income of the charity in furthering the following objects: To raise funds to allow for the provision of specialist equipment etc..."

What a difference two words can make. This makes it look as though the charity is using its income to raise funds.??!!!

I have replied to HMRC and asked if they would consider the purpose as being charitable if we remove the two words "raise funds" from the objects at our next committee meeting. If not, then I will seek guidance from them as to appropriate wording to use.

It's good that this issue has been spotted as it allows us to correct the deed fairly early on. Just a bit unfortunate that, despite many hours of checking, I didn't notice the error before getting the deed signed up. Lesson learned!

Bucket at the ready

2008-06-06T19:10:00.000+01:00

A Lottery licence and a planned bucket collection. Does life get any better? Should I start getting out more? Don't answer that.

For a charity looking to make it's first penny, this is excellent news. Sainsbury's in Armada Way, Plymouth have agreed to let us do a bucket collection on 30th August.

Having done this before, it is a fairly painless way of generating income. When we did this for "Give A Child A Chance" a couple of years ago I was amazed at the response from the public. Not wishing to be ageist, but I had a preconceived idea of who would put money in the bucket. I was completely wrong. All ages came along to put whatever they could afford into our buckets. Even the ones I doubted - the ones who had no change, but said they would come back later - did.

It is a great way to raise money, and also helps to spread the word about the charity. All part of building up the image and profile.

It also makes you think twice about walking past a collector. If someone is willing to give up some of their time to hold (not shake!) a bucket, then it is worth taking a look to see what they are raising money for, and dropping something in their bucket. Even a couple of pence - it all counts - and makes the collector feel better if they've had a quiet spell!

Thanks Sainsbury's.

Licence!!

2008-06-03T19:28:00.001+01:00

Yes. The Small Societies Lotteries Licence from Plymouth City Council was received today. We had to resubmit the initial application as the form off the Council website was out-of-date. Never mind...we now have a licence. Thanks to the Council staff for turning this around in quick time.

Watch out shops, theme parks, etc. Letters requesting prizes for a raffle will be in the post soon.

Tickets...Should these be 20p a go and a book for £1? Or, are you fed up writing your contact details on five tickets when one ticket at £1 would give you the same chance of winning? Any ideas....

More trustees wanted.

2008-05-23T19:53:00.001+01:00

We are now looking for additional trustees to join us. To ensure continued development of PL-ease, we are keen to welcome people with a diverse range of skills and experiences on to the trustee panel. Diversity will help us to widen our horizons. Additional resource will also allow us to take on extra fundraising projects.

Trustees should be prepared to give one night a month to attend the trustee meetings, and also be willing to commit additional time to fundraising and promotional activities. Trustees will require to be CRB checked, and must conform with requirements of the Charity Commission for trustees.

Trustees of the charity do not recieve a salary. This enables the charity to minimise admin costs, and maximises benefit to the people the charity aims to support.

The Charity Commission website gives further details about who can become a trustee, and the role of trustees. See: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc3.asp#b2

In summary:

"Charity trustees are the people who serve on the governing body of a charity. They may be known as trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members. Charity trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the administration of a charity."

"Ineligible people: Those who have already been disqualified as company directors and those who have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or deception are some of the people who cannot usually become trustees. In some cases, people who receive benefits from the charity may also be ineligible."

If you would like to join us at an exciting time for the project, please e-mail pjarvis@pl-ease.org.uk

Many thanks,
PJ

Drive!

2008-05-16T21:20:00.000+01:00

What is it that drives charities, trustees and supporters on? I think it is a sense or willingness to improve a particular situation, to make something better for individuals or particular groups. I attended the opening of a sensory garden and family room at the Child Development Centre today. I sat with my wife in the family room - all was quiet until a group of children arrived in the sensory garden! Suddenly the air was filled with young children talking, communicating, laughing, exploring, full of excitement. Years of fundraising by supporters, and ideas provided by parents, staff and others, all came together on one day. Thanks to Plymouth & South West Co-Operative Society for fundraising for the family room. Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund for the grant for the sensory garden. Thanks also to all of those who contributed ideas and time. What a result! Small groups of people coming together to make Plymouth a better place to live and to improve the lives of special children.

Our first event!

2008-05-15T21:49:00.000+01:00

Our first charity event is announced. This will be a sponsored abseil on Sunday 17th August. We have used the Rock Centre at Chudleigh for two "Give A Child A Chance" abseils. The training and facilities are excellent - real rock!!! We have no hesitation in returning to Chudleigh to raise funds for PL-ease.

We are looking for additional new or experienced abseilers to raise a minimum of £50 sponsorship. All monies raised will go directly to the charity.

If you would like to join us for the abseil, please e-mail radpro@tiscali.co.uk for further details.

Sponsors also welcome!!!

Many thanks.

Paperwork...

2008-05-11T20:00:00.000+01:00

Lotteries application has been submitted to Plymouth City Council. If successful, this will allow us to organise large scale raffles where tickets can be sold over a number of weeks- usually a good way of raising funds at Christmas time!

We have also applied for a Gift Aid reference number via HM Revenue & Customs. This will allow the charity to recover tax from donations at sponsored events.

Talking of which... we have our first organised event arranged. This will be a charity abseil at Chudleigh Rock Centre. The abseil will be held on Sunday 17th August. The rock centre offer excellent training and facilities - we have used them twice before for abseils on behalf of the "Give A Child A Chance" appeal (see www.gacac.org.uk for some photos). The centre offer training on a training slope before tackling the challenge of a real rock face (approx 80ft).

We are looking at setting up a 'justgiving' website where people can donate online. Before we do this we need the Gift Aid reference number - so may be a few weeks away yet.

Thanks for reading. If there is anything else you would like to see covered here - please let me know.

PL-ease

2008-05-08T21:03:00.001+01:00

A long term ambition has been realised!! Having been involved in fund raising activities and other committees, I have now identified a cause and secured the assistance of other trustees in setting up a new charity: PL-ease.

The Trust deed (dated 30th March 2008) has been signed by the four initial trustees. The aim of the charity is to raise funds to allow for the provision of specialist items, equipment, resource and support which may be required by children with complex needs in areas covered by a "PL" postcode.

The intention is to provide funding where other sources (e.g. local authority, other charities etc) are unable to support for whatever reason. The charity will not be registered until we can show that our annual income is likely to exceed £5000 - the level for charities to officially become registered. This sets a challenging target for the first year!

Fundraising activities are being discussed and arranged. More later...

Hopefully, this will be the start of a great adventure exercising minds, skills and resource in an effort to raise funds to improve the lives of young children with complex needs.