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Urgent Licensee required

Sporting celebrities descend on Berkhamsted

Pepper @ The Gatsby II

Karen Buchanan conquers The ITEX Walk for Pepper

Soroptomist International Club raise funds for Pepper

Zoe Conradi enters her first charity run for Pepper

Tring Corinthians Celebrity Football Day Out for Pepper

Chelsea FC supporting Pepper this Season

Amersham Townswomen’s Guild

New Litter of Pepper Piglets looking for a Home

Coffee, Cakes and Quilts Shines in the Rain!

Pepper receives a brilliant surprise from Canada

Joe Collier Golf Day

Cienté Hair Salon to raffle the world’s most expensive shampoo and Conditioner for Pepper.

That Pepper Effect Is 'The Best Pepper Show Yet'

St George would have been proud!

Pepper at the Gatsby

Eastwoods Celebrity Cookery

Bonkers Brash strikes again!

Epson (UK), Hemel Hempstead support Pepper

Ian Wing wings it!

Keeping it in the family

MG Owners Club nominate Pepper

Raffle Drawn for Pepper

Sky Sports journalist supports Pepper

Waitrose support Pepper during their Charity Week

Spread The News

Celebrities Endorse Pepperthon 2007 for Schools!

Sign up to receive Pepper News

Pepper at the Opera

Runners brave heavy rain in the 2007 Half Marathon
and Fun Run

Hertfordshire Business Awards

Foresters Charity Year generates £4000 for Pepper Nurses

Berkhamsted Quilters - Tantalizing Triangles

The Mane Event of the year!

The Pepper Shop in Amersham

Record funds raised at Eastwoods Pepper Golf Day

Hadrian's Wall walkers endure July heatwave

The Pepper Factor wows our audiences

Bonkers is back!

Whiteleaf Golf Club Ladies - par excellence

Better Prospects for Pepper

Pepper's High Flyer

Hyde Heath Villagers support Pepper

Beaujolais Run

Pepper Wine-Tasting Events

George & Dragon continue their support

Maidenhead Static Model Club donate £1000 to Pepper

Mayor's Walk Presentation

Riverside Event Supports Children's Charity

Record amount raised from Pepper Half Marathon & Fun Run

Coffee, Cake and Quilts

Fundraising from the Heart

The Pepper Art Fair 2006

Fun at the Bank Holiday Fete

Praise for Pepper Praise

Mayor of Dacorum's Secretary acknowledged

St George's Day Pepper Ball

Pepper thank Jane Hogg, outgoing Mayor of Dacorum

Pepper Chrysalis Workshop

Whiteleaf Charity Golf Day

Joe Collier acknowledges Pepper Nurses

Mayor's Country Walk in the pink

Celebrity cooks entertain a full house

Elm Grove Foresters sponsor Pepper

Record Entry for Pepper Half Marathon & Fun Run

The Aurora Duo entertain

Pepper Foundation Annual General Meeting

GOSH Pepper Bone Marrow Transplant Laboratory

Hospices help each other

Heads you lose, tails we win - Edward Nuttall

Magnificent Cinderella

Thanks to Charlie Howitt

Mayor's Christmas Concert success

The Spirit of Christmas

Beaujolais Victors!

Marcella and Hayley share a night at the Oscars

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Urgent Licensee required

Pepper Events Limited, who are responsible for running all the Pepper fundraising events, are in urgent need of a Licensee to run their bars.

Applicants can either already hold a license to save registering one for Pepper Events, or someone who is prepared to take on the responsibility for holding a license on behalf of the charity.

Either way, the request is now a very urgent one if we are to continue offering licensed bar facilities for all the popular Pepper Events fundraising events throughout the year.

If you are interested, please contact Karen Buchanan, Pepper Administrator, The Pepper Foundation, PO Box 334, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 1UC, or telephone 01442 874120, email karenbuchanan@btinternet.com. 

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Sporting celebrities descend on Berkhamsted

Celeb Sport? – A new joint fundraising initiative between The Pepper Foundation and The Hospice of St Francis – proved to be a huge success recently attracting a capacity audience. Styled in the format of the BBC’s popular TV programme A Question of Sport, Phil Tufnell, ex-Middlesex and England cricketer and winner of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and Luther Blissett, ex-Watford and England footballer, were the team captains.

Pre show comedian Johnny Laff provided entertainment before both quiz teams were introduced to the audience. The ‘Pepper Shakers’ team featured Middlesex and ex-England cricketer David Nash, retired Premier League football referee Graham Poll, England International and Wasps rugby player James Haskell and Captain Luther Blissett.

The ‘St Francis Puffers’ team featured Watford player/coach Malky Mackay, BBC Radio London rugby reporter & commentator Sara Orchard and ex-Arsenal and England footballer Nigel Winterburn and Captain Phil Tuffnell.

Nigel Barden, the popular BBC Radio 2 food and wine critic and Radio 5 Live rugby commentator was quizmaster, MC and auctioneer extraordinaire with his usual style, panache and enthusiasm.

Sue Rodwell and her team from Rodwells Drinks Specialists in Tring kindly ran the bar both before the event and during the interval. Sue provided medal-winning wines for the event as well as soft drinks and bottled water.

Thanks to Sting the Wasp (from Wasps RFC) and Harry the Hornet (from Watford FC) for coming along to confuse our celebrities, meet the audience and act as our wonderful mystery guests in ‘Feel the Sportsperson’.

An exciting auction of sporting memorabilia, which included some fantastic items raised a magnificent £2885 with additional items in a separate silent auction adding to the total.
We were particularly delighted that the Mayor of Dacorum, Councilor Brian Ayling and his wife, Pat, were able to attend the event as our guests. The evening grossed nearly £6000, so we are looking at a donation to each charity in excess of £3000 – enough to fund nursing care for a sick child at home for 6 months.

We still have a number of fabulous autographed photos of our celebrity panel, which were taken especially for us on the night, which we would like to sell to help boost the funds raised at the event.

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Pepper @ The Gatsby II

The second ‘Pepper at The Gatsby’ evening was held on Tuesday 28 August.  66 diners enjoyed the sophisticated surroundings and enjoyed and evening of good food and music at this popular venue in the heart of Berkhamsted.

Once again Nick Pembroke his team at the Gatsby looked after everyone well and the music from Adrian, Archie and Mike – aka ‘Toad’ - was much appreciated by all.

