Thank you
Previous fundraising
Thank you to Jack and George for raising £2,780 for the MS Therapy Centre – April 2021
JACK KENNINGHAM AND GEORGE RIPLEY HAVE COMPLETED THEIR TOUGH CHALLENGE AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE…
Jack says, “5k everyday for 30 days…. This challenge seemed near impossible 30 days ago but we’ve finally done it. £2780 raised for the MS Therapy Centre in Bedford for all the hard work they do. This was nothing in comparison to what someone with MS goes through. 150k completed in total, this number sounds crazy to me
The first two weeks seemed to be all physically tough and the last two, for me, was mentally tough.
Of course, I couldn’t have done any of this without my brother @GeorgeRipley. We pushed each other with some daily motivation to keep us going (have a think next time you come up with an idea )
Big love to all for the donations and support “
Thank you, Jack and George, your donation will be put to very good use.
Please visit their GoFundMe page if you wish to donate.
Thank you very much to Bedford Girls’ School for the wonderful donation of £1,000 – January 2021
Such a lovely message from the girls who put our charity forward for the funding: “We would like to thank you personally for being so nice to all of us and providing us with loads of information about your charity. We are extremely happy to tell you that we have won the competition and you will be getting £1000 for your charity! We hope this will help you greatly and we would love to know about any updates on your charity.
Again, thank you so much for all the support – we really appreciate it!
Stay safe & kind regards,
Emily, Arielle, Manal, Alex and Lottie”
The photo shows Lottie, Alex and Emily on a zoom call.
Thank you to for your donations this October 2020
We have received £172.90 from William Morton who held a sale in memory of Olga Mold – she is very fondly remembered and much missed by all at the Centre and we would like to say many thanks to William for holding this sale in her memory and raising funds for the Centre which we all know meant so much to her.
Thank you very much for £1,000 donation from the Lea Lodge of Mark Masons No:405 members of Lea Lodge who meet in Luton selected us as one of 4 local charities to receive a grant marking 35 years since the Provincial Grand Lodge of Bedfordshire of Mark Master Masons was established. Many thanks to Lea Lodge members including Bob Morris, whose wife Sally attends the centre.
We have received £3000 from Link-A-Ride
A very generous donation from the closing of their community transport scheme which will be used towards supporting our Centre minibus during these challenging times. This I am sure will be much appreciated by our minibus users so a huge thank you from us all.
Thank you to all our supporters
27TH JULY 2020
We received this lovely ‘thank you’ from HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis.
Coronavirus crisis funding
Thanks to all those trusts, large and small, who are supporting us through the Coronavirus crisis, including Northamptonshire Community Foundation who have awarded us £5,000 from the Constance Travis Endowment Fund to provide ongoing advice and support to people with MS.
We were also delighted to receive a surprise gift of £1,000 from the Sarnia-Riduna Lodge. This Freemasons’ Lodge is based in London, but has members from all over the country. After a bit of detective work we discovered that we were nominated by Bob Morris, whose wife Sally attends our Centre. Special thanks to Bob and Sally and to all the Lodge members!
Thank you to Bedford Lions Club
Thank you to Bedford Lions Club who presented a cheque for £1000 to Beds & Northants MS Therapy Centre to help with the valuable service we provide in our local community.
Bedford Lions Club are grateful to the Trustees for making the MS Therapy Centre available for their monthly meetings. (July 2019)
Thank you to the Ampthill & District 41 Club
Our manager, Tracy Mckenzie was presented with a cheque for £701 at the AGM in May 2019.
Thank you to Rachel Matthews
Well done to Rachel Matthews who has completed the London Marathon 2019 in aid of the MS Therapy Centre in 3:39:19. What an amazing achievement! Thank you Rachel
Thank you to Wellingborough Golf Club
Frank Sudlow, trustee and user of the MS Therapy Centre, collected a cheque for over £4,000 from the Men’s and Ladies’ team captains. We are very grateful indeed for this incredible donation.
Thank you to Molly Mckenzie
Congratulations to Molly Mckenzie for making it to Everest Base Camp. The view is amazing.
