John Hibbs | Lupus Awareness Advocate

How do I donate?

It is a great feeling when someone comes up to you and says “how do I donate?”.

Well it’s really simple thanks to JustGiving. There are many ‘Sponsor me’ links on this site which will take you to our secure sponsor page. LUPUS UK gets your money straight away and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, JustGiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

It doesn’t matter how much you give, every single penny will help make a difference. All the money we raise will be used to help continue funding the Lupus UK specialist nurse and the Lupus UK research co-ordinator, both based at Queen Elizabeth/City Hospitals, Birmingham – the first fully patient-funded posts of their kind in the UK.

Thank you for your support!

John & Kate

Running Vests

I have just come back from collecting our Virgin London Marathon running vests from the printers. I am delighted with how they look!! Thank you to ES-Print from Hednesford.

We are now 53 days from race day and I won’t lie to you, training has been hard! Most days I haven’t been able to distinguish which part of my body is hurting the most!

Over the past few weeks since Kate confirmed her place along side me I’ve had a huge boost, having a training partner there encouraging and pushing you further has been fantastic!

Over the next few weeks we will be completing a number of long runs and many more sessions in the gym in a final bid to prepare for the biggest challenge of our lives. We can’t wait to set off for London with our family and friends and compete in the biggest race in the world!

Be All You Can Be!

Curry Fundraiser

Cannock’s finest indian restaurant has agreed to hold a charity night in aid of our bid to raise funds for Lupus West Midlands. On Monday 22nd March 2010 the Padma Lounge will be host to 70 diners for a buffet indian menu – English food is available upon advanced request.

Diners will be entertained by ‘Spoz‘ former Poet Laureate of Birmingham as he plays some music and dazzles us with his words of wit.

There will be a raffle held with prizes donated from local businesses as well as information on Lupus and other charity events we have organised. If anyone would like to join us for an evening of networking and entertainment not to mention the fantastic cuisine, you can purchase a ticket priced £15.00 by using the contact me page or at Thornton’s Cannock.

Tickets are now on sale for a raffle that is being held in aid of Lupus West Midlands which will be drawn on the evening.

1st Prize - Relaxed, natural portrait session by one of Staffordshire’s leading photographers - Stuart James

Stuart is really happy to be able to help support the continued hard work we’re doing for Lupus, and aswell as being part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge later this year, he is now offering a portrait session as a prize for the raffle to be drawn at our curry night on the 22nd March 2010.

Stuart will be yours for an hour, at a location of your choice, providing you with a totally natural portrait session on location – with your favourite image from the session presented to you as a signed 20×16 canvas wrap.

The value of this session and the canvas is over £400!

All proceeds from the tickets will go straight towards helping our work for Lupus, and Stuart has also offered to give 30% of all proceeds from following print sales from the session to Lupus too!

2nd Prize – Family Will worth £200 +VAT courtesy of DBL Talbots

3rd Prize - Dinner for 4 @ The Padma Lounge, Cannock

4th Prize – x2 passes for Nuffield Health Cannock – 1 visit per month for 1 year

5th Prize – Signed Fernando Torres Autobiography

6th Prize – Selection of Thornton’s chocolates

Torres nets Lupus £800 winner!

The second of the fabulous Wendy Mallas paintings has today gone for a fantastic £800.

The morning started off slowly with no bids. I’d left Kate with her eyes glued to the inbox ready to update the screen while I was out scouting. However, it was in last minutes that bidding became most intense as two offers arrived within seconds of one another. As 15.00hrs arrived the lucky winner captured Torres for the amazing sum of £800 which will go directly to Lupus West Midlands.

The winning bidder will now be able to proudly display Torres alongside his team mate Gerrard - Woawh – how jealous am I?

Thanks goes to the winning bidder and to Wendy Mallas for her generous donation.

