Please check this page regularly to find out what funds and awareness have been generated for Twins with SMA.

On Saturday 15th November at the Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday game, family friend Kev Troop successfully completed a sponsored silence. Money raised from this went towards Twins with SMA. Well done and thanks Kev.

A friend of Sarah's godmother, Liz Moore, took part in a sponsored run. Jenny Hammond raised just over £40. Thank you Jenny

Sarah and her mum Pat Wilson held a Body Shop party at the beginning of December and raised just over £50. This money went towards paying for the boys outfits to wear in Lapland (see photo on home page). Also, the boys, Sarah and Ian would like to thank Charlotte Hunter for buying the boys thermals for this trip. A great time was had by all and if you don't believe in Santa, you should do!!!!!

Singers - Lynn, Andrew, Michael & Sarah

On Saturday 27th September 2008, Sarah's friend Lynn Nelson and some of Lynn's friends took part in a concert "West End to Broadway" at Alfreton Golf Club and raised £600. Thanks to singers Lynn, Andrew Booth, Michael Porter, Sarah Evans who were accompanied by Mr Nigel Binks. Thanks also to Dave and Chick Baker.

Godmothers garden party raises £800 in June

At the Tiptoe School of Performing Arts annual show on Saturday 19th July, Sarah's friend Jeanette Ashworth raised just under £200 for wearing her pyjamas all day. Jeanette had said that if people pledged more than £200 she would even go to McDonalds wearing them. Sadly (but luckily for Jeanette) the target was in sight but not quite reached. However, a fantastic amount was raised. Thanks Jeanette and all the parents and pupils at Tiptoe who sponsored her.

In June, Sarah's godmother, Liz Moore, held a Garden Party at her bungalow in Findern. Liz's talented friends had been busy making arts and crafts, cakes and scones and even though the weather wasn't kind, the garden (and bungalow) were full of people taking part in a raffle, tombola eating strawberry teas and generally having a lovely time. Just over £800 was raised. Thanks also to Liz's neighbour Kevin who took part in a sponsored walk and raised just over £100.

Thanks once again to Kev Troop who raised £200 by taking part in the Derby 10k run in April. This was the first time he had run it and managed to finish in a very respectable time of 62 minutes. This year, Ian (Sam and Alex's dad) decided to take things easy and took part in the fun run with his brother Michael and family friend Greg. Thanks to the customers at Highfield News Littleover for sponsoring them.

Fund raising - this Jailhouse rocks!

On Good Friday, to celebrate her friend Lisa's (on left in photo with daughter Ashleigh) 40th birthday, Sarah and some of Lisa's other friends, spent a spooky night at Derby Gaol. Sarah and 2 other friends, Fiona and Jeanette, decided to combine the night with a sponsored event and friends and family pledged money for them to spend the night (9pm until 4am) in the Gaol.

A great time was had by all and as well as consuming the spirits behind the bar, there were a couple of unexplained noises, whisperings, strange lights on photos and messages from "the other side". Sarah, Fiona and Jeanette raised just under £400 between them as well as experiencing a very different night out.

For further information on Derby Gaol, visit www.derbygaol.com or ring 0800 0277 928

Sky High!

Sisters Charlotte Hunter and Zoe Crosby raised £3000 from their sponsored skydive in November. Many thanks go to both Charlotte and Zoe as well as all the kind people who sponsored them and the anonymous benefactor who donated £500 to pay for the event.

Charlotte

Zoe

St Andrews Playgroup - raised over £180 from their Round the Crib in December. Many thanks go to Mrs Elston and her staff, the children and parents at St Andrews and Paul the vicar.

Dimensions Workwear - Castle Donington (where Dad Ian works) held a raffle before Christmas raising over £200. In addition, the Customer Service Department raised £42 in lieu of sending Christmas cards to colleagues.

Thursday 27th December a charity football match was held between "Shaun Bestwick Select 11" and "Wayne Hall Select 11" resulting in a 1-0 win to Shaun's team. Many thanks go to both teams, the spectators who braved the cold, Barry Elmore who refereed the game, Gemma for organising the raffle and Mel & Paul at The Park who welcomed everyone for a drink and a buffet. The total raised from the match and raffle was just under £300.

