Thank You from The Yorkshire Haven
Beyond Cancer Ball
For the second year running The Yorkshire Haven has been fortunate enough to be one of the beneficiary charities for the Beyond Cancer Ball. This fabulous event is organised by Haven Visitors Pat Case and Isola Blair, who are both members of the Black Health Initiative. The Ball took place at the Marriot Hotel in Leeds and was attended by 300 guests. Proceedings began with a high tempo performance from local youth dance group RJC who entertained guests with their amazing contemporary dance moves. Guests were then treated to a delicious 3 course meal, whilst a fantastic swing band provided the evening's entertainment. We would like to send a big thank you to everyone involved in organising such a wonderful event for such amazing causes.
London Marathon
The Yorkshire Haven had 7 runners taking part in this year's London Marathon. The runners consisted of Soraya Usman, Vicky Thirlaway and Colin Ireland’s Team Wales, consisting of Diane, Steve, Lorraine and Jane. All of our runners successfully completed the world renowned race in great times as well as raising an amazing £13,000 in the process! We would like to send a huge thank you to all our runners for all the hard work they put in on the day, as well as their fundraising and training. Well done!
On the Brightside Calendar
Leeds Rag Tour to France
At the beginning of the year The Yorkshire Haven was approached by Emma Knight, a student at Leeds University, about the possibility of selecting us as the chosen charity for their epic Leeds to Paris bike ride. 40 students from the RAG society were due to set off from the University steps on 19 March, to embark on a 6 day challenge that would finish at the iconic Arc De Triumph in Paris. The Leeds RAG committee came for a look round the Yorkshire Haven and after seeing our beautiful home and learning about the valuable work we do, they were convinced we were the right charity to support. In the lead up to the 19th March all 40 students worked tirelessly to fundraise as well as prepare their bodies for the gruelling challenge ahead. On the morning of the 19th they had officially raised a fantastic £17,000 for The Yorkshire Haven, with this number increasing daily. All 40 students set off on a glorious March morning from the steps of the University and arrived in Paris Saturday morning ahead of schedule with no traumas to report. Their fundraising total now stands at an amazing £20,000 for which we are truly grateful for!
Blossom 2012
After the success of our Yorkshire Day Fashion Show in August 2011, we decided to host a similar event only this time on a much larger scale! For Blossom 2012 our amazing Visitors once again volunteered to be our models, with friends and family alike filling the Queens Hotel for what was a magical Spring afternoon. Debenhams, L.K Bennett, Jigsaw, Womenzone and Racy Little Numbers Hats were kind enough to provide beautiful outfits in a range of styles for each round. The team from Hirst & Miller crafted the ladies hair whilst Victoria Farr & Nikki Hodgson were our Haven make up artists, all ensuring our fabulous ladies looked and felt their best on the catwalk. Choreography was handled by the lovely Sue Hodgson, who has played a major role in organising the Bosom Friends Fashions Show over the past 18 years. The Haven was also supported by our lovely team of volunteers on the day who sold raffle and tombola tickets, helping to raise as much money as they could for our wonderful services. We would like to send a huge thank you to all our models and everyone involved in making the day such a wonderful success, raising an amazing £8,000 for The Haven!
Jane Clynes - Dancing Strictly 2012
For the third year running Jane Clynes has helped organise the 'Dancing Strictly' event in aid of The Yorkshire Haven. For the previous two years this wonderful event, based on television's Strictly Come Dancing, has been a rounding success and so Jane decided to hold it again. This year's event did even better than the previous years, raising an amazing £3,500 for The Yorkshire Haven. Thank you Jane!
Rudding Park
October is nationally known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and during this vital period The Haven had lots of support from local businesses who were keen to raise awareness of our vital services. Rudding Park Hotel kindly offered guests Pink Afternoon Tea's with a £5 donation from each one sold generously coming to The Yorkshire Haven. Rudding Park kindly sent a cheque for a wonderful £225, thank you!
Betty's of Harrogate
Betty's Tea Room of Harrogate generously make an annual donation of £1,000 each year to a local, worthwhile cause. A member of staff, who's Mother The Haven have supported, kindly nominated us for the grant. In January this year we told the fantastic news that we had been successful and a £1,000 cheque was on the way. We would like to send a big thank you to everyone at Betty's for all your support!
