Fundraising update

The expansion of CLEFT has birthed a new committee, the Fundraising Committee, which had its first meeting in March. Many exciting ideas were discussed and some of these will come to fruition in the months and years ahead.

Currently the focus is on CLEFT’s 14th birthday which was on May 25th. Several members of the Fundraising Committee have organised a range of exciting events. The idea was to create fundraising activities around the number 14.

Alexa (pictured above) and her children and friends organised a Jumpathon whereby someone was jumping on a trampoline from 7am until 9pm (14 hours!) They have exceeded their target of £1300 and had a wonderful day in the process!

Team Yellow, is a group of friends and colleagues who decided to organise a range of events on 25th May to celebrate its birthday and raise money. Mel, CLEFT’s Executive Officer, decided to bake 14 batches of scones and to give these to the first 14 donors. Kaye will be running 5k for 14 consecutive days (from 1st June). Georgie and Willow asked for donations of new unwanted items that they will sell on e-Bay for the 14 days following 25th May. They were inspired by Gwyneth who raised £541 in the same manner!

      

Gwyneth has now turned her hand to baking 14 cakes which she is selling to friends for £10 each. She is pictured above with some of her bakes.

Several of these events raise money for research and Kaye’s event is raising money for a piece of equipment vital for cleft operations: a C-arm for clinicians in Kurdistan.

Login to the next newsletter to find out the totals raised by all these events!

Of course, there are other ongoing fundraising events that are not inspired by CLEFT’s 14th birthday. For example, a touching fundraising effort is by a couple celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary. What a wonderful way to raise money for CLEFT!

Read about all our fundraisers on our Fundraisers' page

The Royal Parks Half Marathon has been a regular event for CLEFT for several years. Dayalan ran the Virtual Royal Parks Half Marathon, and this was his 8th year raising money for the charity. Later in the year we will report on the efforts of our runners who will run the ‘in person’ race on 10th October.

If you are interested in taking part and running for CLEFT, we still have a few places left.

Online events have been an important part of keeping in touch while raising some money for CLEFT during the pandemic. As restrictions begin to ease we hope to present more ‘in person’ events soon. In the meantime, there is just one more online event to come on 24th June, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. This is the ‘Summertime breads for sharing, tearing and dipping’ workshop, led by Sue Hudson, which costs £30. It is limited to 13 participants so book your place now!

National Smile Month

CLEFT is supporting National Smile Month, a charity campaign all about championing the benefits of having good oral health and promoting the value of a healthy smile, run by The Oral Health Foundation.

The Oral Health Foundation say, 'Maintaining a healthy smile can be simple but for so many this can be very difficult.  Despite the many improvements in oral health over the last 40 years, inequalities continue to be a burden for countless individuals.'​  CLEFT has seen this kind of issue at first hand. In places like Bangladesh, money can be so tight that some parents are unable to afford even basic items like toothbrushes or toothpaste. Cleaning their children's teeth can be a big problem, leading to tooth decay and infections.  Children with cleft lip or cleft palate may also be at greater risk for cavities, since they often have weak areas in their enamel and thicker, less effective saliva.

Kirstie Thwaite, a Dental Therapist and Debbie Hemington, Chair of the British Association of Dental Therapists did a LIVE Q&A for CLEFT on social media: (Link to website) talking about the importance of good oral hygiene and the importance of a health diet and brushing teeth regularly and properly. It is a really interesting interview and Debbie shares some of her considerable experience that might make you rethink some of your own eating habits!

We would like to ask you to give up chocolate, sweets and dried fruit for a day, a week, a month or a year and instead donate the money you would have spent to CLEFT. Not only will you be doing your mouth and teeth a favour, but you will be making a huge difference to the lives of children born with clefts.
Just £5 will provide 5 dental kits and education for patients in our centre in Bangladesh.