The week that was...National Transplant Week

It was a while ago we know, but we’ve been so busy we haven’t actually had time to blog about what LLTGL got up to!

As always, our biggest contribution to NTW was our PR campaign. Some of you kindly shared your stories with us, so we could, in turn, get them out to regional and national media outlets to raise awareness about Organ Donation and the wonders a Transplant can bring

We had 10 PR volunteers this year, and with the help of PR consultant Sarah Milne, between them they managed to get their story out to over 8.5 million people. Hits included Victoria Tremlett and Jen Grannell in the Mirror, Victoria Glen and Gerard Falsey in the Glasgow Evening Times, Lucy Spaull in the Richmond and Twickenham Times, and our very own Chairman Emily in Boots Health and Beauty Magazine.

We are hugely grateful to everyone who has shared their story with us at any point in time; statistics are helpful, but hearing a real story, a real example of just how important Organ Donation is, can be so much more powerful. If you would like to help us by sharing your story, please get in touch via the contact page on our website.

To help maximise online awareness, we had an image designed which we hoped a few people would share on their facebook pages and twitter profiles. The concept was far more popular than we could have hoped, and literally hundreds of people had changed their profile pictures to the image (below) by the middle of the week.

Throughout NTW, we were tweeting key facts about organ donation and transplantation. Our fabulous Ambassador Victoria Tremlett worked extremely hard sending tweets to celebrities, and got a fantastic response. Thanks to Tor, the LLTGL tweet team, and other supporters, celebrities promoting NTW included Duncan Bannatyne, Jason Manford, Lorraine Kelly, Sarah Brown, India Knight, Bill Bailey and Sheridan Smith.

The celeb supporters’ combined followers (therefore people who can see their tweets) add up to over 1.8 million, so a fantastic result! Hundreds of you also retweeted our messages (our most popular one was retweeted 167 times), and we are hugely grateful to each and every one of you for helping us spread the word.

A massive thank you to every single person who helped us support National Transplant Week - it was a huge success and really pushed Organ Donation into the spotlight. We're already looking forward to next year!

Fantastic Fundraisers: Team Jess

We've had some incredible fundraising efforts going on this week, here's the first one that took place on Sunday 5th September.

Trustees Emily and Holly who were part of Team Jess

You may remember this blog which highlighted the achievements of our lovely Advocate Jessica Wales, who managed to walk a fith of the Adidas Challenge 5k to raise money for LLTGL and for Kings College Hospital. We were all so proud of her, and she was optimistic and hopeful that she would be able to do the entire course this year, with her new lungs.

Sadly, our lovely Jess passed away in January this year following severe complications which her body was not strong enough to cope with, having waited and fought for over 4 years.

This September, a group of Jess' friends, along with her wonderful mum Jackie, took on the Adidas Challenge in Jess' memory. The team were dressed in bright pink, and it was an emotional day for all involved, and there were tears and hugs all round across the finish line; tears of pride for the achievement, and tears of sadness at the fact Jess should have been there.

Jess' family and friends aim to continue Jess' work for LLTGL in her memory. It is a testament to Jess' incredible hard work, determination, and passionate spirit that she continues to save lives, even after she has gone.

They have raised over £800 through combined Justgiving pages and offline donations so far but you can still sponsor Team Jess at http://www.justgiving.com/teamjess.
Jessica Wales: Gone but never forgotten, and missed every day.

I Hope You Know

The band The Floe are loyal supporters of us here at Live Life Then Give Life so it’s about time we gave them a huuuuge shout out!

They are a fantastic quartet (soon to be duet) who are based in Essex, but just as the band were due to start recording the album Sarah’s (who is the lead singer of the Floe) long-term boyfriend was taken seriously ill. Needing a kidney transplant to save his life, Sarah selflessly donated one of her own kidneys to Paul in November 2008. The operation was a complete success.

This life changing experience gave the whole band an incredible opportunity to reflect and re-focus, and they have emerged stronger, more appreciative and more determined than ever to make music which matters on every level.
In November 2009, almost a year to the day since Sarah & Paul’s operations, Sarah launched a personal campaign aiming to get as many people as possible to sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register. Sarah's campaign, called 'I Hope You Know' was backed by the release of The Floe’s debut single, also called ‘I Hope You Know’, with all profits donated to us here at Live Life Then Give Life!

The launch of I Hope You Know gained substantial national coverage on ITV News, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News and The Mail on Sunday, amongst many others. The song was also recently played on Radio 2 by legendary Bob Harris! To read more about the campaign and to download the single please visit www.ihopeyouknow.co.uk

The campaign has so far raised £1900 for us! The Floe are amazingly talented, Trustee Mandy and Advocate Lisa met the band at the recent event T’s in the park as they preformed live. Keep an eye out for them as we have a feeling they are going to get bigger and better! Check out their website for more info on upcoming gigs: www.thefloe.com

Thanks guys for your ongoing support, you rock!