Fundraiser Event 1: Skittles Night, Southampton, England
This post was not written by myself, this post was written by my Mum. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. Thanks Mum for the taking the time and the kind and supportive words you have written. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that took part in this event, it looked like a fun evening, and I’m gutted I missed out, but thank you to everyone who donated a prize, thank you to everyone that brought a raffle ticket and donated, thank you to everyone that helped organise the event, and thank you to everyone that took part if giving the “Nystagmus glasses” a go….read on to see what I mean….take it away Mama Sheen:
What do you do when your son tells you he is going to take on a humongous challenge by walking the length of New Zealand, with the aim of raising lots of money for the Nystagmus Network and Gift of Sight for his nephew Archie and others who have Nystagmus? I know, let’s run a skittle evening for friends and family!!! And so on Saturday 23rd November the Walk for Wiggly Eye’s Skittle Evening took place at the Ship Inn, Redbridge Southampton.
It was decided that we should hold a raffle on the night to raise funds. Wow! The raffle prizes donated were fantastic and unique and generated a lot of raffle ticket sales as a result. Mike’s mates Russ Bungay and Dan Gale donated Idea Paint https://coolwalls.co/ and Lost Pier Craft Beer https://www.lostpier.com/ , respectively. Tina and Rob Chatting presented an M&S Christmas Hamper, Nicole and Andy a Cadburys Chocolate Bouquet and another Christmas Hamper prize was from us. We had some more craft beer from Andy’s Dad https://www.cracklerock.co.uk/; Jan and Ian http://www.selectvehiclechauffeurs.co.uk/ donated a bottle of Moet and a 40% discount for a chauffeur driven ride to Heathrow (although Gill the winner negotiated to Gatwick instead). Mikey’s Nan, Grandad, Brendan, Helen and Gary gifted Chocolates, Spirits, Wine, Vase and Bottle Corkscrew set. The most treasured gift was the pendant, Charitas Oculus minima pendant and the Charitas Oculus pendant!, by Kirra–Lee Jewellery that were designed especially for Walk for Wiggly Eyes and of which Kirra-Lea donates 80% of the sale to Mike’s sponsored charities.
For the night we had t-shirts printed with Mike’s Walk for Wiggly Eyes Warrior caricature logo. This brilliant design was created by our family friend Andy Dixey and who was deservedly applauded by all at the event. Quite a few people wanted to buy one. We were happy to oblige and so an order is on its way to Mike for him to send out the official merchandise before he starts his walk.
The knock out skittle competition was good fun although it was noted that there was some competition especially between couples haha!! One rule was that the first throw had to be completed wearing glasses where the lens had been partially covered. The idea was that in order to see, the wearer had to move their head and even doing this their vision was still impaired. This was to provide some awareness of what it might be like living with Nystagmus.
The two winners were Nadine, who was the highest female scorer and who had the highest score of the evening, and Paul Ridout who was the last man standing after a second round to decide the winner. We still had enough time to have a game of’ Killer’ and our Killer Champion was Ken Dear. Ken was also our photographer for the evening. His photographs captured the fun and spirit of the event really well. You can view more of the Skittle Night’s photos on Ken Dear’s Photography Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/kdp2011/?locale2=en_GB
Having friends and family such as ours the evening was bound to be a success and it was, with everyone saying they had had a good time. However we were overwhelmed and very appreciative of everyone’s generosity. Together we raised a whopping £399.95.This has meant that we have been able to donate £200 each to Gift of Sight and Nystagmus Network. The charities are raising funds to help find cures for Nystagmus and medical treatments to improve sight for those like Mike and our Grandson Archie who have this sight disability condition.
Good luck Mike on your walk, enjoy, persevere and when it gets tough think of all the people you are helping. We are very proud of you and what you are aiming to achieve.