There is still time to recognise Molly’s efforts and thank her for raising money for the Beds and Northants MS Therapy Centre.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/molly-mckenzie…
Thank you to Bedfordshire Business Women
Thank you to Natasha Moore and the Bedfordshire Business Women for raising such a fantastic sum for the MS Therapy Centre. We will be able to purchase equipment for use in providing physiotherapy to keep people more mobile and thus able to achieve their goals of independence. Thank you so much
Thank you to the Oddfellows, Beds and Bucks
At the annual meeting of the Oddfellows Beds & Bucks District a cheque was presented to this year’s chosen charity, the Beds & Northants MS Therapy Centre. This was handed to Paula Priestly and the amount raised was £1,967.
Paula received the cheque from Ann Boyle, Provincial Grand Master of the Oddfellows.
Thank you to Graham Cross
Graham Cross from Redline Group is taking part in Europe’s Toughest Mudder to aim to raise £1,000 for the MS Therapy Centre. Hope you don’t get too dirty Graham!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/graham-cross6
Thank you to Evans Halshaw, Bedford
Thank you to the staff of Evans Halshaw, Vauxhall dealers in Barkers Lane Bedford for dressing up on Hallowe’en to raise money for us! Don’t they look amazing?
Thank you to our Quiz masters
A fantastic evening was had by 80 people at our Quiz Night in October. Thank you to our quiz master David Heard of SDC builders and his lovely assistant Karen for generating a great selection of questions and providing the prizes for both winners and losers.
The winning team was The Green Wellies.
We have received some great feedback about the event, and will be holding another one next year.
The winning team holding up their bottles of Prosecco, kindly donated by SDC builders. #SDC
Thank you to the Kier Group
THANK YOU to the team from the Kier Group who spent a day volunteering in the grounds. They have achieved so much and made a tremendous difference. Thank you also for the lovely new garden furniture that will certainly get used by us all. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Centre in the near future. The photo shows the team having a well-earned lunch break.
#kiergroup
If you are a local business, and you would like to have team day at the MS Therapy Centre, please do get in touch.
Thank you to the Catenians
The Northampton Circle celebrated their Centenary with a Golf day in Aid of the MS Therapy Centre. A great day was had by all despite a thunderstorm stopping play in the late afternoon, and £2,518 was raised as part of the funds raised over the year.
Photos show Ladies’ Team winners, Men’s team winner and Mens individual winner, with Frank Sudlow, treasurer of the MS Therapy Centre presenting the prizes.
Bedford Park Concerts
Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped at the Bedford park Concerts on Aug 3rd to 5th. It was extremely hot for our volunteers who did a sterling job checking tickets, selling programmes and collecting donations. We raised an amazing £5,500. Thank you to Bedford Park Concerts for having us their charity partner for another year.
Thank you to The Chosen Charity
We were very grateful to The Chosen Charity for their kind donation of £450. The donation was raised by running a netball event.
We had a great time at Taste Bedford
The MS Therapy Centre was the charity of the year for Taste Bedford – a fantastic food festival that took place by the river on Saturday 16th June. Our volunteers helped with lots of tasks including setting up the event, working on our tombola and information stall, and in the food tent. Thank you for letting us be involved in this great event.
Spicy fun at Edible Ornamentals
Thank you to the team at edible ornamentals for a very enjoyable evening of spicy food, information about growing chillis, and chilli tastings.
Thank you to The Ship Inn
The staff and customers at the Ship Inn have been supporting us all year, raising funds to purchase a therapy couch for shiatsu and a changing table for our hydrotherapy pool. We thanked them at our AGM with a presentation by our patron HM Lord-lieutenant of Bedfordshire Helen Nellis.
Thank you to The Bedford Lions Group
We are very grateful for the generous donation from the Bedford Lions Group of £1000. Derek Beazley presented the cheque to manager Tracy Mckenzie. The group have been using our premises for their meetings, and held a race night to raise money to say thank you.
Thank you to Mandy Knight
We have some lovely art work in our refurbished hydrotherapy pool area thank you to one of our members, Mandy Knight. The artwork looks wonderful!