Over £1200 was raised for Pepper thanks to the contribution from The Gatsby and a successful raffle. There will be another ‘Pepper at The Gatsby’ event in January so visit the ‘Events’ section our website www.pepper.org.uk for details.

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Karen Buchanan conquers The ITEX Walk for Pepper

On Saturday 9 June 2007, Pepper Administrator Karen Buchanan with friends and family entered a most demanding charity walk around the complete coastline of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, almost 40 miles in a day, and all in aid of Pepper.

Having arrived in Guernsey on the Friday morning spending a leisurely day on the beach in glorious sunshine, it was early to bed that night, as they had to be up at 3.30am in order to be at St. Peter Port to register to start by 4.30am.  Their 5.10am departure took place in extremely foggy conditions, which wasn’t a very encouraging start.

According to Karen, the southeast and south of the island were extremely uncivilised in terms of walking!  To say there were steep cliff climbs is putting it mildly.  The fog got denser and heavier and the inclines got steeper.  There was just a never ending route of stone steps cut into the cliff paths - it was endless and it was very, very difficult to keep motivated because of the sheer hard work involved in putting one foot in front of the other as some of the steps were a good foot or more high.
  
It took them 6 hours to cover the 16 miles section of the cliff paths and at one point they were a good 250 feet above sea level. Karen knew it was high when the seagulls were circling on thermals beneath us!

Karen commented it was a shame the walkers were not able to appreciate the stunning scenery along the cliffs because of the fog, but from a walking point of view it was good that it wasn't so sunny as they were sweating buckets in the fog and drizzle! 

The west and north of the island apparently was a doddle after the cliff walks and the beaches and the scenery which were really beautiful.

They had about 7 checkpoints that they had to reach at designated times, which they managed and made time up on the flat which was very encouraging and some 14.5 hours after they started, they arrived back in St Peter Port at 7.45 pm.  

Its not surprising they ached everywhere, bones, joints, muscles, not to mention sunburned noses, arms and ankles, but more importantly, having survived the journey on bananas, orange juice, water, crisps, energy bars, good humour, a bit of yelling and sheer bloody mindedness, they managed to raise an impressive £1146.54 for Pepper.

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Soroptomist International Club raise funds for Pepper

Soroptomist International Club raise funds for Pepper

Soroptimist International, who work to promote social justice and equity and the empowerment of women through economic independence and greater participation in decision making at all levels, held two events this year where they raised funds for Pepper.

Soroptomists are committed to providing humanitarian services to local, national and International communities. As part of their fundraising commitment, they generously supported Pepper by promoting us at the Cherry Fayre in Flackwell Heath in July 2007 and during their Club summer lunch at Audry Symes’s house. Audrey kindly supplied the lunch and all the Club members reimbursed her the cost, from which she donated the amount of £160 to Pepper.

Diane Steele, President of the Soroptomists, held an ‘un-birthday’ dinner in June where she spent the whole day cooking a meal for her guests, the result of which was a donation to Pepper of a further £500 which is a great effort, thank you.

The Soroptomists now plan to hold a quiz night on October 20th in Flackwell Heath in the Community Centre at 7.30 pm and have invited Friends of Pepper to take a table. Cost per person is £12.50, which includes a fish & chips supper and a dessert.

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Zoe Conradi enters her first charity run for Pepper

A team of 10 runners ran the British 10k Marathon in London recently consisting of nine who ran for IRHH and the tenth, Zoe Conradi who ran for The Pepper Foundation.

According to Zoe, her run went extremely well as she managed to finish the course in 1 hour 16 minutes, which was just over the target she had set herself which in any event was a personal achievement having had no idea how long it would have taken due to it being her first race.
  
She has already approached her work to see if they will contribute towards the money she raised which could increase her £845 by a further £500!   

The British 10k is the first charity run Zoe had entered and her first fundraising event for Pepper. She had a fantastic day and felt the most enormous sense of achievement when she crossed the finishing line, not only for completing the race, but also to think that the money she had raised will go to such a worthwhile charity.

She couldn't have done it without the support of her friends, family and colleagues, and for that she thanks them all as we likewise extend our thanks to her for putting in so much time and effort into raising an impressive amount for Pepper.

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Tring Corinthians Celebrity Football Day Out for Pepper

Ross Parrett of Tring Corinthians recently organised a family day out at Tring Athletic Football stadium featuring a celebrity game between the Corinthians and a Luther Blissett Celebrity team. Apart from Luther, many other league and international football stars played, including Paul Jones who played in goal for Wales for many years.

There were also ‘Beat the goalie’ and ‘Hit the crossbar’ competitions, as well as junior competitions – and even the sun shone!

The Pepper team consisting of Moira and Roy Massingale, Julie Parrish, Mary Kennedy and Jonathan Tweed, ran the Tombola and sold Pepper Piglets, show merchandise, and Roy’s special drink competition. Together more than £200 was raised and the word was spread further about the charity, in spite of Julie being stung by a wasp as we set up the stalls!

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Chelsea FC supporting Pepper this Season

In previous copies of Pepper News, we reported how we are working more closely with families of the children who are supported by the Pepper nurses, so they can be aware of future plans and events and encourage their family and friends to get involved.

It was as a direct consequence of this that the Shed@thePark team appeared in the marquee on the middle Sunday of this year’s Summer Show.

Another outcome was a lead to Chelsea FC, that they may support us for one of their match day charity raffles. We wrote to Chelsea and were delighted to have received confirmation that they will support us this season with one of the raffles.

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Amersham Townswomen’s Guild

Pepper is the chosen charity for Amersham Townswomen’s Guild for their current year.  One of the events organised by the Guild was a “Strawberries and Cream” garden party held on the 21 July 2007. 

The garden looked beautiful and was admired by a number of guests as they sheltered from a heavy downpour in the gazebo.  However, Lady Galahad immediately came to the rescue with a selection of umbrellas enabling everyone to return to the house and sample the wonderful selection of cakes and goodies on offer.  It was a spread to be proud of.

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New Litter of Pepper Piglets looking for a Home

There are many types of pigs.  Some pigs, like warthogs and boars, are wild pigs.  Domestic pig breeds include Hampshire, Gloucester and Large Whites.  Some pigs, like Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, are kept as pets.

The Pepper piglet is particularly fond of spending time with people, especially children and he loves music, fun and laughter.

In the wild, pigs root up grasses, roots and insects with their strong noses.  Most farmers feed their pigs grain mixtures.

