Charity News

Date

March 31 2019

Written By

Team Willberry .

February's Fundraising!

Written By Team Willberry . - March 31 2019

 

Kathy is one of our regular fundraisers and we are so grateful for her continued support, another £100 Willberrys way!! Without all our fundraisers we could not continue to do the research and Willberry Wishes, both of which are so desperately needed.

 Total Gift Aid received has totalled £1565.13. If you are eligible for Gift Aid ticking that box really does make a huge difference in #kickingcancersbutt!
Patti organised  a Barn Dance & Disco at Faulkland Village Hall in January, we hope you all had a good Do-si-do while raising £266 towards Hannah’s wonderful charity.  
Thank you to all you Amazon buyers out there, you have raised a fantastic £83.69 while buying your goodies online. You can help add to this total by switching to Amazon Smile following this link. 
The Paypal Giving Fund paid us a fantastic £944.00 this month, Willberry and his team are so grateful to all that participate in this.
Wynnstay Agriculture in Crewkerne have a collection pot on the check out desk, this was recently emptied and they have collected £60.39.
We have received the marvellous amount of £1254.10 from Sainsburys in Frome as a donation from their carrier bags.
All our wonderful just giving & Virgin Money Giving supporters have raised a brilliant £4135.84. Derby Equestrian College asked the Derbyshire H&P Society to make their donation to Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony, we are astounded by how kind people can be.
Lois kindly helped organise a bake sale at Myerscough College, we hope you all enjoyed the cakes and goodies. Willberry is wishing he was there to sample the tempting treats!!
#kickingcancersbutt
#makingmemories

Date

March 11 2019

Written By

Team Willberry .

THE WINNER OF THE HANNAH FRANCIS AWARD

Written By Team Willberry . - March 11 2019

Drum roll please....

Claire Drey-Brown 

 

Willberry had such a tough time reading all of the awesome applicants for his best friends award. If only he had lots of awards to hand out... Each and every one reminded him of the inspirational qualities of his best friend and the pure strength and determination she showed the world.

So what was Claire’s breathe taking story? Over the last few years Claire has had a hellish time but she has always managed to continue eventing, THE sport she lives for (who does that remind you off..!), but to support others as well.

Claire’s brother Jamie fought cancer for three years, at the same time as Hannah. Claire was very involved in Jamie’s illness and even fonated her bone marrow for the transplant he underwent. Sadly Jamie died in April 2016, but not before Claire and her eventing friends did a skydive which raised £24,000 (!!!) for the teenage cancer trust #eventersjump4cancer.

The effect of losing a loved one is great, and unfortunately Claire was struck with serious depression. Amazingly she continued to compete up to intermediate level and even represented the south east region at CCIJ* at the Festival of Youth at Weston Park. Sadly in December 2017 she was fell off a friends horse and shattered one of her ankles. The first operation she had did not go to plan and Claire was left unable to use her left ankle and leg correctly.

Nevertheless, she carried on eventing (albeit at a lower level than before) and set up her own yard in May, using crutches and then an iwalk (a bit like a crutch that you can kneel on) to muck out and work the horses from the ground. She saw the eventing season out before having another operation to rectify the first. During this time she set up the ‘CDB Eventing Squad’ through which she mentors teenage riders who have mental health issues or who want support and advice. She has been contacted by teenagers all over the world.

Willberry was blown away with can-do attitude Claire showed to continue to be so successful in the sport she loves despite going through such tricky emotional and physical battles. Despite these personal battles, the support Claire has shown to people surrounding her is inspiring to see.

One things for sure, Jamie must be looking down with a heart filled with pride.

Date

March 01 2019

Written By

Team Willberry .

