DRINKING ON ICE

Here we are at the Gallantry Dinner in the depths of Gloucestershire and L/Cpl Johnson Beharry VC is  having a drink with Placid Gonzales from St James's Place who sponsored us on this venture. We had 183 supporters to the dinner and have made about £15,000 a  lot of money. The event was made by having Peter Norton GC and L/Cpl Beharry VC with us. We were lucky to have a number of other sponsors and particularly Arkell's Brewery who provided the champagne for the reception.  The food was outstanding with seafood and leaping beef.  Three dinners in a row and I am whacked and overweight.  I am now fasting for two days!

A FAST MOVING DAY

Ihave been a trifle idle in doing the BB since my schedule has been very hectic.  On Wednesday I went to Belfast for a Regional Planning Meeting and was able to do some useful work beforehand including meeting the Minister of State at Hillsborough Castle a lovely house and garden which is the residence of the Secretary of State to Northern Ireland.  We had interesting discussions about the plethora  of Ex Service Charities and what could be done to improve the lot of the veteran in the Province. The meeting over on Thursday which was interesting yet sobering as things are not easy there, I had to catch a flight back to London and surprise, surprise it was 40 minutes late which I was grumpy about as I had to get back to a Dinner at the HAC which Damien Francis, one of our trustees and pictured above with his wife Jane,  had arranged for me to speak to about 250 industrialists who were receiving the UK Stock Market awards. It was a fantastic opportunity and I was very well received and several people came up with their cards to offer help. A very positive evening.  Bentley were one of the sponsors and they have offered to help  to with an auction prize later in the year. Don't think about it! They are not giving us a car!! Anyway here I am having bought one myself  and I let Jane above have a quick cabby before we drive down the Mall at 150 mph. A busy and fast moving day.

WARREN GOES WEST

This is Warren who has been with us for two years. It took about ten shots to get him to smile even though he has a great sense of humour, at least we share the same sort of humour. He is off to Triple P or PPP which I guess stands for Party Poopers Partnership as he has arranged his farewell party whilst I am away. Anyway it provides teaching opportunities around the world so Warren is polishing up his passport in great hopes. He has been good fun and I shall miss him. Good luck and keep in touch.

EDINBURGH LYNCH PIN RETIRES

This is Cathie Davis who shortly leaves the charity. She has worked for the Charity in Edinburgh for 19 years and has worked with four separate Directors , in that great city. So if any body deserves a medal it is her. It might well have driven me to drink. Cathie has another life entirely different from her office life in Edinburgh Castle and for a number of years she has owned and run a very successful hairdressing business, which has also been a fundraising point of contact and she has regularly surprised her Director with the amount of cash she raised through the salon.
Thank you Cathie for all your devotion and hard work. It is enormously appreciated and we wish you all the best for the future.

FUNNY FACES - SOME LIKE IT HOT, SOME DONT

After a rash of posts on Saturday I have had rest since mainly because I haven't done anything very interesting or because I am preoccupied with my daughter Helen's wedding, a recurring thme maybe in future weeks. Long range weather forecast cheered us all up yesterday "heavy downpours in early July". Great!

Anyway here are some funny faces from Saturday as we tasted the world famous Bhut Jolakia. Apparently Sharwoods who make it and are supporting the Big Curry say that it is the hottest ever to hit supermarket shelves. Packed full of heavyweight flavour, it is made using a chilli which is over 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Phew! But actually if you like it hot its very good. My face may not say that but my taste buds do!! Emma,( yes that's Emma who runs National Fundraising NOT my daughter, just in case you were wondering!) obviously loves it!! I am not sure Robin does!!   For every pot sold the charity gets 10p, hurrah. Launch of this new and tasty product is on Wed so watch this space. Cant wait to have more.