Lesley Whiteley Channel Swim-a-thon
Haven Visitor Lesley Whiteley came up with the wonderful idea of getting her friends together and swimming the equivalent of the English Channel at her local Virgin Active Gym. This bold idea caught the imagination of everyone Lesley came into contact with and before we knew it, staff at the gym were getting involved too! The swim started bright and early at 7.00am, with supporters arriving throughout the day and swimming what they could. The Virgin Active staff were also brilliant in collection donations from gym goers as they arrived for their workout. To date Lesley has raised an amazing £432.59 for The Yorkshire Haven, and there is more to come in! We would like to send a big thank you to Lesley, Virgin Active Gym Bradford and everyone who swam lengths in support of Lesley.
R3 Regional Quiz
For the second year running the R3 Regional Quiz was kindly organised in aid of The Yorkshire Haven. R3 are the association for business recovery professionals. Each year all the insolvency solicitor firms under their umbrella compete in the regional quiz at the Marriot Hotel. This year’s committee was headed by Daniel Bennett of Cobbett’s Solicitors and she did an amazing job, helping to raise a fantastic £1,419 for The Yorkshire Haven. This brings the total raised over the past 2 years to over £2,400!
In November our annual Advent Thanksgiving Service once again took place at Leeds Parish Church. We treated our guests to delicious mince pies & mulled wine at the end of the service, which was thanks to the support of various Sainsbury’s in our region. Our 200 pies were kindly donated by the Sainsbury’s of Otley, Pocklington, Dewsbury and Haxby. Our mulled wine was generously donated by the Sainsbury’s of Yeadon, Colton and Knottingley
Snooty Frox
The Yorkshire Haven is proud to be the chosen charity of the year for Harrogate based boutique Snooty Frox. As part of this partnership they decided to host a Ladies Indulgence Evening at their store. The event was a sell out as guests were treated to a delicious 2 course supper, exclusive discounts in store and the opportunity to win fabulous prizes in the evening’s prize draw. We would like to send a huge thank you to everyone at Snooty Frox for raising a wonderful £350 for The Yorkshire Haven.
Yeadon Sainsbury's - Open All Hours: Sainsbury's Local store in Yeadon was kind enough to choose the Yorkshire Haven as their charity of the year. Over the 7th, 8th and 9th August the staff held an 'Open All Hours' collection. This fantastic idea involved staff wearing fancy dress in the theme of the 1970's classic sitcom 'Open All Hours' whilst holding a raffle and collection. We are thrilled to report that this great weekend raised a wonderful £230 for The Yorkshire Haven. We would like to send a big thank you to all the staff at the Yeadon Sainsbury's who got involved with this fantastic initiative.
Yorkshire Day Fashion Show: The Yorkshire Haven would like to send a big thank you to everyone involved with The Yorkshire Day Fashion Show 2011. Debenhams White Rose, Jigsaw, Racy Little Numbers and Womenzone for providing the fabulous outfits for the show. Hurst & Miller Hair Studio and Nouveau Beauty Group for preparing the model's hair and make-up. Mamma Doreen's Cup Cake Company for supplying absolutely delicious cakes for guests throughout the day. BBC Radio Leeds Georgey Sapnswick for being our hilarious MC for the day. Goldsborough Hall for providing the perfect venue for such a magical day. And of course The Model Experience for putting together such a fantastic show!
Jane Tomlinson Run For All Leeds 10k 2011: The Yorkshire Haven had a wonderful 65 runners taking part in this year's Leeds 10k, the most we have ever had, and we would like to send a big thank you to all of them! Even the miserable weather on the day couldn't dampen the spirits of our runners who all ran with big smiles. Each member of Team Haven worked really hard in their training and fundraising in the build up to the run, fingers crossed we can beat last year's total of £10,000!
Natalia Willmott L'atelier art exhibition: Natalia hosted her personal art exhibition at her home near York and was kind enough to donate a percentage of sales from pieces sold on the day, which raised a wonderful £377 for The Yorkshire Haven. Thank you Natalia!
Michelle Van Essen & Stinky's Peephouse: Michelle teamed up with one of her favourite nightclubs to organise a fundraiser for The Yorkshire Haven as a thank you for all the support we have given her. The fundraiser took place on a Sunday afternoon and included a 'dance-off' as well as various products such as fans available to purchase on the day. We would like to send a big thank you to Graham & Dean from Stinky's Peephouse and of course Michelle for raising a fantastic £500 for The Yorkshire Haven!