Our piglet requires nothing other than good company with a special friend and the opportunity to sing her favourite Sgt. Pepper song ‘Lucy in the Sty with Diamonds!’

The piglets are available to a good home for £7.99. Call 01442 874120 or 0845 6755566 for more details, but remember:

Pepper Pig don’t like disco
Pepper Pig don’t like dance
Pepper Pig don’t like ambient
Pepper Pig don’t like trance

Pepper Pig don’t like R&B
Pepper Pig don’t like soul
Pepper Pig just likes heavy duty bad-***
Rock ‘N’ Roll

(With Apologies to Edward Monkton)

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Pepper Christmas Cards

This year Pepper has a special and exclusive Christmas card in addition to its normal range - an original scene of Berkhamsted, painted for us by local artist George Sear. 

The card is selling at £4.75 for a pack of ten cards, available from the Pepper Foundation

A more comprehensive range of cards plus an order form will be shown on the website next month as well as a special order leaflet that will be sent out to all the Friends and Associates of Pepper.

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Coffee, Cakes and Quilts Shines in the Rain

In spite of the very wet weather on Friday 20th July, a very successful ‘Coffee, Cakes and Quilts’ morning took place at Tring Red Cross’ Hall, which raised £230 for Pepper in only 2 hours!

Maggie Tweed and her students had a lovely range of wall hangings, quilts and throws on display which were greatly admired by all the visitors. The homemade cakes and raffle added to the success of the event.

Thanks to all who supported the show and to all those whose hard work made it such a successful event. Watch this space for next year’s event!  Anyone interested in joining a class should contact Maggie Tweed – maggietweed@yahoo.co.uk.

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Pepper receives a brilliant surprise from Canada

Pepper Administration Manager, Karen Buchanan, recently received a call from Robin Harris in Ontario, Canada on behalf of his mother. Apparently some relatives – and aunt and uncle - who gave respite accommodation to children of airmen based on an American airbase near their home in the fifties and sixties, had left his mother their house on the understanding that a donation of $20000 Canadian would be made to a children’s charity as close as possible to the Iver area. They always enjoyed trying to help children having been childless themselves.

When Robin and his wife were recently on holiday in the UK, they trawled the internet, found Pepper and phoned Karen. Information was subsequently sent to Canada and following several exchanges of information, a £10,000 donation was made.

The Pepper Foundation and the children we support send an enormous thank you to the Harris family in Canada for their enormous donation.

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Eastwoods Golf Day

Wednesday 8 August 2007 saw the 10th Anniversary of the Eastwoods Pepper Golf Day take place at Ashridge Golf Club where 23 teams (92 players) set out for a shot gun start after bacon butties & coffee and complimentary massages from Christina from
Avida Massage.

The players couldn’t have wished more for such fantastic weather conditions, the course was in tremendous condition and a good day of golf was enjoyed by everyone.
Stratsones of Tring sponsored a Hole In One Competition for a BMW car but sadly the cries of ‘We were only a whisper away from the hole’ meant that no one actually won the car.

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Cienté Hair Salon to raffle the world’s most expensive shampoo and Conditioner for Pepper.

Cienté, the award winning hair salon in Berkhamsted, is raffling a limited edition gift set that includes a shampoo and conditioner with a retail price of £245.00 for the Pepper Foundation.

Cienté salon manager Trisha Buller says “Good health is something we take for granted and sadly, some children are not so fortunate and can suffer from traumatic life-limiting and in some cases, terminal illness’s. Pepper relies on the generosity of people like you to make a difference”.

The Prize, a gift set which includes a shampoo and conditioner and a bottle of VOSS Artesian Water, is just one of 75 sets coming into the UK. Cienté have secured one of those sets.

The limited edition shampoo and conditioner called TEN VOSS, has been made by the luxury Beverly Hills-based hair-care brand Alterna, using VOSS Artesian water from Norway and ten of the world’s conditioning ingredients such as extracts of Italian white truffle oil, caviar and Arabian Frankincense.

Alterna, whose A list celebrity fans include Victoria Beckham, Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Alba, are making a donation of $25,000 from the worldwide sales of this limited edition gift set to WaterAid.

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That Pepper Effect Is 'The Best Pepper Show Yet'

That Pepper Effect opened on Saturday 14 July for seven performances at Berkhamsted Collegiate School’s Centenary Theatre and was declared to be ‘The best Pepper Show yet’ by regular show attendees on its opening night.

The second show to be written and directed by Paul Eccentric took up the story of the winner of last year’s Pepper Factor as he struggled to come to terms with the realities of his newfound fame and fortune. Surrounded by people who all wanted a slice of his success and who stopped at nothing to get it, Jack (now restyled JJ Flash), realised there was no way out of the new life he had chosen – or was there?

Great music is, as always at the heart of the two hour show and audiences enjoyed performances which ranged from
Jumping Jack Flash through Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock & Roll,
Just A Gigolo and The Long & Winding Road to Shine and
I Put A Spell On You.

A cast of musicians and actors backed by a rock ensemble and Big Band Jazz 3000 performed the music and children from Pepper Youth made a strong contribution to the show.

That Pepper Effect is Berkhamsted’s biggest and best live musical extravaganza featuring music performed by local performers, rock musicians, Big Band Jazz 3000 and children from Pepper Youth. State-of-the-art lighting, sparkling sound and an amazing stage set combine to provide a musical night out to remember.

Comments from people who attended the show included –

‘I thought the show was highly creative and superbly produced to appeal to a wide age range because of the selection of songs’

‘Highlights were the blending of rock and big band with the revolving stage to enable quick changes. There was pace, polish and variety which provided a great showcase
for a lot of individual talent’

‘I thought this year’s show reached an amazingly high standard. The singing was superb, music excellent, lighting and stage design spectacular and sound perfect’

‘Pepper Youth excelled themselves again'

The annual Pepper Show is organised entirely by volunteers to raise funds for the Pepper Children’s Nursing Team that cares for local children with terminal and life-limiting illnesses. The amount of money raised has now been announced as in excess of £30,000.

In the meantime, next year’s performance will celebrate our 20th anniversary of the summer show, therefore you can expect an extravaganza of impressive proportions to reflect on the journey made by hundreds of volunteers over those twenty years who made the show the success it is today. The amount of money raised over that period far exceeds £1m, which represents a huge effort by so many.

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St George would have been proud!