Friday 28th December Sam and Alex went to Butterley Station in Ripley to visit and have a trip on Thomas the Tank Engine. This trip was kindly donated by "Me and Dee" (www.meanddee.co.uk). The boys enjoyed the trip and met and received gifts from The Fat Controller. Many thanks to Maria at Me and Dee.

A Great North Run

Sunday 26th September 2007 - Julie Watkins successfully completed the Great North Run in 2½ hours and raised £500. The family met up with Julie afterwards and she looked as fresh as a daisy! Thanks Julie.

Julie Watkins raised £500!

A Night to Remember

"A Night to Remember" on Saturday 20th October was a great success raising over £1200 from ticket sales and raffle tickets. Many thanks to Andy at Andy's Bar, Dragons Health Club, for allowing us to have the room and donating a raffle prize, Jackie Hind for the lovely buffet, Andy and Alex (Two's Company) and their special guests and the following generous people who donated raffle prizes - Andy Pears and his mum, Alex Kerr, Twycross Zoo, Soar Bridge Pub (Barrow on Soar), Bistro Live and Carl Abbott. A big thank you goes to all those people who bought tickets and joined the family on the night - a great time was had by all!!!

Sponsored Abseil

Sponsored Abseil on Saturday 20th October at Millers Dale was successfully completed by all those who took part. A particular thank you goes to Chris, Jo, Ben and Ludovic who collected nearly £700 in sponsor money.

Ben

Chris

Jo

Ludovic

3km Sponsored Run

Kevin Troop successfully completed a 3km sponsored run and raised £100 in sponsor money. After being postponed twice through the summer due to bad weather the run eventually took place on Sunday 14th October at Darley Park.

Kevin Troop - Running for Sam and Alex

On Line Sports Auction

Several Premiership and Championship Football Clubs as well as Derbyshire Cricket Club donated memorabilia – signed shirts, photos, a cricket bat, stadium tour, match tickets and a signed pennant were sold online and raised just over £100. Many thanks to Derbyshire Cricket Club, Middlesbrough FC, Leicester City FC, Blackburn Rovers FC and Portsmouth FCV.

Sunday 16th September 2007 – Watercolour Exhibition/Sale

The exhibition held by the twins Grandma (Pat Wilson) raised just under £800. The day was a great success with Pat selling 39 of her 51 paintings. Money was also raised from the sale of postcards, greetings cards and prints as well as a raffle. Thank you to everyone who came and spent!!!

Monday 17th September 2007 – Evening of Mediumship

Tamworth Spiritualist Church held a special evening to raise funds for Sam and Alex and raised nearly £350. Many thanks to all those who attended as well as the special guests who gave their time free of charge. Particular thanks to Sonia Cherrington and Cindy Heath.

Friday 10th August - Derby Twins Club

On Friday 10th August, members of the Derby Twins Club took part in a sponsored "toddle/pushchair push" around Carsington Water to raise funds for Twins with SMA. There was a good turnout and the weather was beautiful and everyone stayed for a picnic afterwards. Many thanks to the twins club members that took part and their friends and families for sponsoring them. The total raised was £378!

Derby Twins Club at Carsington Water
(photo courtesy of Derby Evening Telegraph)

Clubbing together for Twins with SMA - July 21st

Ready for the 19th Hole!
(picture courtesy of Derby Evening Telegraph)

On Saturday July 21st a group of people came together to help generate funds for the Twins with SMA trust fund.

Michael Bolton, uncle to Sam and Alex (Twins with SMA) organised the event which took place at Morley Hayes Golf Club in Derby. An 19 strong party (Listed below) took part and paid fees to play 18 holes on the picturesque course and despite the weather being in doubt for most of the time the day turned out ok and a good time was had by all that took part.

Although there was a mild competitive nature to the game with prizes on offer for the ‘longest drive’ and ‘closest to the pin’ shots it was all played in fantastic spirits and even by the none golfers amongst the party who forgot that the fairway and greens were the target and not the long grass, water traps and bunkers had a frustrating but enjoyable day and all the way through no one forgot why they were actually there.

