The Gail Wilson Memorial Trust

GailWilson The Gail Wilson Memorial Trust, is a small Educational Charity, based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Our aim is to help youngsters who have been students of Galashiels Academy, and who wish to further their education at College or university, but anticipate difficulty in doing so due to financial constraint. The Charity was established in 2000 as a memorial to Gail Wilson, who was a student about to go up to university at the time of her unfortunate death in a car accident in 1998. Gail was concerned that some of her contemporaries of great potential would not do themselves justice, due to pressure from term-time jobs to help finance them through their courses. This situation has become even more critical just now due to lack of jobs for students, and this is why in our Tenth Anniversary Year we are trying to raise even more funds to make more bursaries available.

Please help us to help our youngsters, so that they may fulfill their potential and then in turn help others to do so too.

For more information about ‘The Gail Trust’ and our fundraising or to register to run this event with us, please contact: Mrs. Fiona Wilson, East View, Langlee Mains, GALASHIELS, TD1 2NZ or phone her on 01896 756308.

The Stroke Association

The Stroke Association is the only UK registered charity solely concerned with stroke. We aim to reduce strokes through research and health education and also help and support people and their families who have been affected by stroke through our Community Services.

Please consider joining The Stroke Association team and take up the challenge. You will be supported by our cheering squads and friendly staff. Race alongside world-class athletes and take in a fantastic and memorable experience. Run for The Stroke Association and help all those affected by Stroke.

For more information on how you can fundraise for the Stroke Association, please contact the Fundraising Team on 0131 555 7245 or email the fundraising manager, Karen Hodgins on Karen.Hodgins@stroke.org.uk. You can read more about the Association’s ongoing work and how your fundraising will directly help others at our website www.stroke.org.uk.

Make-A-Wish In Scotland

Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK has a very simple objective – to grant magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. The charity was founded in the UK in 1986 and since then has granted over 5,700 wishes.

There are over 20,000 children in the UK living with a life-threatening illness. We believe that every one of them deserves to experience the magic of a Make-A-Wish wish – and they are truly magical.

A small and dedicated team of professional wishgranters works alongside hundreds of volunteers to turn our children’s wishes into reality. Whether a wish is to be a princess or a train driver for the day, own the latest TV or computer equipment, meet a favourite celebrity or just enjoy some special time away from home with their family, a wish come true brings so much to a child’s life and provides memories that last a lifetime for the whole family.

This year, around 1,000 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their special wish granted – we need to raise over £5 million per year to continue granting these magical wishes.

Make-A-Wish receives no government funding or lottery grants, relying on the generous donations of the public and that’s why, for our charity, every donation really counts.

We’re especially keen to increase the number of children we help in Scotland, so we hope that you will be happy to dedicate your sterling efforts to running in aid of Make-A-Wish.

If you would like more information about Make-A-Wish please visit our website at www.make-a-wish.org.uk, contact us on 0131 556 3359 or email Carolyn.Thornton@makeawish.org.uk. Charity Registration No. (Scotland) SC037479.

KidsLibs Trust

KidsLibs Trust partners with local community members to create community libraries in the slum and rural areas of Kenya. Our libraries are run BY the community FOR the community, most being run by local youth, who didnt have fees to complete secondary school. All libraries are free of all charges to all commuity members.

KLT trains these community members in library skills, provides all their initial stock, advises on buildings and furniture, and offers continual training through monthly staff meetings for all KLT centres (we currently have 4 open in the slums of Nairobi, and one rural centre in Laikipia West). Our meetings have included all staff learning sign language to encourage our deaf users, to having speakers from IOM (dealing with human trafficking), AMREF, MERLIN (about malaria), Red Cross and GOAL Kenya about child rape and abuse issues). Our libraries are one family who help each other.

We have drama groups, rap groups, hip hop, HIV Aids awareness, children’s rights awareness, we have Super Angels Girls groups to give girls a safe place to come to talk about their issues (periods, hair care, being married at 12 years old, circumcision, goat care, boys…) We have a project encouraging Kenyan families to use books with their under five year olds at home (‘Little Hands, Big Steps’). We also have bookclubs, where children from the slums meet with children from two of the prestigeous international schools to talk about books – two very different groups getting to know each other.

We want to create more libraries all across Kenya with local community groups, and to develop our existing ones through empowering Kenyan youth and children; helping them OUT of poverty through access to information….and learning to read for pleasure NOT just to pass exams…a new concept in Kenya. Libraries are for living.