Thank you for the violin and guitar duo concert
We are very grateful indeed to Simon and Benjamin for performing for us at St Andrew’s Church in Ampthill. We heard some beautiful music and raised funds for the MS Therapy Centre at the same time.
Thank you to Philip Kinsella
Once again, we had a sell-out event for Philip Kinsella, psychic medium. Philip very kindly gives his time for free, and provides comfort and reassurance to the people who come to hear words from their loved-ones.
Thank you for a very successful Charity Ball.
Congratulations and thank you Dominic Quirke for organising another excellent ball last month. The fantastic sum of £6,549.64 was raised and donated to the Centre. Thank you to everyone who attended and spent money, to the numerous people and local businesses that donated prizes for the auction and raffle. Our thanks also go to Ciro and the team at The Sharnbrook Hotel & Vesuvio Restaurant and the students at Mark Rutherford School.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH MS
Thank you to Bedford Athletic Rugby Club
Thank you for your support at your Ladies’ Day in April. A great rugby match was had between Bedford Athletic and Wellingborough.
Thank you to everyone who came to our quiz
Our recent quiz was a fun evening. Thank you to David Heard from SDC Builders for being such an excellent question master, to SDC for donating super prizes, and to one of our members for donating a lovely buffet.
The evening raised £668, another brilliant result.
If you missed this quiz our next evening of quizzing will be Friday 12 October.
Book your team in early so as not to miss out.
Thank you to the Higgins Gallery and the Pantry for hosting a fabulous evening
We combined a private viewing of a new exhibition celebrating Women of Bedfordshire with lovely Italian food at the Pantry.
Thank you to all of the people who were involved in organising the event, and to those who attended. We raised around £1,300.
Thank you to the local band who produced a charity single just for us!
The nephew of one of our members is drummer in a band called True Heights. The band have very kindly produced a single with all royalties coming to the MS Therapy Centre. See the video below to listen to the single ‘City Lies’ and to see a lot of famous friends of the band and members and staff of the MS Therapy Centre.
True Heights' charity single
Thank you to the Masons of Temple Bar 1728
Thank you to Andrew Robinson and the Masons of Temple Bar 1728 in Hertfordshire. The lodge kindly organised a ball to raise funds for the MS Therapy Centre. They raised the fantastic amount of £4319.00, which included £500 from Hopkins Fairdeals in Goole.
Thank you to everyone who helped create Santa’s Grotto
The Christmas Grotto at The Beds and Northants MS Therapy Centrelooked wonderful. Thank you to Jason Stringer and Mitch O’Connell for all your hard work. Thank you also to the local businesses that donated the materials and Christmas displays, as without them none of this would have been possible. We now have a grotto that we can use each year, and not just for Christmas. Thank you so much.
#magnettradebedford #magnettrade #mamasandpapasmiltonkeynes#mamasandpapas #ridgeonsbedford #ridgeons #tradepointbedford#olivermeadows #christmas #mstherapycentre #ms #santasgrotto#charity #elf #santa #fatherchristmas #fireplace #merrychristmas#grottoideas #christmas2017
Thank you to The Ship Pub
The Ship Pub in Bromham Road Bedford, have another FR event this Saturday at Wyboston Lakes – a golf tournament. All profits coming to the MS Therapy Centre.
The customers of this pub are amazing, lead by Mary the landlady, they have been raising funds for us since May of this year and will not end until May 2018.
They have so far purchased a new therapy couch, at a cost of £1535.00 for shiatsu therapy, replacing one that was broken, worn out and not fit for purpose.
They have asked what else we would like, and they will do their best to provide it. Thank you very much!
Thank you to the Bedfordshire Freemasons for their kind donation of £25,000 to MS Therapy Centre
Mrs Linda Staple, Mrs Mitch O’Connell and Mrs Rita Carter, the wives of local Freemasons, presented Kay Taylor (Chair of the Beds & Northants MS Therapy Centre), with a cheque for £25,000, on behalf of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Bedfordshire
This incredible donation will be put towards the upgrade of our hydrotherapy pool that enables exercise and increased mobility to many of our clients
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Firewalk
Everyone, both participants and spectators had a fantastic time. We’ll let you know how much was raised when the totals are in.
