AHS Foundation

Pro Doncaster Six Imprisoned!

A team of six from Pro Doncaster – the borough’s professional service group were
incarcerated in HMP and YOI Doncaster in aid of our Health Centre Appeal.

Andrew McKenna, Nigel Brewster, Paul Goel, Kelvin Fitton, Liz Dickson and Daniel
Fell were breakfasting at The Regent Hotel, Doncaster, when they found
themselves being arrested, handcuffed and escorted off the premises.

Crowds watched helplessly as the “Six” were bundled into waiting police vehicles
and driven off to prison for crimes they had not committed.

“Free the Pro Doncaster Six” the crowds cried, while the “Six” pleaded their
innocence.

The only way to secure their release was for each of them to raise a minimum of
£500 each and so to work…

The rest of the day was spent calling people up and asking for help to raise the
necessary bail money.

The public reaction was swift. The initial sense of outrage was soon transmuted
into a surge of generosity. By the end of the day, £5,000 had been raised and
the Pro Doncaster Six were able to return home to their loved ones.

On October the 24th I completed the Snowdonia Marathon an event which I had up until that point blithely referred to as the toughest of its kind in the UK. It transpires that it is in fact the toughest in Europe and on this occasion the Welsh weather had joined in the fun too managing to combine the seemingly impossible mix of 50mph winds, torrential rain and thick hill fog – surely at least two of those can’t coexist!

This I soon learnt was a very serious field of athletes with many examples of the true “animal” runner; 100 marathon club members , other doing multiples of up to 8 marathons in 8 days with one chap even hoping to complete 500 marathons by 2012 – 1 race every 17 days! This was a field of individuals who consider the London Marathon or Great North Run to be too easy

There is no way I consider myself to fall into this category and at the start waiting for the gun I really did wonder what I was doing there. However by the halfway mark I knew that I would have to come back and face it all again. Having set myself a target time of 4:30 I actually managed to finish in 4:30:05 so those 5 extra seconds are my justification for my 2010 entry and next year I will be ready for the 2 mile,1200 ft climb that’s starts at 21 mile marker. I cannot recommend this race enough. This however was a challenge I chose to undertake and I know that for many in Kashmir the challenge of every day living is one for which no option is given.

Tim Hazeltine

October 2009

In September I climbed Am Basteir, a spectacular mountain peak in the Cuillin Range on the Isle of Skye to support the AHS Health Centre project in the remote mountain village of Noon Bagla in the Lesser Himalaya.

Am Basteir is a vertically sided blade of rock making the ascent a slightly unnerving scramble with a steep scree. Over 934 metres high (3064 feet) it is classed as a Munro. The magnificent views from the top were lost in rain and mist, but it felt very rewarding nonetheless when we reached the summit. With me on this climb was Steve, Alison and Mark along with Leo, who took this photograph of the valiant team at the top.

It’s about four years since I last climbed and I thoroughly enjoyed it – a great day and well worth the effort as I raised over £800 mainly from colleagues and friends at Bradford University.

From one mountainous area in Scotland to another in the lesser Himalaya, a gift of hope.

Martin Sedgley

Dr Robin Attfield has been a wonderful supporter of the AHS Foundation.

We were thrilled when Robin and his new wife Sandra asked their wedding guests to make a donation to the health centre appeal rather than buying presents. The Foundation has now received £1,000 in donations.

The people of Noon Bagla sent a wedding blessing and a message of thanks to Robin and Sandra that was read out at the wedding reception.

Our thanks go to Robin, Sandra and their guests for their kind donations and messages of support.

Health Centre

Fundraising Activities

The FSI Challenge in July raised £2,500 thanks to all who participated and everyone who sponsored them.

Raffle tickets for the “Fiat 500 car draw” are on sale until 21st August so please go online and purchase yours now.

The Foundation wishes to thank the following people for their heroic attempts to challenge themselves and support our Health Centre Appeal.

11th – 13th September
Krissy Daly-Sadler and Tariq Shah will attempt to travel 160km along the South Downs Way, unsupported and on foot in 48 hours to raise money for the AHS Foundation Health Centre Appeal.

15th September
Martin Sedgley has been a tremendous supporter of the foundations work and will be attempting to climb one of the Isle of Skye’s twelve munros to raise money towards the Health Centre Appeal. (A munro is a Scottish mountain over 3,000 feet in height.) Blaven is 3,044

October 24th 2009
Tim Hazeltine has set himself his toughest challenge yet in his efforts to support the AHS Foundation Health Centre Appeal. The Snowdon Marathon is not for the faint hearted it takes place in Snowdonia National Park and runs around the foot of the tallest mountain in England and Wales

If you would like to sponsor any of our supporters their fundraising pages can be found onhttp://www.everyclick.com/ahsfoundation

We’ve stepped up our fundraising efforts in light of the imminent completion of the health centre. Much to do and much to pay for!

Thanks to Stephen Wakeling and Debbie Askew for presenting an Evening of Clairvoyance fundraiser.

June 6th was the FSI Challenge a 10k run or walk. Despite the terrible weather our supporters turned up and bravely ran on to raise sponsorship for our health centre appeal. Thanks to Naveed, Riad Tariq, Robert and Zahra for their great efforts in weathering the storm and completing the run. A big thank you to FSI for organisng the event to enable us and other small charities to participate in this event.