Thank you from Aila

Since the beginning of the year St John's Pro Life Group has been helping our family raise the money needed to build a ground floor extension on our house consisting of a bedroom and bathroom for our 17 year old daughter Aila, who suffers from Friedreich's Ataxia.  Through fundraising efforts and carrying a PayPal button on this blog, the Group has made a significant financial contribution - not to mention providing invaluable moral support and awareness raising.  We hope that some of the reflections and reporting that have been made in connection with Aila and her needs have helped "raise the profile" of disabled people, their needs and their value.

The extension has now been built and we are at the stage of decorating and furnishing it, so the time has come to close "Aila's Fund" and to say a huge, huge THANK YOU to the Group and to all our benefactors.  We cannot overstate the difference these adaptations are going to make to Aila's safety and independence and we ask the Lord's blessings and Our Lady's prayers for you all.

Aila's Fund concert a roaring success!

Last Friday we held our Diamond Jubilee concert here in St. John's in aid of Aila's Fund and, I'm glad to say, it was a great success! Lots and lots of you wonderful people offered to help either behind the scenes with the box office, the sound system, organising the raffle and the like or by offering to share your talents by playing an instrument or singing. And, praise the Lord, even more of you came along to watch and enjoy the evening's entertainments. It was an...eclectic mix I suppose you'd say...we tried to accommodate everyone's tastes (as much as was humanly possible) and had a range of styles from classical to gospel, jazz to spanish guitars. On behalf of everyone involved in Aila's Fund I'd like to say a big THANK YOU!! to everyone who helped make the evening what it was, to the office staff and clergy, to the performers and to the wonderful audience. I believe we raised over £800! [Final total was actually just over £1,360 !! - Anneli] Not bad from one event, eh?

Here's some snaps from taken by the lovely Marilyn George...

Our lovely audience settling in as the concert began...

Fr. Terry kicked things off with a Handel
flute sonata...and a rendition of
'Annie's Song' for Fr. Richard!!

Bernard accompanying some of the performers.
He also played 'Crown Imperial March' on the
organ.

A brilliant duet with Claire O'Brien on flute and Cozette Rice on clarinet.

'Voices' sang beautifully for us...

Drinks and the raffle in the hall during the interval.

The Jazz Band sent us swinging into the second half...

Singing along to the Spanish guitar music...

...and here they are!

The Gospel choir brought the evening to a superb close with a song
chosen especially for Aila.

Start your Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend off with a swing...

... literally!  Our Diamond Jubilee Concert in aid of Aila's Fund has a varied programme which includes Handel, Faure and Rutter, Spanish guitar music and exhilarating Gospel pieces.  It'll be a fantastic journey across a musical landscape containing many a vista of mood and tempo, and Kevin Tayler and his boys will be rounding off the evening with a toe-tapping jazz set!  That should set us all up in swinging style for the long weekend in honour of Her Majesty.

Other delights include performances by superb and successful local choir Voices and, of course, our (particularly delightful) diocesan Vocations Director Fr Terry Martin on his fabulous flute.  A raffle and free glass of wine or soft drink in the interval add the icing to this cornucopia of treats... we'd love to see you there.

Thanks everyone!

Aila's dad does his bit
in the kitchen!

The "cobs, cakes and cards" bacon breakfast event at St John's went very well this morning; on behalf of Aila and all the family, I'd like to say a HUGE "thank you" to everyone who...

 ...baked, fried, sliced, served, sold, bought, ate...

...or supported us in any way whatsoever!

Nearly £300 was raised for Aila's Fund and, as ever, the kindness and fellowship were heartening. God is good.

Rock or classical? We have the gig for you!

A quick heads up about two fantabulous musical events coming up in aid of "Aila's Fund" (see the dedicated page on this blog).

ACOUSTIC ROCK NIGHT  
Saturday 5 May, 7-10.30pm in St John's Church Hall, 3 Springfield Road, Horsham RH12 2PF (just along from the Shelley Fountain).  Tickets are £5 each (£15 family) and include supper.  BYOB, but soft drinks will be available for a donation.  Do come along and enjoy a good night out with friends - tickets available from St John's parish office at the above address, or call 01403 253667.  A million thanks to the wonderful Bernie Daly for organising this.