Our inaugural St. George's Day Pepper Ball held at Pendley Manor in Tring, Hertfordshire, was a huge success. In fact we were lucky to be joined by St. George himself in the guise of a full size mannequin, complete with sword and armour and he even brought along his dragon - but we won't go into that!

As people gathered in the bar area for pre drinks, The Second Impulse Sax Quartet entertained everyone as they arrived and set the mood for an enjoyable evening.

Dinner was grand affair as everyone dressed up in his or her evening finery sat down to an excellent three-course banquet and when coffee was served a very professional cabaret performed by the pupils of the Arts Education School took to the stage.

Pepper is always in the front line when it comes to recognising young talent as has been proved over the years through the Pepper Youth summer show auditions, so it was good to see girls under 18 with such musical talent.

The auction that followed created quite a lot of interest as guests bid high and generously for a wide range of items brilliantly orchestrated by Amersham Auctioneer, Simon Knowles.

During the evening there was an opportunity to win a prize on the tombola table and to round off the evening everyone took to the floor to dance to Mr. Kites Benefit Band, who as always were absolutely excellent.

All in all a good time was had by all but Pepper could not have done it without the help and generosity of so many volunteers who were too many to mention all by name but we would like to make an exception, namely Ken Lennon our MC for the evening and Maureen Lennon who organised the event with Linda Horsfall.

Until all the receipts come in from the auction and various quarters, we do not have a final figure to present, but suffice to say we hope to have made in excess of £8,500!

Congratulations everyone involved, a great team effort.

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Pepper at the Gatsby

One of the most challenging aspects of fundraising is the constant need to come up with a new idea that people will enjoy whilst raising funds for the charity. We experienced a huge success with the Pepper St George's Day Ball which in itself was a lavish money raising evening, but what is there for a normal weekday evening.

Well, Nick Potts and his colleagues from the Berkhamsted and Bulbourne Rotary Clubs had the answer by organising a special evening recently at the Gatsby Bar and Restaurant, situated beneath the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted High Street.

Nick Pembroke of the Gatsby, staged a delightful evening, which attracted a capacity number of covers, who clearly appreciated the quality of their food, which despite numbers, was exceptionally good.

As the conversations and laughter filled the room, so did the background music from musicians Toad, who delighted the appreciative audience with their variety of numbers befitting a piano bar ambience.

Each guest was encouraged to write their name on a £10 note, which was then placed in a draw resulting in three lucky winners each receiving prizes, but the moral of the exercise was to raise even more funds for the evening over and above the £10 per head per cover donated by The Gatsby.

We do not have final figures yet for the amount raised, but suffice to say it could be in the region of £2000 for Pepper.

Congratulations to The Gatsby and to Nick Potts for organising such a fun and successful evening which clearly demonstrates that we can put the 'fun' into fundraising on most occasions.

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Eastwoods Celebrity Cookery Demonstration

Cookery celebrities and aficionados descended on Berkhamsted en mass for a feast of the senses on Saturday 21 April at the Collegiate School as guests of Eastwoods Joe Collier who needs no encouragement to support Pepper as it comes naturally.

Jimmy Doherty, from the popular BBC2 TV series Jimmy's Farm, joined Joe and his colleagues David and Lee from Eastwoods Butchers in Gravel Path, Berkhamsted, for an evening of carving, cooking and conversation.

Paul Kelly, of Kelly Bronze Turkey fame, accompanied Jimmy, together with professional chefs Lisa Patton and Douglas Brunen, Berkhamsted cake maker extraordinaire Caroline Youngs and award winning sausage maker Keith Mulford, who was assisted by Chris Legg.

Nigel Barden, the BBC Radio 2 food and wine critic, hosted the evening along with David Lidgate of the highly acclaimed Lidgate Butchers of London. Nigel and David did a fantastic job in keeping the evening buoyed up with lively conversation and humour as they talked to the chefs and experts throughout the evening.

Rodwell's of Tring held an informative wine tasting to accompany the pork dishes cooked in front of the audience to tantalize their taste buds and an auction - with Nigel showing considerable skill as auctioneer - raised over £1500.

Thank you Joe for your tireless support.

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Bonkers Brash strikes again!

Stalwart Pepper supporter and mad keen cyclist, Richard (Bonkers) Brash and his team mates Richard Meeson, Dave Roberts and Mike Farrie, took up the challenge to cycle from the north coast of Wales to the south coast of Wales, across the mountains, in 4 days.

Incredibly Richard and his mates completed this marathon cycle journey in April 2007 and so far have received pledges for over £1000 worth of sponsorship and all for Pepper!

We don't think you are mad Richard - just Bonkers! Well done.

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Epson (UK), Hemel Hempstead support Pepper

Franki Knowles from Epson in Hemel Hempstead approached Pepper in April 2007 to ask for information about the charity as we were being considered as a contender for their charity of the year 2007.

Information was sent immediately explaining the work of the charity and we are delighted to let you know that Lesley Fyson contacted Pepper again in May to announce that Epson had chosen Pepper as their 2007 Charity of the Year.

Members of staff have already held a staff sale to fundraise on our behalf and Epson have kindly agreed to match all funds raised by staff. To date, after only a few weeks fundraising, £2588 has been donated to Pepper.

The Trustees and the nurses and more importantly the children, thank Epson for their generosity and decision to choose us as their Charity of the year.

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Ian Wing wings it!

Pepper supporter Ian Wing decided to leap out of a plane and participate in a parachute jump to celebrate his 40th birthday recently. Ian, who lives in Hemel Hempstead, had been to the Pepper summer show in the past and wanted to do something to support the work of the charity.

Ian also has a lively 5 year old daughter who has already said she'd like to be part of Pepper Youth in future shows!

Ian, who wasn't a bit nervous about his tandem leap in the sky, found the experience thoroughly exhilarating - so much so that he is now considering doing a solo freefall jump in future.

Ian raised an impressive £1555 in sponsorship, all of which he donated to Pepper.

An extremely impressive performance Ian - Thank you from the Pepper Team.

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Keeping it in the family

Jonathan Tweed's daughter in law Eli (right), together with her sister Amelia, recently ran the Reading half Marathon in aid of Pepper. To date, they have managed to raise £250 confirmed with the possibility of more to come once she returns from a trip to New Zealand and which is an excellent achievement.

She told Jonathan she found it quite a tough run and finished in 2:00:03 compared with her sister Amelia, who recorded a staggering 1:45:48 - her best time ever!

