Yes To Life - Opening Up Alternatives for People with Cancer - Opening Up Alternatives for People With Cancer

Past Events

Coast to Coast

In memory of Bryony Daly, and as a wedding present to Bryony’s sister Myrren Wildman, friends and relatives Jo Daly, Imogen Day, David Airey and Vidya Heisel travelled all the way from America to complete the Coast to Coast Walk raising money for Yes to Life. In two weeks the team trekked 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood Bay, keeping us updated and entertained with their brilliant blog http://dalyc2cwalk.blogspot.com. So far they’ve raised £3,500.

An extract from the blog -

"My feelings at the end? For me the walk was an odyssey, conceived and planned for over a year -something that I had to do. I loved every moment of it, wind rain, sore feet and all and I feel so privileged to have had this chance to walk through some of England's finest countryside and meet such lovely people and raise money for Yes to Life at the same time….my main feeling - gratitude for having had this amazing journey with Imogen, David and Vidya and gratitude to all of the people who supported us with their donations and good vibes. Thank you all and thank you Alfred Wainwright!!"

Sarah Horton’s Liverpool 10k run

9 May 2010

Sarah Horton ran the Liverpool 10k in just 64 minutes, raising a massive and much appreciated £1,200 for Yes to Life. Sarah’s journey from her diagnosis of breast cancer, right through to the end of her treatment, and the decision to run the 10k, is beautifully written on her popular blog Being Sarah at http://www.beingsarah.com. There is also a video of Sarah running the race at - http://www.vimeo.com/11630143. We’re grateful for all Sarah’s support, enthusiasm, and hard work.

A word from Sarah;

"Doing this fundraiser has made me realise how great it is to give back, and how much people want to help if you ask. Thank you."

Walk for Life

1-3 May 2010

5 of the Yes to Life team made up of volunteers and staff spent the first May Bank Holiday walking 65 miles of the Grand Union Canal in 3 days. They slept (or tried to) under the stars (and rain) in tents at night and walked 8 hours a day to raise well over £5,500 for Yes to Life.

Sam Kidby our PR Adviser, and one of the Grand Union walkers had this to say;

"The 65 miles were pure adventure and I think can only be described as "extreme canal walking", which I believe is now being considered for one of the trial sports at the 2012 Olympic Games. Particular highlights included:

Walking 5miles in the wrong direction within two hours of starting the walk

Sleeping in a tent for the first time ever in the middle of what can only be called a tempest of mammoth proportions on Saturday night

Waking at 6.30am on Sunday and walking for 7 hours in the pouring rain

Learning how to open locks for canal boats and generally engaging with the canal community (it’s a different world!)

Sliding down a mud slope face first after failing to try and help one of those walking with us who had twisted their ankle down the slope (I’m not quiet the action man I thought I was)

……and generally just walking for 8 solid hours a day and covering 65 miles for a great charity bang on our target time (well we missed the train back by like two minutes)."

Dartathon

On 16 April 2010

A big thank you to Steve Lerigo, Paul Weldon, Paul Horncastle and Simon Poole, who raised a massive £5000 for Yes to Life. The team player darts for 7 hours non stop!! Surrounded by supporters in the basement of The Three Lords public house they managed to complete 132 games back to back and provide fantastic entertainment for all who were there.

Their fantastic efforts are greatly appreciated!!

Steve Lerigo’s account of the day

"Happily I can report it went off without a hitch - no one got a dart in their eye etc. It was a great day, with a number of people showing their support during the course of the event. The generosity was humbling to say the least and after filling the charity boxes on the day and other cash donations, with giftaid, we have raised so far (1 day to go) a magnificent... £4,960."

The main scores are as follows:

180's - 7
140 and above - 19
100 - 139 - 90
60 - 99 - 316

Highest finish - 127
Finishing scores above 50 - 14

First Yes to Life Seminar!

The first Yes to Life Seminar, supported by BioCare, was a huge success.

Held on Saturday, 20 February, at the Park Crescent Conference Centre, the seminar focussed on building an integrated treatment programme for cancer.

The four speakers, all specialists in integrated care, delivered stimulating and fascinating presentations that prompted lively discussion and debate.

Patricia Peat spoke on the concept of integrated medicine and traced its progress through the challenging environment of orthodox medicine and its own particular politics.

Dr Damien Downing presented a detailed (and amusing) study on two key nutrients in cancer treatment: vitamin D and vitamin C.

Dr Maurice Orange gave an holistic view of integrated treatment, focussing on the highly successful use of mistletoe therapy.