DIAMOND JUBILEE CONCERT
Get your bank holiday royal celebrations off to a great start on Friday 1 June, 7.30pm.  Same venue, but in St John's church itself.  The programme will range from classical and jazz to gospel and there will be a raffle and free glass of wine in the church hall during the interval.  Some of the best of our local musical talent will be performing, including the redoubtable Fr Terry Martin (Diocesan Vocations Director) on his famous flute!  Tickets for this are priced at £7.50 each, £5 child/concessions or £15 family and, again, are available from the parish office.  We are very grateful to Katherine Rickards and many others from the parish and beyond for their hard work getting this concert together.

Aila would love to see you at either concert - or both!  Please do put the dates in your diary.  Thank you very much.

I'm supporting Aila's Fund!

Just out!  Our new "I'm supporting Aila's Fund" silicone wristbands... the latest must-have accessory.  Available in blue, teal, purple, red and bright pink and in two sizes (the smaller size is most suitable for children and young teenagers).  Only £1 each, plus 58p postage for up to 5 bands.  You can purchase them via the "Donate" button on this blogsite.

For more details of this and also our "Buy A Brick" scheme, please visit the "Aila's Fund" page via the tab above.  Every bracelet or brick purchased will help to make a big difference to this young woman's quality of life... thank you so very much.

Buy a brick, build an extension, support life!

Pro-Life work is often greatly misconstrued as being a 'one trick pony' so-to-speak, with a large number of people thinking that all we do is campaign against abortion. Whilst that is, of course, a fundamentally important part of our work there is so much more to it than that. As the name "pro-life" itself indicates we are dedicated to supporting, respecting and cherishing life in all its forms. Any one of us can become vulnerable and in need of support at any point in our lives and it is part of our work to help anyone and everyone through thick and thin. Our aim is to promote the wonderful beauty and dignity of each person no matter who they are and one way in which we are doing that is promoting Aila's Fund.

As I have previously posted Aila has Friedreich's Ataxia, a neurological disorder which affects her balance, mobility and speech, and is in desperate need of a downstairs bedroom and bathroom since climbing the stairs several times a day is not only difficult but also very dangerous. I'm extremely pleased to report that support so far has been overwhelmingly generous. Thank you all so very, very much, you are all quite marvellous and I know that Aila and her family are immensely grateful to each and every one of you. The opening event, the cake stall, was a great success and we hope that this will continue with our other events throughout the year.

Some of you will have noticed the recent addition of a PayPal Donate button on the sidebar. This is a direct link to Aila's Fund and allows you to donate to the build without having to write a cheque or send money in the post. It's very easy, 100% secure and your personal bank/card details are never disclosed (PayPal pride themselves on their customer security.) If you would like to make a personal donation then please use the button.

The next step in raising the £16,000 needed to build this extension is our newly launched "Buy a Brick" campaign. This is a wonderful way of giving directly to the Fund (especially if you aren't able to make it to the events) and makes you a part of Aila's future and well being. With each brick you "buy" through making a donation, you will receive a personalised certificate thanking you for your contribution (so please do leave us your name and address so we can send it to you) and for those who buy either the small or big blocks of bricks you will also receive one of our wristbands saying; "I'm supporting Aila's Fund." The suggested donations for the bricks are as follows;

1 brick: £5.00

3 bricks: £12.00

5 bricks: £20.00

Small block of bricks (10 bricks): £40.00

Big block of bricks (25 bricks): £100.00

(Donate using the PayPal button.)

Very soon (within the next fortnight) we will be making our new "I'm supporting Aila's Fund" silicone wristbands available for a suggested donation of £1.00 each (plus £0.50 for 1st Class postage).  They come in a variety of colours. Please do order one (via the PayPal button) and show the world that you are making a difference in the life of this young woman.

When making donations with the Button for bricks or wristbands, please state what you are donating towards (a brick, wristband etc) and your postal details - you should be able to use PayPal's message facility to do this.

And last but by no means least we have our parish photo shoot coming up in only a couple of weeks. Robert Bousfield (who took the lovely photos of Aila and recently did a shoot for families at St. John's primary school) will be hosting fifteen minute photo sessions for individuals and families in rooms 2/3 of the parish hall on Saturday 24th March. He is a professional photographer who produces excellent quality shots for very reasonable prices. You will love the results! Call 01403 257059 to book your slot.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks to all you angelic people who helped out!

Having been away for the weekend, I've returned to the fantatastic news that the Pro Life Group cake sale this morning raised a wonderful £510 for Aila's Fund!  Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who baked (or made cards or marmalade), everyone who helped sell, everyone who bought.  It's a really amazing start to our fundraising efforts and Aila was blown away by everyone's generosity.