For more information see the website at: kidslibstrust.org.

Friends of the Earth Scotland

Friends of the Earth Scotland exists to help people in Scotland look after the planet for everyones future. We think globally and act locally in Scotland, delivering solutions to climate change and other pressing environmental problems by enabling and empowering people to take individual and collective action. We offer help to people with the big things in life helping to sustain a healthy society and environment. We believe that all of our childrens futures will be better because of what we do.

We are:

Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and 10 active local groups across Scotland
Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent.

Friends of the Earth Scotland is an independent Scottish charity SC003442.

All the money that you raise for us will stay in Scotland and go towards creating a world where everyone can enjoy a healthy environment and a fair share of the earths resources.

For more information about fundraising for Friends of the Earth Scotland please call Zoe Furnivall on 0131 243 2700, email fundraising@foe-scotland.org.uk or visit our website www.foe-scotland.org.uk.

Border Holiday Group

The Border Holiday Group aims to provide a holiday of a lifetime to Europe for sick and disabled people who would otherwise be unable to travel, and at the same time provide their carers at home with a much needed rest.

The group consists of twenty-four people, of which a maximum of eight are V.I.P.’s, the remainder being, carers and medics. They are taken on a ten-day coach holiday to a venue in Austria, Italy, Germany or Switzerland.

The disabled have no worries about mobility or medical assistance because they are looked after from the moment they arrive at the local departure point for the holiday until their return. Each has their own helper who will care for them throughout the trip.

To provide these holidays the Group needs to raise approximately £22,000 for each trip. The Group Leader, his medical team and the helpers are all volunteers, for whom this is a working trip, using their own holiday time to care for those less fortunate than themselves.

The coach the group uses for these trips is called a Jumbulance. It is a specially designed bus which has up to eight beds, upwards of twenty seats, a toilet and a kitchen. Access to the bus is via a hydraulic lift at the rear, enabling V.I.P.’s direct transfer from their wheelchair to coach seat or bed. The bus has ambulance status and is fully kitted out for first aid medical treatment.

For more information visit our website at: myweb.tiscali.co.uk/borderholidaygroup/.

MS Society Scotland

The MS Society Scotland aims to enable everyone affected by multiple sclerosis in Scotland to live life to their full potential until a cure is found. MS is the most common, potentially disabling disease of the central nervous system affecting young adults, with diagnosis generally between 20 and 40 years of age.

Scotland has the highest prevalence of MS in the world, with more than 10,500 people affected.

Our key activities are:

To provide and fund 24 hour specialist respite care for people with MS, their families and carers at Leuchie House, Scotland’s only MS Respite Care Centre.
To fund research into the causes, cure and care of multiple sclerosis.
To provide financial grants for people affected by MS.
To provide accurate information to people affected by MS through our website, publications and helpline.
To campaign to ensure everyone has access to appropriate health and social care services.
To fund MS Specialist Nurses.

There are also over 35 branches across Scotland providing a local support network. Run by volunteers with personal experience of MS. They offer a variety of activities, support, information and fundraising events.

Funding for all our services is met entirely by voluntary contributions and MS Society Scotland requires over £3 million per annum to continue its work with, and for, people with MS.

For more information on how you can fundraise for the MS Society Scotland, please contact the Fundraising Team on 0131 335 4050 or fundraising@mssocietyscotland.org.uk You can read more about the Society’s ongoing work and how your fundraising will directly help others at our website www.mssocietyscotland.org.uk.

St Columbas Hospice, Edinburgh

St Columba’s Hospice in Edinburgh is committed to providing the highest standards of care for patients with active, progressive, far-advanced illness for which there is no cure, as well as support for their families and carers. Our services are completely free.

Situated overlooking the Firth of Forth, we aim to create a calm, friendly and trusting atmosphere where the dignity and individual wishes of each patient are respected. We know that time is precious to our patients and we want to make sure that every minute counts. Patients, along with their families and loved ones, benefit from services that extend to spiritual and counselling needs, and are extended to those who need them without cost.

As a local, independent charity, we rely on public support. The operating cost to run St. Columba’s Hospice for one minute is £11.61. That means that it costs more than £6 million to run the Hospice each year. To achieve this, St Columba’s relies on a voluntary income of more than £3 million annually from our friends and supporters.

