Your fundraising stories

Gemma and Ashley's son Cameron was 2 years and 4 months old when he passed away following an asthma attack in 2008. In his short life he had been to hospital three times with breathing difficulties and on the day he died he suffered a really bad attack after having an every-day common cold, like most babies do. Gemma and her friends and family have since made sure that Cameron’s death was not in vain and are passionate about raising money for Asthma UK and raising awareness of how serious asthma can be. They have held all sorts of events from car washes to hill walks, racing nights to charity balls and in the last three years they have raised over £29,000 for Asthma UK.

Gemma says: ‘We know how hard it is for everyone at the moment with the current economic climate but through lots of small local events we’ve been able to raise a huge amount of money. We never thought we would raise this much but we have taken comfort in being able to talk about Cameron and encourage other people who have asthma to recognise that it can be fatal. I’ve set myself a goal of running the Virgin London Marathon in 2018, which will be the tenth anniversary of Cameron’s death. I will need some time to prepare but I know that as long as I keep talking about asthma and raising money in Cameron’s name I am doing my bit to help.’

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We are delighted to report that two of our supporters found love after taking part on one of our challenge events back in 2001. Last year, Fiona Hak and Keith Grayson were married – nine years after they met trekking across the Sahara Desert for Asthma UK. Fiona says: ‘It was an amazing experience which quite literally changed our lives! We requested no presents for our wedding, but some people still wanted to give something so we asked them to make a donation to Asthma UK’. Fiona and Keith continue to support Asthma UK.

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Last October, Brambletye School in East Grinstead hosted the second annual Brambletye Autumn Fair selling original, beautiful and luxurious gifts in aid of Asthma UK. The organisers said: ‘Asthma UK is a charity that is especially close to everyone in the Brambletye community. We were absolutely delighted to raise over £6,000.’ The money was collected from selling entry tickets to the public and asking stall holders to give a percentage of their sales to the charity. Asthma UK Chief Executive, Neil Churchill was delighted to attend the school to pick up the cheque and to thank everyone involved personally.

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We were excited to hear that the 1st Hereford (YMCA) Scout group raised a fantastic £1,000 at their Mini-Marathon. The Mini-Marathon invites groups of young people to get sponsored to cover the 26.2 mile distance of a marathon. Children can do this in which ever way they choose from running, to skipping or even cycling. In addition to this they learn about asthma, how serious it can be and what to do in the event of an asthma attack. Chris Ruffe, Scout Leader said: 'From taking part in the mini-marathon the group is now more aware of the seriousness of asthma attacks, and can support friends when they have an attack. Since our marathon, a new female scout has had several serious attacks resulting in hospitalisation, which heightens our awareness even more.’

Read more about the Kick Asthma Mini-Marathon

Tressey Thompson took part in Asthma UK's fundraising week Putting Asthma in the Limelight after attending a conference where she heard about Asthma UK. Tressey requested some literature on asthma and a fundraising pack which she then took to her staff committee at work. ‘Asthma, or indeed any lung charity, has never featured so I put asthma forward and it was accepted immediately as everyone knew someone who has asthma. We also never really thought of asthma having a charity.’ The committee organised a cake bake with raffle and Tressey also set herself a personal challenge with a sponsored slim. Together with the help of her friends, colleagues and self motivation Tressey raised an impressive £441.02.

Read about Asthma UK's fundraising week to find out how to put asthma in the limelight!