Congratulations to both of them for making the effort on behalf of all the Pepper sick children.

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MG Owners Club nominate Pepper

The Wycombe Area MG Owners Club has nominated Pepper as their charity for this year. Pepper Trustee, Val Bevan and her husband Dave, recently attended a Club evening during which time they made a Pepper presentation to the Club members. 

They received a very warm welcome, some good questions and a great deal of interest which resulted in Club making the decision to support the work we do for sick children with life limiting illness, in their area.

We look forward to working with the Club.

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Raffle Drawn for Pepper

The high spot of a very successful 20th Anniversary Exhibition for Berkhamsted Quilters came on the afternoon of Sunday 22nd April when Jonathan Tweed, Chairman of The Pepper Foundation, arrived to draw the winning ticket for the Quilt Raffle, Tantalising Triangles, which had been made by members of the group over a period of about 9 months.

The winner, Sandra Smith from Maple Cross, bought her ticket when the quilt was displayed at the Pepper Shop in Amersham. The raffle raised a wonderful £1759 and a further £406 was raised from other activities over the weekend, totalling £2165!

A big thank you to all who bought tickets and congratulations to the lucky winner.

Additionally, Jonathan awarded the winning prize in the quilting group's African Challenge competition. The picture shows the winner Hannelore Kettle receiving her award.

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Sky Sports journalist supports Pepper

Miles Harrison, who has been with Sky Sports since 1994 and also previews live Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup and international rugby on skysports.com, was recently named the Guinness/London Irish, Rugby Union Journalist of the Season.

The award was established four years ago to recognise the journalist or broadcaster that has contributed most during the season to the understanding, promotion and enjoyment of rugby union. 

It is the only such award to be presented annually.

Harrison was commended by the judges for his great contribution to the game, not only in his commentaries but also through his writing, receiving special praise for the thoroughness of his research.

Harrison also picked up a signed London Irish shirt, which he donated to his favourite charity, the Pepper Foundation.

"I intend to auction the signed shirt for a local charity that I have supported for a number of years now," he said.

"They do wonderful work and the generosity of London Irish will be much appreciated by all those involved with the charity."

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Waitrose support Pepper during their Charity Week

Waitrose supermarket in Berkhamsted chose Pepper as the recipients of funds raised during their annual charity week, held in February 2007. The partners of the Berkhamsted store voted to support local charities that offer help to children and young people and Pepper, along with another Berkhamsted charitable organisation, were the nominated recipients.

Among the activities that took place were a staff Chinese lunch, a football match between Dry Goods and Fresh Foods - with Fresh Foods winning the day! Bets were placed on who would score the first goal and the winning scorer was Matt Gibson.

Checkouts held a quiz night and there was an auction for departmental managers to be nominated to change jobs for a day!

A total of £285.35 was raised and the donation cheque was presented to Pepper Trustee Linda Horsfall and Administrator Karen Buchanan in April.

Our grateful thanks to all those partners at Waitrose who took part.

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Spread The News

One of the biggest issues Pepper faces in terms of fundraising is to try and raise awareness of the Charity and the work it does in supporting sick children and funding the Pepper Nursing service beyond the local Berkhamsted, Tring, Hemel Hempstead, Chesham and Amersham area.

We get great support from these areas and the majority of our fundraising is focussed here, but many of the children we support are in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Marlow etc, and very few people in those towns know about us. I am sure if they did, they would be pleased to provide support.

To spread the Pepper word more broadly, we have launched a number of initiatives in the hope of engaging the families and friends of children the nurses have cared for or are caring for, in activities that they feel comfortable with to support the Charity. We have also broadened the area of last year's highly successful Pepperthon initiative encouraging children to help children by mailing every school throughout Herts and Bucks instead of limiting support to the confines of Dacorum.

We are initiating contact with companies in the High Wycombe area as a pilot to raise awareness and look for ways the companies can help, from major sponsorship (of a nurse for example) to supporting literature production. As a minimum we are looking to leave new Pepper collecting boxes to encourage every day support.

We are also contacting the newspapers throughout the region to explain our dilemma that the essential and highly valued delivery of care for sick children in their town is going unnoticed and unsupported in many areas. We hope to produce editorial support as a consequence. We are contacting all organisations throughout the region who have an ethos supporting children's charities with money or activities, such as Golf Clubs, Round Tables, Lions, Chambers of Commerce, Townswomen's Guilds etc. We have already had some success, but our resources limit our activity.

This is where you come in!!

Please support these initiatives in any way you can, through your work, sports club, gym, choir, model makers, friends. A few words about the charity may spark some ideas in new areas, and these ideas will become a hotspot for new fundraising. The early feedback from the initiatives is good - now we need action!

Jonathan Tweed
Chairman, The Pepper Foundation

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Celebrities Endorse Pepperthon 2007 for Schools!

Luther Blissett and Antony Worrall Thompson have agreed to support the Pepper Foundation's schools fundraising event - Pepperthon 2007! The former Watford and England footballer that now manages Chesham United, and the Celebrity Chef, are keen to make this fundraising initiative a resounding success.

Following a successful launch in 2006, backed by the incumbent Mayor of Dacorum, Councilor Jane Hogg and targeting schools in the Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted area, over £5000 was raised. More than 400 schools in Herts and Bucks are now being invited to participate in next years exciting challenge.

This expansion means that more schoolchildren will be able to raise money to fund the Pepper Nurses, who care for children within the community suffering from life limiting illness on a 24-hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year basis, The Pepper nursing service is currently caring for more than 30 children within the Hemel Hempstead to High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Marlow catchment areas.

To coincide with National Children's Hospice Week, held in September 2006, Luther and Antony endorsed a letter sent to all schools encouraging them to participate by enabling children to help children who are less fortunate than themselves.

To join the fun, each child raises sponsorship from friends and family to achieve a specific activity target. This can be skipping or swimming, hopping or running and this year it could even be making a specific number of healthy snacks and selling them to their friends!

So not only are the children raising money for a great local cause, but they are also getting exercise and encouraging healthy eating which is why Luther Blissett and Antony Worrall Thompson are keen to support the Pepperthon 07 challenge.

Full details will be sent to participating schools in early 2007 so they can enter and take part in March 2007. Every child will receive a certificate signed by Luther and Antony, and the fundraiser achieving the most challenging target in each school will receive two tickets to the matinee of the famous Pepper annual summer show in Berkhamsted - and who knows who else may be there?