DM Academy Zumba in The Park 2011: Our long term supporters at DM Academy were at it again, this time with their first instalment of Zumba in the Park. 150 ladies attended Robert's Park, Bradford, for a 3 hour intense Zumba session all in aid of The Yorkshire Haven. This amazing event raised over £1,000 for The Haven and we are thrilled to announce this is to become an annual event! Well done to Deana and Rachel of DM Academy for organising such a wonderful event.
Miss Leeds 2011: For the second year running The Yorkshire Haven was the chosen 
beneficiary for the Miss Leeds competition. All the finalists were asked to fundraise individually for The Haven in the run up to the final at Halo Nightclub, Leeds. All the girls did extremely well and raised an amazing £5,000 for The Yorkshire Haven! We would like to give a special mention to Samantha Harper who won the title of 'Miss Charity' raising the most money with a fantastic £1,000! The Yorkshire Haven would also like to send a big thank you to Chris Nightingale and James Wakefield for all their hard work in organising such a great competition.
VOLUNTEERS
M&S Bag packing: Throughout the year we are holding bag packing collections at various Marks & Spencer's across the region. So far collections have been held at the Briggate Leeds and the White Rose Centre M&S's. We would like to send a big thank you to Mehgan Weatherley, Nicola Craine, Sinead Hartley, Elaine Kelly, Tara Prince, Stacey Hazelgrave, Gemma Robers, Caroline Scott, Angie Salmon and Lisa Clarke for helping us raise an amazing £1,000 over the 2 collections.
Blossom 2012: Without our amazing volunteers on the day this inspirational event would not have been possible. These included Sue Reece, Sandra Copnall, Jo Foster and the wonderful team from First Direct.
Advent Thanksgiving Service: Suzan Reece, Sandra Copnall, Jane Wong, Jo Foster and students from Thomas Danby College. A big thank you goes to you all for helping run such a magical evening for The Haven.
Jo Foster: A special mention must go towards our fantastic volunteer Jo Foster who comes in a few times a week to work on a wide range of fundraising projects. In 2010 Jo raised lots of money through her involvement in events such as The Great Yorkshire Show, Mid Summer Night at Sutton Park and Rudding Park Ladies Charity Golf Day.
Office Volunteers: The Haven office staff are often supported by fantastic volunteers who support with day to day office procedures. Thank you to Adel Oates for all her work on trusts, Mehgan Weatherley for all the excellent creative work she has produced for us, Sinead Hartley for all the painstaking research she carried out and Jenny Shearer for supporting the events team so professionally.
Kitchen Volunteers: We would like to send a big thank you to all of our fantastic volunteers who help out each week in the kitchen making yummy and nutritious food for Introduction Days and Support Groups. Thank you Sandra Copnall, Sue Hargest, Jan Kart and Linda Cooper for all your support.
Blacker Hall Farm Shop Ladies Night
Blacker Hall Farm Shop is renowned in West Yorkshire for their high quality, home grown produce. They are also quickly growing a reputation for their fundraising skills. In July they contacted The Yorkshire Haven and kindly offered to host a Ladies Night at their shop. Around 80 guests attended and raised a wonderful £587.83! We would like to send a big thank you to all the staff that organised such a great event.
Cathy Holmes
Cathy came to The Yorkshire Haven with the wonderful idea of convincing her friends and family to walk around her local park in their bras to raise money for The Yorkshire Haven. So in July, Cathy and her team armed themselves with banners and buckets and proudly completed the walk around Rothwell in Leeds. As well as collecting on the day they were also sponsored by their local community. To date Cathy and her team has raised almost £3,000 which is amazing. Thank you Cathy!
DM Academy
Long standing supporter of The Yorkshire Haven Deana Morgan decided once again to host her Booze & Boogie night at her dance studio DM Academy. The first year was such successes that there was high demand for it to take place again. Bradford’s Saltaire Brewery kindly supplied the ale whilst talented cover band Last Order provided the entertainment. We would like to thank Deana and her team at DM Academy for raising almost £1,000!
October 2011 marked the launch of the On the Brightside Calendar. This inspirational idea came from photographer Amanda Crowther, who decided she wanted to create a calendar featuring remarkable women that had overcome their fight against breast cancer. The calendar featured 12 inspirational women, 5 of which were Haven Visitors, who all posed semi nude to celebrate femininity after surgery. On 24 March The Yorkshire Haven was presented a cheque for £3,000 from sales of the calendar. We would like to send a big thank you to everyone involved in the On the Brightside project.