Love Hampers Lead to £210.50

Another successful day was had in Cannock today where we raffled two love hampers for Valentine’s Day in aid of Lupus West Midlands. One of the luscious hampers was packed with a range of designer perfumes kindly donated by ’Kiss and Make up’ of Cannock. The other was a lover’s delight comprising of Thornton’s chocolates and champagne flutes for that cosy night in tomorrow.

Shoppers of Cannock gave generously in a bid to grab the prizes raising £210.50.

The winning tickets have been posted in Thornton’s window – so make sure you get along and check if you were one of the lucky winners.

As well as the usual fund raisers, Moira and Bill, we had three new helpers during this event. My cousin Michelle and her two very helpful children, James and Jessica, joined us. Michelle has been recently been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome which is closely related to Lupus. Michelle is learning to manage the effects of this harsh disease whilst further spreading the word.

So the fight goes on as people’s awareness has been further raised by today’s campaign.

Thank you to everyone who donated and especially to Cannock Shopping Centre for hosting our stall.

Lupus Love Comes to Cannock

This Saturday, 13th February, between 9am-12pm & 2pm-4pm we will be in Cannock Shopping Centre holding another raffle for Lupus West Midlands. Come along and join us as we raise awareness of Lupus. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs which include a hamper of perfumes kindly donated by a local retailer and a hamper of Thornton’s chocolates accompanied by a bottle of wine and two champagne glasses.

You never know, you could be the lucky winner of a Valentine’s gift for that special someone!

Look forward to seeing on Saturday!

Knee injection

Having stepped up the mileage through December and January, the pain in my knee has increased to the point of having to have an enforced 10 day rest from running. I spoke with my rheumatology nursing team earlier in the week they advised me to have another Synvisc injection, which was scheduled for today.

I had a little excess fluid drained from my left knee before the Synvisc One injection was administered. Synvisc is made from a natural substance that lubricates and cushions the joint, it can provide up to six months of knee pain relief with just one injection. This is the third Synvisc injection I have had and I’ve been pleased with how it’s worked so far. My knee has been a little sore following the injection this morning and I’m planning another rest day tomorrow before returning to the gym on Sunday for my next Core PT session and some bike work.

As you can see from the picture. It’s not much fun!

Over the coming weeks, I plan to up the mileage again and with Kate now in training they should be more fun and a little less painful.

Awareness campaign goes global…

I never dreamt that when I started my Lupus awareness campaign things would go so well.

Today, my auction for a signed Fernando Torres painting went global. Liverpool Football Club have featured the auction and my Lupus Awareness Campaign on their Official website.

Within the first 24 hours, the highest bid for the painting already stands at over £500 and my website is getting hits from all around the world!

This is a tremendous achievement for such a small charity but hopefully this is just the start!!

Hibbs meets Torres

Today has been yet another fantastic day on my journey to raise awareness of Lupus.

Myself and Viki left the Midlands at 5:30 am and headed for Liverpool’s Melwood Training Ground where we had been invited to meet Fernando Torres. The meeting was held at 8 am due to Fernando’s busy schedule, as he continues his rehabilitation from surgery.

Fernando was amazed by the painting. He was keen to find out about Lupus and my plans to run the London Marathon. He was also hopeful that his signed portrait would fetch more than Stevie G’s!

I’m also pleased to announce that the auction will feature on the official Liverpool FC Website, which is fantastic news. It is hoped that it will significantly help in raising awareness of Lupus to millions of LFC fans around the world!

Check out the Liverpool FC Auction page for details on the auction and more photos of Fernando signing the painting.

Breaking News....

Last night I received news that has changed the course of my training and what London 2010 holds for me. While enjoying a night out, an email arrived arrived explaining that unfortunately a member of the Lupus Golden Bonded Team had withdrawn their entry, which means that now, my wife Kate, who previously missed the bonded entry places, can now run the marathon too. Perhaps in a state of shock. Kate has agreed to take part and now we are undertaking the journey together. Kate has already suggested that she should be more appropriately be referred to as the marathon knacker, but she is up for the challenge.

John Hibbs | Lupus Awareness Advocate | Marathon Runner

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