Lorna Legs it for Live Life Then Give Life!

Lorna Little is a 38 year old Legal Secretary from Forres, Scotland. On the 13th March Lorna ran the Inverness Half Marathon, she decided to run for us here at Live Life Then Give Life as she knows a couple of people who have benefited from a new lease of life due to organ transplantation, one receiving a lung transplant and the other a liver.

Lorna says "I, myself, am on the donor register but am aware of the severe shortage of donors so I wanted to do something not only to raise awareness but also to raise some money for the charity and the invaluable work they do. I think it is so important for charities like LLTGL to be given a voice and reading some of the heart wrenching and inspirational blogs on your website brought a tear to my eye and motivated me to do something about it. It also gave me the determination to reach my goal in my first ever half marathon."

There's no stopping Lorna now who says "bring on the next challenge" so watch this space. Lorna has raised a fantastic £330.00 so far.

Thank you Lorna, It is down to people like Lorna fundraising for us that we can continue the work that we do, supporting people on the transplant waiting list, eduacting people about the importance of transplants and encouraging people to sign the Organ Donor Register.

If you would like to support Lorna then please visit her Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/Lorna-Little0

If you are planning a fundraising event, or have raised money for us, get in touch via our website so we can shout about you here on our blog!

Thanks

Daybreak spreads the word about Organ Donation.

We were recently contacted by the lovely Kirstie Mills, about using her story to raise more awareness.

Kirstie is 21 years old and has Cystic Fibrosis. She lives in Exeter with her fiance, and is currently undergoing her final transplant assessment tests, with the hope of getting on the waiting list as soon as possible. Kirstie is a very beautiful eloquent young woman and has started keeping a blog to try to convey to people what life is like for her at the moment.

Emily got in touch with ITV's Daybreak about Kirstie's story and they decided they wanted to feature her! Unfortunately Kirstie was too ill to travel up to London on the day, so Emily went in her place to talk about transplantation and raise awareness about the chronic shortage of donors.

The interview was shown on Friday morning and they also showed some very moving footage of Kirstie talking about her blog and her current health status, which was filmed by her local ITV news and which you can see here.

A big thank you to Daybreak for helping us spread the word, and of course to Kirstie for allowing us to share her story. All of us at LLTGL are wishing her the best of luck for her assessment and hope to hear that she's on that waiting list very soon.

x

World Kidney Day 2011

Today marks World Kidney day, it is a joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF).

The mission of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.


Other Objectives are:


Raise awareness about our "amazing kidneys"

Highlight that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

Encourage preventive behaviors

Educate all medical professionals about their key role in detecting and reducing the risk of CKD.

Stress the important role of local and national health authorities in controlling the CKD epidemic. On World Kidney Day all governments are encouraged to take action and invest in further kidney screening.

Check out the World Kidney Day website for more information, especially their 7 Golden Rules to reduce the risk of Kidney Disease.

Our trustee Holly went along to the Royal Liverpool Hospital to speak to staff and patients there and hand out leaflets etc. She provided her photo and a quote to show what a difference her transplant has made to her life for their display she says

"Life since my transplant is barely recognisable. I have my health back and I am enjoying the freedom from dialysis and the fact I can do normal everyday things that people take for granted. I have been to places I have never been before, experienced things I have never experienced before and met people that I would never have met previously. I have got my independence back and I am able to be me again! I work hard, play hard and I am loving every moment of my new life. I went to uni, now have a job, and live in my own apartment! None of this of course would have been possible without my donor and the generous gift they gave to me – the gift of life, for which I will be eternally grateful."



There were stands telling people about Organ Donation and how to sign up to the Organ Donor register, a stand about the local kidney support group, one to test your blood pressure and one held by our lovely friends over at the Donor Family Network.

Happy World Kidney Day from us all here at LLTGL x

More fantastic fundraising.

You may have read in one of our previous blogs that Terry is running the Bupa 10k run in memory of his nephew Jack, well here we have another chap donning his running shoes and running for us in May!

Andy Shaw knows only too well the effect organ donation can have on a family as his sister (our very own trustee Holly Shaw) received a kidney transplant in October 2008 after 3 years waiting. Andy supported his sister as she was waiting on the transplant list by visiting her whilst she was on dialysis, ringing her everyday and making her laugh (usually at the most inappropriate times!)

Andy says “I am taking part in this run as this is a charity close to my heart. Live Life Then Give Life supported Holly whilst she was waiting for her transplant so it’s time for me to give something back to them.”