Running the Edinburgh Half Marathon for St Columba’s Hospice will help us to continue to provide specialist palliative care to the people in our community who need it most.

To find out more about St Columba’s Hospice, our fundraising events, and how you can help, visit www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk or contact our fundraising team at fund@stcolumbashospice.org.uk or call us 0131 551 7731.

Breast Cancer Care, Scotland

Guaranteed places are still available through Breast Cancer Care.

All you need to do is contact Rachel at scottishruns@breastcancercare.org.uk or 0141 353 8330.

There is no registration fee and all we ask is that you raise a minimum of £150 which only needs to be sent in 2 months after the race. Therefore you have plenty of time to gather sponsorship!

Breast Cancer Care will provide you with a support pack with sponsorship forms and a running vest. We will be there on the day to cheer you on and present you with a well deserved goody bag when you cross the finish line.

Secure your place today with Breast Cancer Care for an unrivalled running experience!

Affiliated Charities

The following charities have chosen to secure a number of ‘guaranteed places’ in the 2011 Edinburgh Half Marathon for runners who wish to run and raise much needed funds for their good causes.

Any local or national charity is invited to apply for guaranteed places in the race. Please contact the Event Director using the form on the Contact Us page of this website.

If you wish to participate in the event and raise money for one of the listed charities please contact them directly by clicking on the charity logos shown below to visit their website, or by using the contact details supplied.

Victim Support Scotland

Victim Support Scotland is the leading national voluntary organisation helping people affected by crime. The community-based Victim Service exists in all local authority areas across Scotland, and there is a Witness Service in every High and Sheriff Court. There is also a Youth Justice Service based in Dundee. Staff and volunteers provide practical and emotional support, information about the criminal justice system, assistance with official procedures, including support at court, and help with compensation claims. Victim Support’s services are free, independent and confidential. Victim Support also campaigns for recognition of victims’ interests in criminal justice and social policy.

For more information see our website at: www.victimsupportsco.org.uk.

Room to Read

Room to Read We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

For more information see our website at: www.roomtoread.org.

CLIC Sargent

My name is Rhian and I’m a CLIC Sargent Nurse. I’m trained to give specialist care to children and young people with cancer, in hospital and at home.

Every day ten children and young people hear ‘it’s cancer’. Treatment can start straightaway and last up to three years. It can involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. That is tough for anyone, but especially a child.

As a CLIC Sargent Nurse, I can be there for children. I’m at their hospital bedside, with specialist medical care. I make visits when they go home between treatments. I can visit their school too, to make things easier when they go back.

But I can only be there with your support. Every day ten more children hear that they have cancer. But we can only reach two out of every three.

So please, pledge your support by fundraising in the Edinburgh Half Marathon, and receive your free fundraising pack containing all you need to raise much needed funds and our new running vest.

Please click on the link below to view our We Need Nurses running video:

http://www.clicsargent.org.uk/Getinvolved/Fundraisingandevents/Running

For more information on running the Edinburgh Half Marathon on behalf of CLIC Sargent, contact Samantha Martindale on 0141 572 5700 or email samantha.martindale@clicsargent.org.uk.

Alzheimer Scotland

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s leading specialist dementia charity working throughout the country to provide care and support to people with dementia, their families and carers.

The charity provides practical services on over 60 sites throughout Scotland including day care, home support and carer support groups. They publish booklets, reports and a quarterly newsletter keeping carers, people with dementia and professionals up to date. Our public policy work directed to lobbying the Scottish Parliament and Westminster includes policy analysis, briefings and activities to raise public awareness. We also carry out medical and social research.

Our 24 hour Dementia Helpline 0808 808 300 and our website www.alzscot.org provide expert information about dementia and the services of Alzheimer Scotland.

To find out more about any of fundraising at this event contact our Fundraising and Events Manager on 0845 2600 789 or visit http://www.alzscot.org/pages/fundraising/running.htm.

Run for Charity

The following charities have chosen to secure ‘guaranteed places’ in the 2011 Edinburgh Half Marathon for runners who wish to run and raise much needed funds for their good causes.

Any local or national charity is invited to apply for guaranteed places in the race. Please contact the Event Director using the form on the Contact Us page of this website.

If there is a charity not listed that you wish to raise money for then simply contact them direct and make your arrangements. They will be delighted to hear from you.