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Pepper at the Opera

Pepper Opera goers were once again treated to a spectacular evening of good music and frivolity during a recent performance of the Garden Opera Company's performance of Cosi fan Tuti.

At one stage the audience was in hysterics, caused by the performers who took advantage of the mood and certain misfortunes where they openly showed their amusement, much to the delight of the opera goers who rose to the occasion by applauding their approval.

It would seem the garden Opera Company could do no wrong and as previous years have demonstrated, their kind of production and humour is appreciated by established and novice audiences alike.

Mike Jenkyns' desire to bring Opera to the masses has worked yet again with so many young members of the audience showing their approval during the curtain call. This year was no exception to his promise to bring popular Opera to Berkhamsted and for 2008, well watch this space when we announce the next dates.

As usual, the special themed cocktails and in-house catering arrangements were exceptional, not to mention the applause given to Dr Pricilla Chadwick for her tireless support of Pepper by donating the Collegiate Theatre free of charge again.

Our thanks also go out to all those who supported the event to make this one of the must see annual calendar dates in the Berkhamsted events diary.

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Runners brave heavy rain in the 2007 Half Marathon and Fun Run

The Berkhamsted Half Marathon and 5 mile Fun Run broke all attendance records this year despite the continuous heavy rain and cold weather conditions which didn't appear to deter the runners in either category.

Athletes from all over the country took part in the Half Marathon including and entrant from Venezuela and Japan making this years' event, organised by Nick Potts of The Berkhamsted Rotary Club, one of the most popular events in the athletic calendar.

First of the 943 Half Marathon runners to finish the 13.1 mile event was 40 year old Anthony Jackson from Shaftsbury Barnet Running Club who completed the course in a time of 1:13.07.

Paul Allen, the local Dacorum and Tring Athletics Club runner, finished in ninth place with a time of 1:18.41.

Team results for the Half Marathon saw victory go to Chiltern Harriers, while Tring Running Club came fifth and Gade Valley Harriers finished eighth.

The winner of the 5 mile Fun Run was Tommy Sheldrick aged 17 of Berkhamsted Collegiate School who beat runners from Watford and Thame with a time of 0:28.57.

15 year old Jack Thai from Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted finished fifth with a time of 0:30.35 culminating in Ashlyns School achieving the top spot with Berkhamsted Collegiate coming second.

The popularity of this even has soared in recent years due to national and international coverage on specialist websites. In 2006, the number of entrants doubled from the previous year to 850 with this years' total increasing to 943.

The Half Marathon and 5 mile Fun Run are organised by both Berkhamsted Rotary Clubs to raise money for Pepper which last year amounted to £12,000 with a possibility that despite the continuous heavy rain and atrocious weather conditions, that figure may be substantially exceeded.

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Hertfordshire Business Awards

The atmosphere was electric during the 2006 Hertfordshire Business Awards, held at Willows Farm near London Colney, St Albans on Thursday 23rd November 2006. The stage was set and an array of distinguished guests from around the County dressed in their finest evening attire ready to be entertained in a most magnificent and opulent way.

Consequently, The Pepper Foundation were delighted to have been invited to attend the awards evening as the HBA's nominated charity for the event, which was a great honour for us.

The theme for the evening was 'Rock the Kasbah!' where guests on arrival, entered a vibrant, bustling atmosphere of a traditional Moroccan Souk.

Popular comedian and impersonator, Jon Culshaw compered the ceremony providing laughs all the way as he worked his way through a selection of celebrity impersonations prior to announcing each of the award winners.

Pepper Trustees Eric Pillinger and Lewis Fletcher, were both invited to sit at the same table as Jon Culshaw who provided non-stop laughter making for a thoroughly enjoyable aside to the Awards ceremony itself.

The event organisers, Caroline Hyde and Carol Gray, from Archant, Herts & Cambs introduced the work of the Pepper Foundation to an influential and sympathetic audience and explained how crucial fundraising is to the charity to ensure it can carry on it's work of supporting the Pepper paediatric nursing team, supported by the Pepper PowerPoint presentation.

The business supporters attending the Awards ceremony were clearly moved by the presentation in terms of how the Pepper nursing team help children within the Herts & Bucks area, because between all the tables, they raised over £2700 throughout the evening for the charity.

The Trustees and the Nursing Team would like to thank all those who made extremely generous donations throughout the evening in the knowledge that the money will go to such a worthwhile cause.

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Foresters Charity Year generates £4000 for Pepper Nurses

The local High Wycombe Branch of the Foresters (Elm Grove) held their 2006 Christmas Dinner and Dance at the Wycombe Abbey School during which time they presented a cheque for £4000 to a thrilled Liz Clarke, Fundraising Coordinator for the Pepper Foundation.

This donation was in addition to Foresters generous £1000 sponsorship of the Bank Holiday fete held in August last year.

Liz thanked the Foresters and explained what a difference their huge fundraising achievement will make to children in the High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire area.

Over 190 people attended the event and spent the evening dancing to the excellent Legacy Big Band. The dance floor was packed throughout the evening with a display to rival the Strictly Come Dancing semi-final being televised on BBC the same evening!

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Berkhamsted Quilters - Tantalizing Triangles

Berkhamsted Quilters are a group who have helped their local community over the past twenty years by supporting many local initiatives and national charities with numerous fundraising projects. The group will be celebrating their twentieth birthday with an exhibition to be held on 21-22 April from 10am until 5pm at the Civic Centre, Berkhamsted High Street, Berkhamsted HP4 3HB.

In this, their eighth exhibition, they will be showing many quilts, both individual and group made. In addition the group have collaborated to make a raffle quilt, Tantalizing Triangles, a most stunning double bed size quilt. The inspiration for this beautiful work came from a quilt made by Katherine Guerrier.

The quilt is made from jewel coloured fabrics, many donated by the members, machine pieced and machine quilted and measures 84" X 100". This will be raffled in aid of the The Pepper Foundation, a charity which exists to alleviate suffering by funding home care to seriously ill children within the Chilterns area of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

The draw for this beautiful textile will take place on Sunday 22 April. Tickets cost £1 each and are available from Gillian Wyborn, Lilac Cottage, Wigginton, Herts HP23 6HN. Cheques should be made payable to Berkhamsted Quilters and marked Raffle Quilt on the reverse and please include a stamped self addressed envelope.

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The Mane Event of the year!