Thank you and God bless.

Updates on the Fund: our Diamond Jubilee Concert is now confirmed for Friday 1 June, 7.30pm in St John's RC Church, Horsham... do put the date in your diary if you can.  News is soon to follow on how you can sponsor a friend and parishioner who will be cycling from London to John O'Groats in June.

Meetings, MPs and Missals

Attendance goal for our next meeting

Last night saw the St John's Pro Life Group, or more accurately a remnant thereof, getting together for one of our regular meetings.  Unfortunately half term and illness had between them spirited away several members: we offer ongoing prayers for Chris and Stella that they may soon be restored to wholeness and health.  The remaining three of us gathered upstairs in the church hall and, with the assistance of Our Lady, prepared to fight the good spiritual fight.  Whilst it would of course be wonderful to see large numbers gathered together in the pro-life cause, there's something paradoxically encouraging about being one of just a few getting together and entrusting ourselves to the Lord.  I suppose because it reminds us that we can only achieve anything in God's strength - the only way we are doomed to failure is if we rely on our own puny efforts alone - and that for Him, "all things are possible".

Fighting the good fight last night mostly involved wielding flowers and cakes.  Some years ago a local SPUC group, sadly no longer in existence, established a "Memorial to the Unborn Child" in our local cemetery (Hills Farm).  Over the years people have been visiting to remember their children lost before birth for any reason, be it miscarriage or abortion, as evidenced by the touching mementoes often to be found there; but without regular maintenance the site was looking a little bit sad and run-down.  As someone involved in the original fundraising and setting-up of the Memorial, I was delighted when the new Pro Life Group enthusiastically took it up as a project and already Stella and her daughter Becca have worked wonders digging the ground and tidying the site.  Becca plans to visit soon to nourish the ground with some horse manure (might keep a distance during that period) and then at the end of March we should be able to get planting, in order to surround the Memorial with all-year colour and provide both a fitting remembrance for these little ones, and a beautiful, peaceful place for their parents to sit and hold them in their hearts.

Sometimes the weapons of spiritual warfare look like this

Our cake and home-made cards sale goes ahead this Sunday after 9am Mass in St John the Evangelist Church hall (3 Springfield Road, Horsham; do visit if you're anywhere near and buy yourself a pre-Lenten treat!).  Again, I am really grateful to the group who are donating all proceeds from the sale to Aila's Fund.

Two of us had received replies from our MP, Francis Maude, in response to our letters about assisted dying (see this earlier post) for which we thank him.  The letters, whilst avoiding overt personal commitment to specifics, read very encouragingly, particularly a sentence which commented "I am concerned that leniency towards those assisting in euthanasia will send us further down the slippery slope to legalising euthanasia itself".  Our Group had not itself offered any view about how either doctors or relatives assisting patients to die under our present laws should be dealt with, but we were delighted with this implication that Mr Maude is not in favour of legalised euthanasia (for so the sentence would seem to read).  We were also happy to read Mr Maude confirming his belief that "human life is intrinsically valuable" and that "terminally ill patients should receive the highest quality palliative support and that those patients, and their families, should be certain that their end-of-life care will meet all of their needs".  It follows, of course, that adequate resources and energy need to be expended towards providing that support and not diverted towards assisted dying...

A heartening evening.  In meetings like this, there is a sense of fellowship in shared goals and efforts that gives one courage to continue.

A beautiful Missal for a beautiful Mass

OK, the following isn't strictly speaking "pro-life", but I'm so thrilled that I have to mention it. My evening was completely made after the meeting when Katherine produced a 1953 Catholic Missal that she had found on eBay saying "Saw this and thought of you".  She knew that my husband Edek and I are trying to attend Extraordinary Form Masses twice a month as we are privileged enough to have several regular EF Masses within reach.  It contains (in English) all the prayers and readings for every Sunday of the Year (traditional calendar, obviously) and Holy Days of Obligation, set out in full for each Sunday so that one doesn't need to go backwards and forwards.  It's got a gorgeous embossed leather cover, gilt edged pages and is full of sumptuous colour pictures... I love old books anyway and what can be better than an old book that is also holy and useful?!  (Sadly it doesn't show off properly in this photo taken on my mobile.  My mobile... let's not go there...) Thanks Katherine!

