Lon Las Cycle Challenge 2008

On 20th April a group of jubilant cyclists pedalled their way into Cardiff Bay, having cycled 254 miles from Holyhead to Cardiff to raise much needed funds for Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre Wales.

Setting off from Holyhead on 16th April, the cyclists spent 5 days riding through the breathtaking landscape of Wales, following Route 8 of the National Cycle Network-Lôn Las Cymru. “Bobath’s Lon Las Cycle Challenge 2008 was fun and exhilarating, an achievement that I’m sure all our cyclists will never forget. There was a real sense of camaraderie and the cyclists raised thousands of pounds for children in Wales who have cerebral palsy” said Jess Evans, Fundraising Co-ordinator.

Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre Wales would like to say a big thank you to all the cyclists who took part, as well as our challenge leaders Alex Bland and Emma Burnside. Special thanks to our main sponsor Paul Harris from ‘See Wales’ for all his support, and our other event sponsors Cardiff Bus and Agoriad Water.

If you would like to join us next year for the Lon Las Cycle Challenge 2009 please contact the Fundraising Team on 02920 522600.

a question of women 2008

What do Romance, Mayoralty, Education, Musical Theatre, Publishing & Criminal Justice have in common? Answer: a question of women 2008, which took place at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff on Friday 7th March!

Catrin Collier one of the world's most successful novelists was joined by fellow panellists Councillor Gill Bird, the Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Cardiff; Sally Davis, principal of Howells School Llandaff; Ria Jones, star of the West End & musical theatre; Hilary Ferda, managing director & editor of Ladies First & Tiara magazines and Janet Wallsgrove, director of Parc Prison, Bridgend. Host and compere for the evening was BBC Radio 2's Lynn Bowles.

This was the 5th year Bobath has held a question of women. Guests enjoyed a champagne reception, three-course meal, the a question of women panel plus entertainment from twenty year old tenor Niall Allen who wowed the ladies with the panache of a seasoned entertainer.

It was a truly wonderful evening and we still have monies coming in but the event looks to have raised over £6,000. Thank you to all our sponsors and to Sony UK who kindly provided a video camera and LCD screens. Reserve tickets now for a question of women 2009 on March 20th at the Holland House Hotel.

Bake for Bobath

Did you join many individuals, schools and organisations around Wales by Baking for Bobath this year? Money is pouring in and we want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who took part this year, we are really hoping to beat last year's target of £13,000!

Now in it's third year, Bake for Bobath has really grown and we aim to make it the biggest Welsh cake bake for charity. So if you missed out this year, please join us for 2009! Fundraising packs with balloons, stickers, recipe books and lesson plans for schools were sent out all over Wales to support people in their coffee mornings and cake sales.

Celebrities such as Welsh chef Angela Gray provided recipes for the 2008 cookery book which included TV Presenter and Bobath Ambassador Lucy Owen's favourite recipe. Bobath Patron, Bryn Terfel also took a break from rehearsing for his Falstaff role at the Wales Millennium Centre to celebrate Bake for Bobath with a Welsh cake or two!

Thanks once again to everyone who baked, sold and ate cakes for Bobath!

Go Kart 4 Bobath

Thrill seeking adrenaline junkies were fast & furious whilst fuelling funds for Bobath! Teams of 4 – 8 drivers raced non stop for 150 minutes at TeamSport indoor race track, Curran Road, Cardiff on Thursday 18 October.

The team that took the chequered flag by completing the most laps was Legal & General, winning trophies and bubbly to celebrate their victory. A charity raffle was also held on the night with fantastic prizes.

Go Kart 4 Bobath is a great opportunity to build up teamwork with your colleagues or simply have fun with friends. For details of the next Go Kart 4 Bobath challenge contact: fundraising@bobathwales.org or +44 (0)29 20522600.

Bobath 15th Birthday Crystal Ball

June saw us host our Crystal 15th Birthday Ball, kindly sponsored by the Julian Hodge Bank, at Cardiff’s City Hall – it not only helped us to raise much needed funds for the centre, but celebrated our fifteenth birthday in  magnificent style!

 

 

A champagne reception welcomed nearly 400 guests including the Duchess of Gloucester GCVO, First Minister Rhodri Morgan, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff Councillor Gill Bird and friends and supporters from all over Wales. An all Welsh menu followed, as well as music from West End star Peter Karrie and Cardiff Arms Male Voice Choir.

“It was fabulous, not only to celebrate our birthday in such style, but to see so much support and goodwill for the charity” said fundraising manager, Gail Griffiths. “Since 1992 we’ve grown so much as an organisation and I think tonight as a whole reflected that. We had even more cause for celebration as our founder parents, Paul Lubas and Glenys Evans, received the Queens Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Services from Her Royal Highness”.

Paul and Glenys believed that children in Wales deserved a specialist Bobath Centre of excellence that could really change and improve the quality of life for children with cerebral palsy. After gaining support from Bobath London, local families and businesses throughout Wales joined the pair in making their vision a reality and the Centre opened its doors to the first children in June 1992.

Since then, almost 500 children throughout Wales have benefited from specialist Bobath therapy and the Centre has never looked back. When accepting the Award from the Duchess of Gloucester at Bobath’s Crystal Birthday Ball Glenys explained, “We are both truly delighted to receive our Award, and feel honoured to receive it in recognition of the part we played in bringing a Bobath Centre to Wales. An Award of this calibre is something our Centre can be extremely proud of and we believe it shows a true representation of the high regard in which the Centre is now held throughout Wales. We are very grateful to those supporters who have taken the time to nominate us for this award.”

Bobath European Challenge 2007

In 2005 it was Amsterdam, 2006 took us to Paris and June 2007 saw us in Rome. Barclays Bank and the Hard Rock Cafes in Cardiff and Rome teamed up with Bobath Children's Therapy Centre Wales to raise more than £21,000. The Bobath European Challenge, Rome 2007 took the form of a treasure hunt, which took participants from the breakfast launch at the Hard Rock Café Cardiff to a reception at the Hard Rock Café Rome. The teams took part in fancy dress - from ancient Romans and Centurions to Hula Girls and Pirates, which raised more than a few eyebrows on the streets of Rome!

Gail Griffiths, Fundraising Manager at Bobath said: "The European Challenge has become an annual event, which is tremendous fun as well as a fantastic way to see the beautiful city of Rome and raise much needed funds for the Centre. The teams from Barclays - and the costumes - were brilliant, as well as the staff at both Hard Rock Cafés who treated us like royalty."

Think you can handle it?! Call the fundraising team on 02920 522600 for more information and to find out how you can get involved.

Vatternrunden Challenge

Vätternrundan is the largest recreational bicycle ride in the world. The course runs for 186 miles encircling the beautiful lake Vättern, Sweden's second largest lake. It was first arranged in 1966 and each year about 17,000 participants from all over the world take part.

Richard and Ryan Evans, whose brother Ben attends the Centre (and who helped raise a big chunk of the fundraising!) took on the challenge along with Anders Henckel Mikael Schoultz, Atsushi Matsuda and Mark Waegner. Not only did the boys complete the course but they helped to raise a whopping £8000!!! Congratulations!