Andy believes so much in the message that we are trying to spread that he even has a permanent reminder of this on his back, in the form of a tattoo!


Good luck with the training Andy, and thank you for doing this for us! x

If you want to support Andy in his efforts please visit http://www.justgiving.com/andylltgl

The Fringe

On Sunday 13th February 2011 I was invited to attend a Girl Guiding event called “The Fringe” which is part of Innovate. Innovate is a national forum for Girl Guide members aged 16-25 years old to discuss and contribute to the direction of Girlguiding UK. Approximately every eight months about 150 members meet up to contribute their ideas in workshops designed to move Girlguiding UK forward.

This event was held at the Dunkenhalgh hotel in Accrington, and was a packed weekend for the girls, throughout the event they raised money for us here at Live Life Then Give Life by doing silent auctions, selling balloons, giving donations and holding a medieval themed night.

The event culminated in “The Fringe” which was essentially a market place for the girls to walk round the stands and look at things that may interest them as guides, whether it be new adventures or new badges to obtain. This is where we set up our stand and chatted to the girls about our work and what we are all about, they were really receptive and friendly.




It was great to hear that most of them had already signed up to be Organ Donors whether it had been through their driving licence, Boots advantage card or online. A few of them that hadn’t already signed up took the opportunity to do it there and then!


Believe it or not I saw someone I knew as I actually used to be a girl guide myself (yes this is true, many moons ago!)

The event and the amazing girls managed to raise a fantastic £314.17 for us, we are so thankful for their hospitality and ongoing support. If you want to do a good deed today why don't you follow in the footsteps of the Girl Guides and sign the Organ Donor Register.

Thank you x

Cake Bake!

Well its been and gone again as quick as a flash – Valentines Day and our yearly Valentines Cake Bake weekend!

Lots of you used Valentine's Day to do a good deed and make a difference this year by holding RED themed cake bakes up and down the country! Whether you used this opportunity to raise awareness of organ donation, educate your colleagues or encourage people to sign the Organ Donor Register you all did an amazing job.

• Rachel Ellis held a tea party and raised a fantastic £47.00!

• Abby Barker raised a wonderful £25.00 Thanks to her colleagues at University Campus Suffolk Library for helping to eat her cakes and raise money at the same time.

• Zara Ilic baked some scrummy looking cakes and sold them to her family and friends raising a fabulous £30!

• Our Trustee Holly held a cake bake at the Nursery she works at and the staff, parents and children raised a fantastic £38.38!

If you held a cake bake and want a mention on our blog please send details and a photo to info[at]lltgl.org.uk. Also if you didn’t manage to hold a cake bake but want to show your support there is still time to donate on our Just Giving Cake Bake Page here: www.justgiving.com/GVCB2011


Well done and Thank you so much for your support as always!

For Jack...

Manchester entrepreneur and GödelTech MD, Terry Bland, is running the Bupa Great Manchester 10k Run on 15th May in order to raise money for charity us here at Live Life Then Give Life and raise awareness of the importance of organ donation, in memory of his nephew, Jack Mclean, who died last week on his 19th birthday from a fatal brain bleed.

Jack was out celebrating his birthday at university when he suffered a bleed in his brain. After a three hour operation he was pronounced brain dead and his life support switched off. He had always wanted to be an organ donor and because he had made his wishes clear to family and friends, his organs were able to save the lives of five other people.

Jack aged just 19.

Terry said: “While it is a tragedy that Jack was taken from us so suddenly, his family is taking some comfort from the fact his generosity has given the gift of life to five other people, and helped another four.

“It vital for those wishing to donate organs after death to tell others, and it is much easier these days as you can register your wishes online with the NHS Organ Donor Register.

“Live Life Then Give Life’ does such an important job in making people aware of the significance of organ donation, as well as supporting transplant recipients. It is a fantastic charity and I hope to raise at least £5k for them, in memory of my nephew, through the Great Manchester Run and other activities I’ll be taking on throughout the year.”

Those wishing to help Terry achieve his target can donate via his Just Giving page: www.justgiving.co.uk/Terry-Bland

We were also delighted to hear that Live Life Then Give Life is also the official GödelTech charity for 2011.

We are of course thinking of Jack, Terry and the whole Family. If you want to do something amazing like Jack did after his death, then please consider signing the Organ Donor Register.

Thank you