January Round-Up

Written By Team Willberry . - March 01 2019

 Jo Rossiter from East Mendip Riding Club got her club in a festive vibe by hosting a Christmas raffle, raising an awesome £182.
Frome and District Fatstock Society had a cracking time at their annual dinner. They kindly chose Hannah and Willberry to receive £326.10 from their draw. 
Julie Jones kindly made some beautiful ponies to sell on behalf of Willberry - her efforts sent £116 towards Willberry's mission to keep #kickingcancersbutt.
Hannah's secondary school tutor, Tom Hockaday, organised a birthday breakfast for himself. Willberry was mighty impressed with the yummy food (and a tad envious...) but he was also impressed by the £501 that came his way! 
Kim Ursell from Poldens & Bridgwater RC had raffles at various event in 2018. The continued support is so appriecated by Willberry and his team, as is the £65 that came our way! 
Balhagen Equestrian held an auction (under the watchful eye of Fiona MacKinnon). The prizes must have been super duper special as a staggering £2,799.05 was raised!!
Claire Ryan tested the brain power in her area when she hosted a general knowledge quiz. Stephen Fry may have something to worry about as the evening was a huge success and raised an equally huge total of £1166.
The continued support of Loch Leven Equine Practice has been overwhelming, and to recieve another £670.01 for various events and client talks made Willberry so grateful for the lovely people who continue to support Hannah's charity.
Shirely and Gren Taylor sent a kind donation over to Team Willberry - thank you!
Shane Phelps and Rosi Brown, respective Mens and Ladies captains at Farringdon Golf Club, kindly had Hannah's Willberry Wonder Pony as the clubs Charity of the Year. Their awesome efforts of raffles and collections pots throughout the year was rewarded with a total of £5,591,50 being raised!!! 
Charlotte Christopher created Performance Event logbooks for riders and donated the profit to us. Keep an eye out for our upcoming raffles for the chance to get your hands on one...
Linda Casells did a fundraising event and also organised for the Bank of Scotland to match her fundraising efforts, resulting in £367 coming Willberry ways so he can continue #makingmemories.
All you wonderful supporters raising money through JustGiving led to a combined total of £1688.47 raised in January!! Team work makes the dream work ey?
Wincanton & District had their barrows and wellies at the ready for a sponsored Muckathon. They must have all had some good previous experience as between them they raised an almighty £1000!!
#kickingcancersbutt
#makingmemories

Date

February 22 2019

Written By

Team Willberry .

YehBoii - Alice’s trip to Ben!

Written By Team Willberry . - February 22 2019

 

Willberry received a request for Alice to be granted one of his special wishes from her Mum, Lara.  Alice has been through a tricky time after losing her father to pancreatic cancer.  Willberry was keen for Alice to have a fantastic day and create some lovely memories after the tough time she had been through just like Hannah would have wanted.

At the top of Alice’s wish list was to meet Ben Hobday and visit his yard. Willberry hold Ben close to his heart as he spent many happy hours in the company of Hannah and Ben - and let’s not forget that special trip at Badminton aboard Mr Mulry.....  

Willberry sprung into action and, with the help of Ben’s lovely wife Emma, a plan was soon in place.  Alice lived quite a long way from Ben’s yard so Willberry found her and her mum a lovely hotel to stay in called Eshott Hall.  Alice and her Mum got to stay two nights at Eshott Hall as Willberry wanted to make the experience as easy and as special as he could. 

The following day they arrived at Ben’s yard at midday and what an amazing time they had.  Ben and Emma looked after Alice and Lara extremely well. The cherry on the Willberry shaped cake was Ben inviting Alice to go cross country schooling on one of his horses...

 

“What an absolute treat”  Lara told us that she and Alice will never forget the experience and that it was a once in a lifetime day.

 


Very special thanks to Ben & Emma Hobday in making Alice’s wishes come true.

Date

February 06 2019

Written By

Team Willberry .

Pip’s Wobbleberry Challenge

Written By Team Willberry . - February 06 2019

Willberry recently chatted to Pip about her Wobbleberry challenge.

“Yesterday we did our Wobbleberry challenge at Great Witchingham International. I’d love to say it was a success, but it was certainly memorable!! Dressage waste most relaxed test to date with a respectable score of 37.5. We both felt calm and confident so I was feeling good about the jumping elements as they’re our favourites. 

Sadly Buddy wasn’t feeling it by the time we got to it and didn’t want to play when we entered the show jumping arena. Mr Nappy Pants came out to play and I had one hell of a battle to get him over fence 1. But I did and we jumped around to fence 5. Unfortunately he over jumped it and I lost a stirrup so I circled him to try and get my composure and him back. Rookie error as I was eliminated for crossing my tracks. So frustrating and I’m kicking myself as it meant no XC for us. 

Still we live to fight another day. And I hit my fundraising target. 

Oh and this isn’t the end of my BE journey. We just need to get out and about more. Onwards and upwards!”

 

In a sense Pip’s challenge is what it is all about- determination and resilience. Two properties that Hannah had in bucket loads. 

We cant wait to see where Pip and Buddy will get to this season. 

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