High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire
Our charity is open to people living with MS in both Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, ad we are very grateful to the High Sheriffs of both counties for visiting us in 2017.
Rupert Fordham, the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, who toured the MS Therapy Centre and met some of our members. Mr Fordham was very impressed with the work that we do, and hopes to work with us to make sure that people with MS in Northamptonshire know that we are here for them.
We were also delighted to welcome Vinod Tailor, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, at the Centre. He toured the Centre and chatted to members about their experiences, and how the Centre has helped them. Mr Tailor was very impressed by the number of dedicated volunteers who help to the run the Centre every week.
Paula and Kay attended the ‘Service for Judges’, hosted by Vinod Tailor, the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, who visited the Centre in November.
Thank you to the Masons of Bedford Castle Lodge
A cheque of £500 was presented to Paula Priestly and Kay Taylor of the MS Therapy Centre by Worshipful Brother John Caves – Grand Master of Bedford Castle Lodge, Worshipful Brother Andrew Fensome – Charity Steward of Bedford Castle Lodge. John and Andrew were very interested to see what we did at the Centre, and we will be sure to use the money wisely.
Thank you to all who attended Rosey’s Rainbow Charity Ball
A great time was had by all, and a super amount of money was raised. Well done everybody!
The Dankworth Family Festival
To help celebrate her 90th year, Dame Cleo Laine and her family hosted The Dankworth Family Festival in the grounds of her home in Wavendon, Milton Keynes, in July.
The event was described as a “boutique festival celebrating all things jazz, blues, classical, poetry and art”, with profits coming to the Beds and Northants MS Therapy Centre.
One of our members, Mandy Trodden, was interviewed on BBC Three Counties Radio, along with Cleo Lane.
Thank you to the Dankworth family for choosing us as their charity for this event, and to our volunteers for making a presence for the MS Therapy Centre at the event.
The Brodsky Quartet with Jaqui Dankworth reading stories
On stage is Jaqui Dankworth, her husband, Charlie Wood, on piano, and her brother Alec Dankworth on double bass
Our Summer Fete and Strawberry Tea
Thank you to everyone who attended, or helped out at, our summer fete and strawberry tea. What lovely weather we had, and it was a super event as always, with delicious cakes, cream teas and fun for all the family.
Thank you to Our Amazing Volunteers
Thank you so much to all of our volunteers who help out each and every week at the Centre, or who help us with special events. Although you are too numerous to mention individually, we are very grateful to all of you, and we could not keep the Centre running without you. You are making a big difference to the lives of people living with MS.
THANK YOU ALL
Thank you to Bedford Lions Club
We were delighted to receive a cheque for £1000 from Bedford Lions after a successful Race Night fundraising event they had organised. This donation recognises how much they appreciate being able to hold their meetings at the Centre each month.
Masquerade Ball
Thank you to the Sharnbrook Hotel and its team for hosting the Advancing Masquerade Ball on behalf of our Centre. As always, it was a great, light hearted and enjoyable evening.
Thank you to Dominic Quirke and his Advancing Team, alongside all who attended for creating the perfect atmosphere and for your support; you have helped to raise vital funds for our Centre and its members.
We know many of you were able to take home some unique and valuable prizes and Auction wins, which are courtesy of all our donors. We are sincerely grateful. Over £10,000 raised!
Skydive and Trinacria Association Ball!
Thank you to Maria Taverna who continually supports the Centre.
Maria says “Every year the Trinacria Association Bedford hold their annual ball to raise money for a charity close to their hearts. This year they are fundraising for Beds & Northants MS Therapy Centre & I have decided to do a sponsored Skydive to help the association raise even more money for such a good cause!” Maria raised over £2,000 sponsorship for her skydive and the Trinacria Association ball raised over £9,000.
What an amazing contribution to our Centre – thank you to everyone involved!
If you’d like to try a sponsored skydive or run an event for us, please contact Kirstin on 01234 325781.
That’s Amore
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the evening at That’s Amore so enjoyable. There was a great atmosphere, with people singing and dancing as well as eating great Sicilian food. Whilst having a good time, we raised $726,80.
