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03/07/07 |
 
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Raising money and having fun.......
Details of Gigs 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 To compete in the transplant games whether they be British/European or World events is an honour but it also costs money. As you will probably have gathered if you have read a little bit "About Me", I have always been involved in sport as an official/administrator or competitor and am therefore used to doing my fair share of fundraising. There is more to playing football than kicking a ball about, there is more to playing golf than hitting a little ball into a hole and there is more to playing badminton than hitting your shuttlecock over a net. I have been attending or organising fundraising events around my sport or 'Boys' Club since I can remember. It is something that is now second nature to me, so if it has to be done you may as well have fun doing it. When Mike Hall from After Midnight heard that I was in hospital and had had a heart transplant he was on the phone to me as soon as I was home and offered his services for a Gig. So I organised my first fundraiser to get me to the European Heart/Lung transplant games in Norway with the catchy title of "Graham's Gig for the Games". (I can tell that you are impressed with the title - aren't you?)
When After Midnight's gig list fell into the hands of Paddy Macdee of Radio Newcastle he had us both on his show chatting about our link up and the history behind it. I have been known to get on stage and 'sing' my favourite Clapton song - Wonderful Tonight with Mike trying to keep in the correct key. He might be a good guitar player but he has trouble backing me for some unknown reason. I keep him right though and if he keeps practising he surely will improve. I did have a serious chat with Paddy and explained about my transplant and the trauma my family went through, but in a light hearted way (I hope) and explained that I would be going to Norway to take part in the transplant games in the golf and stressed the fact about the taking part and making people aware - which is really what it is all about. We did the 'Gig for the Games' at my beloved Magnesia Bank pub in North Shields and after taking out my expenses for the trip to Norway I was able to donate £1,633 to the Freeman Transplant Association (FTA).
Remarkably my second fundraiser was named
................................................... This gig was to raise money for my trip to Kobe - Japan because I was selected for Great Britain & N.I. as the reigning British 100m champion. As I did not consider myself as a runner really I rang the team manager and asked if I could enter the golf if I went to Japan. The answer was in the affirmative so I took my place on the team, it was an honour and a privilege. The estimated cost of the trip was £2,000 so I had to get my entrepreneurial hat on again and see how much I could raise above that figure. When the final bill came in with all of the extras which were not mentioned at the outset the figure was nearer to £2,500. As I needed more people to generate more money I chose Percy Park Rugby Club as the venue (I played football with the Chairman and went to school with the manager). I could not book After Midnight because they were doing a nationwide tour as "Classic Clapton", covering all of Eric's songs from his John Mayall/Bluesbreaker days right up to now. If you get a chance go and see them play, they're lush! Obviously following my gig they had shot to national prominence and they even appeared on TV, Mike asked me if I would like to accompany them on tour and front the band but I had to refuse on account of the fact that not only can I not sing but I am a bit of a liar. If you were taken in by that last sentence I suggest you take a break from my site and go and put the kettle on. I got in touch with some other superstars from the north east circuit, namely Lou and Pete who have a band called The Lou Band (their imagination nearly matches mine) and top local comedian/musician/thespian and all round good egg, Brendan Healy, pity about his golf though! All I had to do now was punt some tickets.
The next games were to be the European Heart/Lung Transplant games in Klagenfurt -Austria, they would be in June 2002, quickly followed by the annual British Games. Time for Gig 3 and what will I name it? Well done that man at the back - you correctly guessed "Graham's Gig for the Games III". I really like the 'Maggie Bank' so I arranged with Richard and his daughter Kate the date and got in touch with more of my theatrical acquaintances. Comedian Spike Rawlings, if you have not seen Spike since the Beatles were No. 1 in the hit parade take another look, the jokes are still the same but the language is possibly a bit more risqué. I chose top Country/Blues band Katy Freeway as the music for the night and everyone who was there will tell you how good they were.
Another sell out crowd but possibly 'The Maggie' is not big enough for all of the punters who tried to come along. This is a big problem to me because I obviously want to raise as much money as I can but keep the tickets priced reasonably, and hope everyone has a good time and wants to come to my next gig(s). I raised enough to finance my trip to Austria and also pay for my costs at the British Games and still was able to donate £485 to the FTA. This included £135 from my Aunty Madge and Uncle Don who asked for cash and not gifts for their Golden Wedding Anniversary, and passed it on to me. Fantastic! I took a chance over my event(s) at the British Games in Loughborough and only entered the golf competition. I won the gold medal and therefore ensured my selection for the forthcoming World Games in Nancy - France in July of this year (2003). Which leads me nicely into my next gig. Question : What is the title of my next gig? Answer =
"Graham's Gig 4 the Games."
(Is your mind boggled?) So I moved my 'circus' to Whitley Bay Residents Club for my next fundraiser. The date was set at March 15th 2003, but I did not invite Julius Caesar as he is not affiliated. I booked Spike Rawlings again because he was fantastic at my last gig and I booked The Watts'n' Whiffin Big Band. Dave Whiffin the lead guitar player is another friend of mine and he is an exceptionally gifted musician who plays the guitar like a God.
Yet another good night was had by all of the 200 or so audience and I had raised enough money to cover my costs for the trip to France and once I have paid them I hope to make a donation to the FTA. At the time of writing (May 03) I have one more training session in Birmingham to attend and train travel in France to pay for. I will hang fire in case any more events directly connected to transplant awareness come along and use the money I have raised accordingly. This year Christine and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary so we will be staying on in France after the World Games, which means I shall have to miss the British Games for the first time since I have been eligible - which is a pity. The rest of the squad are leaving Nancy and travelling straight to Stoke, so my decision was not too hard to make - no offence Stoke. Addendum - November 2003 I was invited to play in a Pro-Am golf tournament by Helen Philpott who is engaged to a professional golfer, Glen Haynes. As Helen is the Community Fundraising Manager for The National Kidney Research Fund in England, awareness does not come much higher profile. We played in the golf Pro-Am in the first week of December in Mijas - Spain under the title of 'Team Transplant'. The monies I raised at Gig 4 covered my costs for World Transplant Games and also helped towards my hotel and flight to the golf tournament. I have already booked Gig 5 and some of that money will cover the deficit I incurred, as well as (I hope) paying for my trips to The European Transplant Games and British Transplant Games in 2004. I am still a nett contributor to the FTA and am proud that I raise my own money to pay for the sporting activities which are so important to me and others in making people aware.
In 2004 I shall be going to Dublin (health permitting) for the European Games so I will have to start planning Gig 5 on my return from France. I can feel a bit of a ceilidh coming on, that is if I can spell it.
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This site was last updated 07/03/07
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