FORGET ME NOT CHARITY

MONDAY 19TH AUGUST 2019

CHARITY BLOG PRESENTATION

Each football season, me and my wife Hazel look at a different charity to support through our Charity Blog, when we first began we raised just over £500 with the idea of every goal we scored at the match we attended, we would put 25p in the bank and give it to a charity at the end of the season.

Each year it has snowballed and we have always looked at the smaller charities where there are no paid workers and the money will have most effect to help the users.

Two seasons ago, I met a old friend, ex Nottingham Forest Supporters Club Chairman Mel Hart and I was in shock and left in tears, as he wasnt anymore the bubbly chap I new, he had become a victim of dementia, but his family was very supportive of him. I must admit I knew nothing about dementia until this moment and knew I wanted to choose a charity that supported people with his condition.

I rang his wife Julie and she said there was nothing in the Beeston area where they lived, so I did a google search and up came FORGET ME NOT, so I arranged to go down one afternoon to have a look at what they did. On arrival we were made very welcome, by Secretary Joan Cannan and had a cuppa and some nice homemade cake. We saw what the charity actually did and bought people together and had a afternoon of entertainment and also organised outings but didnt charge the users, as they raised money through their raffles and donations.

During the season I was approached by a couple of groundhoppers, Herbie & Sue and Graham Moseley who would also donate 25p per goal to the charity blog from the matches they watched, this was growing as clubs were also prepared to do this like Woodthorpe Park Rangers FC with 25p per goal and Mansfield Hosiery Mills FC with £1 per goal and also their Under 16's team.

The Nottinghamshire Senior League also allow Hazel to go round every year at the League Cup Finals and run a raffle for our Charity Blog and also at the end of each season have made a big donation.

Clubs around not only Nottinghamshire but around England have also chipped in and so have players and supporters.

Last season we raised the most total we have ever raised in £1,700 and we could not have done this without everyones superb support whether it was a pound donation or alot more, as each penny soon adds up.

This afternoon we went back to FORGET ME NOT, where they had a guest speaker from Men for Sheds, who got everyone involved in a bit of woodwork and a few folk actually heard Mark Clifford on BBC Radio Nottingham news yesterday, again we had a lovely cuppa with homemade coffee cake and I won the raffle, I know I always win on a raffle!!

All the people in the group were joining in and some told us about their trip out last month on a train which the Group had organised, infact we were asked if we would like to go on the next one in a few weeks time, but sadly we are tied up with meetings that week, so sadly had to decline.

I know a lot of people follow my Blog and read it and one lady from the group has been following it since my visit last year, I posted the photo of the presentation on the groups facebook site and she responded "Thankyou so much Rob, Hazel and Shaun(thats Shawn), - lovely to meet you today, what a marvellous effort, people in the group now will benefit so much, and a great help to secure the future too for others who will need it"

I will sign off now with a BIG thankyou to everyone who has donated and if any one or club would like make a donation for this seasons Charity Blog it is in aid of Nottingham Stroke Club, for more information, you can email me on hornby60uk@yahoo.co.uk