For more photos, please see our facebook page
Thank You to Sarah Parry
Sarah has just completed the Silverstone Half Marathon. She took just under 2 hours to run the 13 miles.
Well done Sarah, and thank you for raising money for the MS Therapy Centre!
Thank You to Bedfordshire Golf Club
Thank you to HM Lord-Lieutenant Helen Nellis for donating £3,666 proceeds from her year as ladies captain of the Bedfordshire Golf Club.
Thank You to Vision Blinds
More improvements! Thank you to funding from Trusts we are able to purchase some blinds for the windows to help with security and privacy.
The photo shows Chris from Vision blinds hanging some of the new additions. Vision Blinds readily support charities by offering a discount.
Thank You to Everyone involved with our Silent Auction
Well done to our member Stuart Cox for organising a silent auction that raised £2,515. This was match-funded by Barclaycard to reach a total of £5030! Thank you to the generous businesses and individuals who donated prizes, and thank you to everyone who placed a bid.
Thank You to Rotary Clubs of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire
It was lovely to meet the Rotary Groups who kindly helped to pay for the MS Therapy Centre to be re-decorated last month. The cheque was presented by Helen Nellis, HM Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire on behalf of the groups to our Chair of Trustees.
Everyone at the Centre is truly grateful, and it was an honour to be able to showcase all the good work that is carried out at the MS Therapy Centre.
Thank You to our Persistent Skydivers
After many attempts that were cancelled due to bad weather, our team of Bela Brown, Emma Burgess, Scott Newcomen and Jabe Bean were finally able to jump in a beautiful blue sky. Thank you for not giving up, and for raising money for the MS Therapy Centre. The total raised was an amazing £4336!
Thank you Mrs Gibbons
Mrs Gibbons is the mother of Nova Davis, a regular Centre user.
The Friends of Oakfield Court, Sunderland, held a sponsored walk, bingo night and monthly tombolas. The photo shows Nova handing over a cheque for £800.
Thank You the Rotary Club of Bedford
The Rotary Club of Bedford have been highly instrumental in organising and funding the redecoration of the Centre. Peter Kimber, who attends the Centre on a regular basis, and is also a member of Bedford Rotary Club, coordinated the project and engaged A and J Painters of Kempston to do the work.
In addition to Bedford Rotary Club who have managed the project, funding contributions have been given by the following Rotary Clubs: – Corby Phoenix, Corby, Rushden Chichele and Sandy. A generous contribution has also been received from the Gale Family Trust of Bedford.
Thank You The Striders
The Colworth Marathon Challenge is a 3-day event held in the town of Sharnbrook in Bedfordshire. It is organised by The Striders, a local running group, and was held in June this year
A few of the running group have family and friends affected by MS and it is therefore close to their hearts to support the Beds & Northants MS Therapy Centre.
A very generous £500 was donated to the Centre. Thank you very much.
Thank You Mac McKenzie
Many thanks to Mac Mckenzie who has cycled from London to Nice in the September sunshine. It took him two weeks, and he has raised well over £1,000. Well done.
Thanks to the Engine and Tender Pub, Ampthill
A fun day was held at the pub recently; the local fire station took part in doing 2,500 press ups. A great day was had by all and they raised £2,000. Well done everyone and thank you for supporting us.
Thank You FlightLine Support Ltd
A huge ‘Thank You’ to these wonderful people over at Flightline Support Ltd who took part in the Wolf Run for our Centre. Together they have raised the amazing amount of £3,786.57 plus £518.75 Gift Aid.
Thank You Old Bedford Modernians’ Lodge
We are very grateful to our local Masonic Lodge for the kind donation of £2,000.
Thank You SDC Builders
We are so pleased with our new fence (in the car park) that was funded and repaired by SDC Builders and their contractors Huntree Fencing of Bedford. It was a big repair and we are grateful for all their very fine work. 😉
Thank You to the ‘Advancing’ group
Thank you to the Advancing Advancing People and Advancing Property for sponsoring our high visibility jackets that we wore when working at the Bedford Park Concerts. We are very grateful.