And Rebecca Edwards energised the entire group with an inspiring talk on nutrition as the absolute foundation of an integrated approach.

We hope to announce the second seminar over the coming months.

Tied to Life

Autumn/Winter 2009

Kira Moore, manageress of The Ship, a pub in the City (Hart Street, London EC3) raised £2,200 for us though Tied to Life. She and her fantastic staff held a whole range of events over Autumn/Winter 2009, from quiz nights to customer swear boxes. The main event was the Tied to Life ’auction’. Kira managed to collect over 100 ties from her patrons, then asked them to sponsor their favorite tie for £10. The lucky sponsor of Kira's favorite tie (pre-picked and kept secret) got to take home a photo of the lovely Kira wearing nothing but the tie!
Kira and the rest of The Ship’s staff are looking at ways to continue raising funds and awareness for Yes to Life in the future. We’re extremely lucky to have such a fun and enthusiastic team spread the word.

Shoot for the Moon: an evening of Cabaret

Kara Wilson, accompanied by Lydia Melleck, performed to a packed audience at the Yes to Life Cabaret on December 10th. Kara had generously made the concert room in her spectacular Art Nouveau Hampstead home available for the event, as well as donating her services as performer. The programme was both hilarious and touching, with a satisfyingly positive vein running throughout, reflecting the charity and its aims. As usual we are indebted to Andy Curry for being the force behind yet another wonderful event, but thanks must also go to our team of volunteers who gave freely of their time and energy to ply our guests with delicious snacks and bubbly, and to make light of managing the evening - Jessie Mears, Amy Trotter, Sophia Hicks, Becca Mears, Kinga Piorkowska and Emily Dixon.

BIKEast: the 2009 Sponsored Bike Epic!

A big thank you to 2009's Yes to Life BIKEast cyclists!

2009 saw a group of intrepid cyclists complete the third leg of the BIKEast epic. BIKEast is a London to Istanbul Bike Challenge spread over 5 years, covering a distance of 3400km, across 9 countries. Each stage involves a ride of around 6 or 7 days and will cover a distance of up to 700km.

This year our riders cycled 630km, starting at last year's finishing point in Munich, heading over the Alps via the Brenner Pass, and arriving in Venice 6 days later.
So far this year they have raised a total of £12,000!

Davina 'Maddog' Madden at

The Mon-GOAL Rally 2009!

18 July 2009

Summer is the time for adventure and it doesn't get more adventurous than this! Davina Madden and her daughter Savanna drove all the way to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally 2009. Also braving the 8,000 mile journey for Yes to Life was Yash Tosar of First Financial.

Driving under the team name of Maddog Maddens, they generously gave their time and efforts to raise money for Yes to Life.

To find out more about this spectacular event, you can check out the website, which features details of the challenges and all the teams who took part. Davina has also set up a Justgiving page for us all to give the team our expressions of support through sponsorship and messages.

We are hugely grateful for all the efforts of team Maddog Maddens.

For further details of how you can support this great adventure, please contact us at office@yestolife.org.uk or on 0845 257 6950. Mongolia full steam ahead!

Works of Art to support Yes to Life

27th August to 25th September - The world of fairy woodland people

Robert Henley put on a second exhibition of his late wife, Karen's artwork and is kindly donating the proceeds to Yes to Life.

A wonderful night out at Calendar Girls!

28 April 2009

Thanks to the generous support of Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Yes to Life held a spectacular evening at the Noel Coward Theatre on 28 April with an exclusive performance of Calendar Girls.

Champagne, snacks, and icecream were served to all and ,after the show, Jon Snow welcomed five members of the cast back on stage for a Q&A. Mr Snow auctioned two items of Calendar Girls film memorabilia, both autographed by lead actress Helen Mirren. These were a calendar and a one-off illustrated cushion. Also auctioned were three visits to Channel 4.

On top of this, everyone received a goody bag from Weleda, which included a special Yes to Life brochure. This really was a truly magical event, and one that will live in the memory.

To help us recall these memories, we have some great pictures here courtesy of Annabel Staff from eventphotographic.

Amici della Musica

Early 17th century virtuoso sonatas and toccatas by Frescobaldi, Fontana, Cima, Riccio, Rossi and Merula. Amici della Musica is a group of world class performers acclaimed for their period performances.

Perfomers:

    * David Roblou, harpsichord
    * Catherine Finnis, cello
    * Philip Pickett & Heather Moger, recorder

The concert took place on Tuesday 25 November 2008, at 7.30pm, at St Peter's Eaton Square, London SW1 9AL