Note to Demelza (also there last night):- I am not trying to flaunt my gift before you, please remember that you were offered a fab Ipsos Mori biro that is bound to be a collector's item in 100 years.  When that happens look back and remember that you were given the chance of ownership.  Note to blog readers:- Demelza makes AMAZING cakes and she is making LOADS of them for Sunday's sale!

Photo opportunity!

Photo: Robert Bousfield

We are delighted to now be able to release details of our photo-shoot fundraiser for "Aila's Fund" (see post below).  Bousfield:PHOTO will be offering 15 minute slots for group and/or individual photos all day on Saturday 24 March at St John's RC Church Hall, 3 Springfield Road, Horsham.  There is no charge for a sitting and no obligation to purchase.  Photos are priced at £12 per mounted 10"x8" print, or £10 each for three or more.  To book a slot just call 01403 257059. All profits from the day will be donated to Aila's Fund.

Maybe this is the ideal opportunity to have that family portrait done, or a "Sweet Sixteen" shot of your daughter, or a gorgeous baby photo?   The photos are professional standard and are, as you can see, brilliantly priced.  Come along and see yourself given the glamorous magazine-model look that Aila models here, or maybe go for something more spontaneous - the choice is yours, but either way Aila will be tremendously grateful.

You can find out more about the photographer's work at his website.  Well worth a look!

Aila's Fund

Photo: Robert Bousfield

Most of our work as a pro-life group in the parish is awareness raising, encouraging our fellow Catholics to read up, speak and pray about the beauty and dignity of each and every human life from the moment of conception. But a natural part of our work is also fundraising for various events and causes; we had the White Flower Appeal last weekend in aid of SPUC, through cake stalls over the past year and a half we've raised funds to restore the Memorial to the Unborn Child in Hills Cemetery, things like that. But this time we're doing something slightly different, instead of collecting money for an organisation or a place we are helping someone a little closer to home.

One of our group members, Anneli, has a daughter with a neurological disorder known as Friedreich's Ataxia which was diagnosed a couple of years ago. Out of nowhere Aila was faced with the sudden, shocking news that as she got older her life would not follow the same pattern as other girls, that this condition would affect her balance, her speech, eventually result in her needing to use a wheelchair. This is difficult, frightening stuff for anyone to hear, let alone a teenager. And, along side the physical and psychological struggles that come with such a diagnosis (and I'm not trying to play them down by the way, but those are not my details to impart - you can read Anneli's take in an earlier post), part of what makes adapting to such a condition so difficult in our modern society is the fear of not being 'normal'. If you ask most of us precisely what a 'normal person' is we will promptly say that there is no such thing, that the 'average Joe' is totally false and that, of course, everyone is unique. This is, most definitely, true and we mean it when we say it, but this notion of a normal person still endures and has a strong hold in the minds of many of us ...well to be more exact the idea of what is not normal does.

Aila has had a lot of adjustments to make over the past couple of years and will have even more to make in the future. Because her mobility and balance are gradually decreasing (she is already having to use a wheelchair if walking for more than a very short distance is required and cannot manage any distance outside by herself without holding someone's arm), it is vitally important that we as a group and as a parish help her to move forward, to do this as smoothly as possible. One very obvious consideration in all this is that her bedroom and the toilet in her house are upstairs and it is very impractical, very difficult and potentially dangerous for her to be tackling the staircase several times a day. What she and her family want to do is have their house extended to create a downstairs bedroom and bathroom just for her. (Not an unreasonable request I'm sure you'll agree.) The council have agreed to fund the greater part of this but there is an excess of around £16,000 which her family will have to provide, and provide quickly. To help them do this we have started "Aila's Fund", a dedicated series of fund raising events to help pay for this extension. We have all sorts planned; cake sales (everybody likes cake), concerts, sponsored cycles, photo shoots and goodness knows what else we'll come up with. But rest assured all of the donations we receive will go straight to paying for the work to be done and, after that, for an overseas holiday for Aila too. Anything left over at the end will be donated to Ataxia UK for the work they do in working with people like Aila and in the research they carry out. 

Here's the list of what we have planned so far;

* Sunday, 19th February - Cake sale in St. John's RC church hall, 3 Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex after 9am Mass (i.e. about 10am)

* Saturday, 24th March - Photo shoot for families and individuals in rooms 2/3 in St. John's hall as above (by appointment: details to follow)

* A friend is making a sponsored cycle ride from London to John O'Groats (date TBC)
* More events are also in the pipeline and we'll keep you posted!

So please do come along to all of the events in the next few months and support Aila, she may be too shy to tell you herself but she really is very grateful.