A fabulous night was in store for those who were lucky enough to have tickets for The Mane Event of the Year - hair and fashion extravaganza, which was organized and presented by the Ciente hair salon on behalf of Pepper on Friday 10 November 2006.

The evening started with drinks and canapes in the reception area of the Civic Centre in Berkhamsted where ticket holders were able to browse a variety of stalls selling some unusual and exciting gifts.

The show commenced by visually transporting the audience by means of huge photographic backdrops accompanied by music and special lighting effects, through London, Paris and New York, to demonstrate hair styles, make up and fashion presented by models specially chosen by the Ciente stylists and creative team.

The highlight of the evening was the finale event - 'The Ball' where the audience were once again transported to the chic sophistication of a winter's ball with dazzling hair styling, make up and corresponding evening attire worn with great panache by the models.

After the scintillating presentation, Trisha Buller - on behalf of the team from Ciente - thanked everyone for attending and reminded them how the money donated to the event could really help maintain the funding Pepper so desperately needs to continue its vital children's nursing service.

With the fundraising theme uppermost in everyone's minds, the audience went home with complimentary goodie bags handed out on departure.

Over 100 people attended the evening and such was the success of the show, Ciente have promised to put something similar on in future.

Pepper would like to thank Trisha and her team for working so hard to put on such a spectacular evening - thank you Trisha, Karen, Becky, Charlotte and everyone involved from Ciente.

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The Pepper Shop in Amersham

Have you visited The Pepper shop in Sycamore Road, New Amersham yet where you will find a fantastic selection of reasonably priced items for sale? You will also be supporting Pepper at the same time, if you do.

You can donate any good quality clothing, bric a brac, books, CDs, videos and DVDs. We particularly welcome children's clothing as well such as toys, books, musical instruments, games, clothes and furniture. Who knows, you might even find just the bargain you have been looking for as well.

The Pepper shop welcomes donations of good quality items to sell all the year round, but please do not deposit them outside or round the back of the shop when closed as items are often stolen or vandalised. We prefer, whenever possible, that donations are brought in on days other than Monday.

Being a shop volunteer can be a great way to make new friends whilst doing something useful at the same time. If you can spare a little time on a regular basis, then please respond to the following appeal for Volunteer Shop Assistants.

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Record funds raised at Eastwoods Pepper Golf Day

Joe Collier, award winning businessman and patron of the Pepper Foundation, together with Janet Edwards and her team of enthusiastic organisers, certainly know how to make the most out of a day's pro-celebrity golfing event.

Joe's company, Eastwoods Butchers in Berkhamsted, managed to raise a staggering £12,574.61 on the 9th August as a result of the Eastwoods Pepper Golf Day, held for the second year running on the 6580 yard par 72, Ashridge Golf Club in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.

The Ashridge course is described as being encouraging to the average golfer, whilst thought provoking for the above average player, which is possibly why this established annual event attracts so many entrants from all over the country.

This year, the ninth in the series, well over 100 people attended the event, split between the 24 teams comprising four players per team in the competition and those who also attended the gala fund-raising dinner afterwards.

Luther Blisset, ex Watford and England footballer together with Nigel Winterburn, ex Arsenal, did an excellent job running the auction which included holidays in Spain and Turkey, a signed England rugby shirt, John Motson's story board from a World Cup 2006 game, a Tiger Moth experience and a Spa day at Champneys.

Jonathan Tweed, Chairman of the Pepper Foundation, presented a brief speech on the Charity and the work it does for children with life limiting illness and paid particular praise to the tireless work John and Pauline Lamb had given over the past 8 years in running and building such an important fundraising event, accompanied by Janet Edwards who, together with her team has subsequently taken over the helm since they both retired from the event in 2005.

This year will be the 10^th Anniversary of the event which promises to be even more exciting as Vinny Jones has already offered to take the winning Auction bidder out fishing, shooting or playing golf! Make a note in your diary for Wednesday 8th August 2007 prior to application details being released very soon.

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Hadrian's Wall walkers endure July heatwave

David Williams and his daughter Sara, had been talking about walking Hadrian's Wall for quite some time, so eventually, one sunny day in July 2006, all the talking became a reality as they set off on their challenging 84 mile walk.

Both Sara and David were accompanied on their journey by Mrs Sally Williams, who provided essential and vital back-up support services - namely someone to pick them up at the end of each day and take them to each night's accommodation!

Hadrian's Wall, now officially recognised as a World Heritage Site, stretches across the country from Wallsend in Newcastle on the East coast of the UK to Bowness-on-Solway on the West coast.

The Romans occupied Britain from the middle of the 1st Century to the beginning of the 5th Century and for much of that time, Northumberland was the very edge of their mighty empire. It was in AD 122 that the Emperor Hadrian, ordered the building of a wall across the country to separate the land of the Britons from the Picts.

As July is historically regarded as the middle of the British summer, both walkers thought they might at least experience reasonable weather and pleasant walking conditions throughout their journey, with maybe little rain. However, they were certainly not prepared for the heat wave conditions they had to endure each day throughout their walk. As it turned out, July was registered as the hottest month since records began!

7 days later and many wonderful sights experienced along the way, their path took them to the village of Glasson where they stopped for lunch, happy in the knowledge that they were only 3 miles from the end of their journey. Feeling spurred on by this they set off at a fine pace to Port Carlisle and then on to the town of Bowness - what a wonderful sight that must have been before arrived at their destination.

A small wooden archway with a message across it congratulating them on having finished Hadrian's Wall provided an opportunity for them to have their photographs taken, but more importantly, there was a bench for them to sit down and reflect on their achievement.

The sight of a nearby pub where they received their sixth and final stamp in their Hadrian's Wall passport accompanied by a certificate, must have been like finding an oasis of water in a blistering desert, which in effect, the previous 6 days had been like. Despite occasional but uncontrollable muscle spasms and only one blister each, which was nothing a hot bath wouldn't cure, they came out reasonably unscathed.

And it was not only for their own satisfaction and sense of achievement they undertook this challenge - they did all that and raised £2300.25 for Pepper.

Our thanks go out to David, Sara and Sally and all those sponsors who enabled them to raise such an impressive amount for the charity.

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The Pepper Factor wows our audiences

Last year's annual Pepper Summer Show presentation, entitled the Pepper Factor, a combination of the popular television shows 'Pop Idol', 'The X Factor' and 'Stars in their eyes', was a huge success and one that even Simon Cowell would have been proud of!