Everyone retired to the 19th hole for food and drinks where there was also a raffle that took place. Even people who had nothing to do with the party took part and reaped the rewards with prizes such as Beer, Wine and Spirits being donated by some of the players. Other prizes such as vouchers from Bliss (Beauty Salon) in Littleover were also won but the main prize, which was very kindly donated by our hosts at Morley Hayes, was a free round of golf for four, so a special thank you goes to them.

A total of £220 was raised by the event and Twins with SMA would like to thank everyone that took part and especially Uncle Michael for organising what turned out to be a fantastic and successful event.

Participants were : Nick Buchanan, Julian Brown, Wayne Clowes, Peter Haynes, Michael Gibb, Andrew Denton, Wayne Keenan, Paul Simmonds, Michael Bolton, Greg Gregory, Chris Todd, Shaun Bestwick, Richard Clarke, John Hargreaves, Wayne Hall, Ian Bolton, Rob McGuire, Grant Gibb, Keith Bass

Evening Out

Sam & Alex’s mum Sarah had a rare night out on Thursday 5th July where she met up with some ex work colleagues from the University of Derby. These very generous ladies donated a total of £130 towards the twinswithsma fund. Grateful thanks go to Jean, Lesley, Jeanette, Alison, Amanda, Charlotte and Claire.

Sponsored 10k run (29th April 2007)

Brave Dad - Before the Start!

The money has all finally been collected and counted and the grand total raised by Ian for his 10k run in April is £2439. Many thanks to all those people who generously sponsored Ian and especially the friends and family who took forms and got sponsorship on Ian’s behalf.

On Friday May 25th the Student Support and Information Services
department at Derby University’s Kedleston Road campus held a book sale and dress down day to raise money for Twins with SMA. Staff from the whole site donated books which were sold raising approximately £600.
In addition, members of staff within SSIS paid a fee to “dress down”
for the day making a total raised of £670.

Tues 3rd July: Derbyshire CCC, doing it for the boys.

Twins with SMA would like to offer a massive thank you to Keith Loring and everyone at Derbyshire County Cricket Club for their kind donation of a signed cricket bat signed by all the players from this years squad. The Bat will be used in a charity auction to take place online, details of which will be posted on the site soon.

Thank you again and we wish you all the success for the rest of the season.

On Sunday 13th May a Charity Football game took place on The Manor (Park Road) in Belper. A friend of the Bolton family, Shaun Bestwick, used his connections and resources to organise quickly what turned out to be a really successful event.

The players came from the current Bargate Rovers side who pitched their youth and fitness against the age and experience of a Belper Parks league and cup winning side of 5 years ago.

Unfortunately youth was the victor on the pitch with Bargate coming away 3 – 2 winners and the Belper Parks boys have vowed revenge in a rematch but the real winners of the day was ‘Twins with SMA’ who were the recipients of £243 generated from the players subs, a raffle and various pub games.

Hopefully the game will become an annual event and full details will be posted on this site. A huge thanks goes to Shaun and his partner Gemma for organising the event and also to Paul Buntin and wife Mel, the licensees of ‘The Park’ pub of Park Road, Belper for allowing all the players to return for food and drinks after the match.

Also not forgetting every player that took time out on what was an absolutely awful day weather wise to come and take part in the event and all those that fought the elements just to watch... Hope you’re there for the rematch !! (read the Belper Bugles report - pdf)

Sam and Alex’s father, Ian, took part in the Derby 10k run on Sunday 29th April 2007. He finished the course in a steady but respectable 1 hour and 9 minutes. Funds generated from this event are still being collected and counted but it is hoped that he has generated around £1000 towards the ‘Twins with SMA’ trust fund. Ian would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that was generous enough to sponsor him and donate funds toward the cause. A list of all sponsors will be detailed on this website very soon.

Several people where generous enough to donate items to go towards a car boot sale which took place at Measham Car Boot on Sunday 15th April 2007. The total amount raised from this was £85.30 and most but not all items where sold. It is now the intention to use the remaining items to do another car boot sale very soon.

The pupils of tutor group 7-3 (The Tigers) at Hartshill School in Nuneaton dug deep and donated all the small change that they had in their pockets on Wednesday 28th March. After all the monies were counted the grand total raised came to a fantastic £29.30 so a big, big thanks goes to all concerned.