Eight decades of musical history was given the Pepper Factor treatment during one of the hottest weeks of the year in July. The Pepper Factor cast, adult and youth, crew and a relentless army of volunteers, battled through the rising temperatures to ensure the audiences were given a musical experience they would never forget.

Audiences were singing and dancing in the aisles as each performance progressed, followed by enthusiastic applause that would relegate London's West End theatres into the second division. This year also saw a departure from previous performances through the introduction of a big band sound, which was hugely popular with the mixed age audience.

Of course, this was Pepper fundraising at its best, so the enthusiasm of the Pepper supporters spilled out into all pre and post show events centering around the marquee where local bands donated their time free of charge to entertain.

As has become the norm, the restaurant facility was hugely popular because the standard of food was absolutely excellent and the volunteer staff that ran the bar, did it with such professionalism and enthusiasm, it was difficult getting people to leave when the time came to lock up!

One of the great talking points about the Pepper show, apart from the excellence of the more experienced musicians and singers, is the opportunity it provides for up and coming youngsters via Pepper Youth. Many kids from local schools enter the spirit of the show with such enthusiasm and commitment alongside their academic work. It is a great testimony to them and to their parents who actively encourage them.

Pepper Youth provides an opportunity for kids to express themselves and become part of a wider entertainment picture, which could possibly lead on to them 'treading the boards' professionally.

The whole ethos of Pepper is to provide 24-hour home care to children who are affected by serious illness. By taking part in the show, the enthusiasm and commitment by Pepper Youth members given to the charity, clearly demonstrates their desire to provide for children less fortunate than themselves, which is a great character and team building exercise. That was clearly demonstrated at one of the performances attended by Sian, one of the Pepper patients, whose composure and kindness shown to us throughout the evening, confirmed why we do what we do.

This year will be the 19th Pepper Summer Show and work has already begun deciding a theme and format, so watch this space or visit the pepper show website www.peppershow.com around the beginning of February 2007 for future announcements.

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Bonkers is back!

Mad cyclist Richard Brash is on the road again to raise money for Pepper. Affectionally known as Bonkers for reasons quite obvious, Richard now plans to cycle with three fellow cyclists, from the North Coast of Wales to the South Coast over the challenging mountain passes.

In 2005, Richard, accompanied by his wife Penny who followed at a distance in her car to make sure nothing untoward happened to him on his long and arduous journey, cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End and raised over £1500 for Pepper.

If you would like to sponsor him for this next coast to coast marathon log onto the special Just Giving website http://www.justgiving.com/bonkersbrash3

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Amersham Townswomen's Guild

Please support the Amersham Townswomen's Guild who plan to run a stall at the market in Amersham-on-the-Hill on Tuesday 29 May from 9:00am till 1:00pm. They will be selling home made cakes, plants and bric-a-brac.

The Townswomen's Guild have adopted Pepper as their charity for this year and are planning to promote Pepper during this event.

This is an ideal opportunity of spreading the Pepper word into the neighboring county.

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Whiteleaf Golf Club Ladies - par excellence

Jonathan Tweed, Chairman of the Pepper Foundation together with Liz Clarke, Pepper Fundraising Coordinator, recently attended a ladies lunch at the Whiteleaf Golf Club, after which, following a brief presentation about the charity to the group, Ladies Captain, Jane Rigby-Fielder, presented Pepper with a cheque for £250.

This follows a previous amount raised, which they presented to Pepper in May 2006 following the club's Charity Day, which amounted to a staggering £2850. The additional £250 was raised from donations in lieu of Christmas cards and a raffle.

Sadly the weather on Ladies Day, restricted the golf competition to just 6 holes before rain eventually forced play to be abandoned.

The Trustees and Nurses of the Pepper Foundation are very grateful to Jane for choosing to support Pepper as her charity during her year as Captain and to all Club members for their generosity in helping raise the spectacular combined total of £3100.

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Better Prospects for Pepper

The Better Prospects Recruitment Agency, with branches in Amersham and Luton, chose to support Pepper during December with a Christmas campaign targeting all its clients.

The Amersham branch manager, Jo O'Reilly (centre), presented Val Bevan (right), Pepper Trustee and Liz Clarke (left), Pepper Fundraising Coordinator, with a cheque for £150 together with a wonderful array of gifts donated by staff and clients including soft toys, wine and a hamper.

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Pepper's High Flyer

You could be forgiven in thinking that Pepper's High Flyer refers to our Illustrious Chairman Jonathan Tweed, but not on this occasion.

That honour for the time being, rests with Pepper supporter James Doughty who for quite some time, had wanted to do something not many people could say they had done, so naturally he decided to jump out of an aeroplane and skydive with a friend - as you do.

It meant having to rise at 5.00am and leave home at 6.00am so he could arrive at the airstrip for 9.00am to undergo a training session which included how to fall out of the plane without looking too silly and how to land softly without ending up splattered on the ground!

As they were doing a tandem jump, the actual training only lasted 5 minutes after which they were assigned the 19th and 20th jump slot of the day, which eventually became a long drawn out tortuous event.

Eventually, when it was James's turn to board the plane, it was only then he realised it was too late to back out. The aircraft door was closed behind them when the ground was only three feet away and when it was reopened the ground was considerably further down, like 12,000ft!

James and his friend moved intrepidly to the door and just fell out into space. After the initial shock to the system, they went into the freefall, which he says was absolutely amazing... but very cold. The chute opened after about a minute of freefall bringing them slowly back to earth.

All in all it was an amazing experience for James and his friend, which he has no reservations recommending to anyone hankering after a bit of excitement in their lives. However, James's reason for undertaking such an experience was not just self-gratification, as he raised £100 for Pepper at the same time through sponsorship.

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Hyde Heath Villagers support Pepper

The village of Hyde Heath in the central triangle of Chesham, Chesham Bois and Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire is one of those traditional communities that continues to grow in strength through the generosity of its inhabitants.

One such resident is a lady called Sylvia Brown who, in addition to manning the Pepper Shop in Amersham two days a week, is also an active member of the villages fundraising and WI volunteer community.

One day in December last year, Sylvia and Irma Dolphin, the village historian, held a coffee morning in aid of Pepper and managed to raise a magnificent £350 for the Pepper Foundation.

Everyone at Pepper would like to thank the villagers of Hyde heath for their continued generosity in helping support Pepper and the work we do for children.

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