PAST EVENTS
SPEAKEASY UNTOLD
Speakeasy Untold was a great event which took place on Thursday 19th May 2022.
It was held at a “secret location” near Brindley Place in Birmingham and was in aid of the George Coller Memorial Fund.
ACTION ASTHMA SPORT
This ground-breaking project kicked off in February 2004 when our mascot: the George-o-saurus, our asthma nurse, trustees and volunteers from the Fund visited a number of local Infant and Junior Schools to hold an asthma assembly.
These assemblies were fun, informative and the George-o-saurus enjoyed them immensely. At the assemblies we also launched the art competition and all the children were asked to draw a picture of the George-o-saurus, participating in a sport or activity.
The school that won the art competition received a further visit from the George-o-saurus at their annual Sports Day. The project was kindly sponsored by the Network Children’s Fund.
With this project we achieved:
- The promotion of social inclusion for children with asthma amongst their peers
- The education of children on the importance of exercise
- The provision of information about Asthma for schools
- The provision of information regarding Asthma for parents
Here are some photos from one of the assemblies followed by some of the fantastic pictures drawn by the children; including the two final winners. Their pictures were made into badges!
The Winners
Fun Days
This is a hugely popular annual event held at our local John Barras Public House, The Beaufort Arms, Old Walsall Road, Great Barr, Birmingham.
It is always attended by a celebrity and of course the George-O-Saurus.
The most popular event of the day is the Balloon Launch where thousands of balloons are launched which have been previously sold at a pound each.
The balloon that travels the furthest gets a huge cash prize
Events take place throughout the day including
- Children’s Parade
- Craft Stalls
- Children’s Displays
- Sponge-a-bobby
- Children’s entertainment
- DJ
- Live bands on the roof
- Naval Displays
- Fairground Rides
- Numerous Competitions
You name it we’ve got it.
Sky Dive
DO YOU FANCY PLUMMETING FROM 12,OOO FT?
Skydiving is an amazing and an exhilarating experience: you are attached to a qualified veteran skydiver and you free fall for 7000ft with nothing between you and the ground.
You can take part in this thrilling sport absolutely FREE whilst raising money for the George Coller Memorial Fund!!
10th Anniversary
Students at UCB Birmingham, held massive fundraising event to raise money for the charity to celebrate our 10th Anniversary on 13th January 2010 to co-inside with what would have been George’s birthday.
The night was an amazing success even though there was 3ft of snow and the roads were impassable! 500 wonderful students still managed to turn up!
The Event Management students whom we all love dearly at the charity, with the help of the Students Guild, raised a staggering £3123.00.
The yellow dinosaur cocktail and the vodka jellies went down a treat!
The night was finished off when the students presented the charity with a fabulous birthday cake which was taken to St Marks R C Junior and Infants School where George-O-Saurus shared it with all the delighted children.
Couch to 5K - Meet the Widdowson's
11 year old Owen with the support of his mother, Laura, are completing the Couch to 5K challenge to raise as much as they can for this charity.
Owen, an asthma sufferer was 2 years old when he was rushed to hospital after a severe asthma attack where he was nebulised 12 times.
They are now well on the way in the challenge and Owen is running but suffers some evenings in training as he is affected by the humidity.
Owen is determined to run the 5K and hopes that you will support them or even joining them in the Couch to 5K challenge.
Murder Mystery - UCB Style
The Students of University College Birmingham are at it again – raising funds for us again and we are extremely grateful for their time and effort in this venture. If you are into this type of event and would like to join in contact details are below.
Team – Many thanks for all you are doing for us – we hope you get the success your hard work deserves.
UPDATE: The students have raised £173.44, a great effort which came from a wonderful night’s entertainment. Thank you so much.
***George Coller Asthma Adventure Holidays 2019***
These medically supervised holidays are free of charge and are designed to allow children with Asthma to reach beyond the perceived limitations of their illness rediscover a whole world of possibilities, helping to build their confidence, self-esteem and build new friendships, whilst enabling young people with this restrictive medical condition to be respected as individuals rather than different from their peers.
Family life is often disrupted by time-consuming treatments such as inhaled medication, frequent hospital admissions and appointments.
We know as a charity that due to the severity of their condition, some children affected by Asthma unfortunately have a lot of time off from school which means they are not given the opportunity to make stable relationships with their classmates and find it very difficult to make friends. Some have never had the opportunity to even go on a holiday.
We feel it is imperative that they should have the same opportunities in life as other children.
The George Coller Memorial Fund Charity Ball 2018 - Update
From the feedback from some of those that attended and had been to previous balls; this was the best to date!
Hopefully we will be updating the site shortly with a couple of photos of the night. A big thanks to all those that assisted behind the scenes to make the night a success and of course to those that attended to make it a great night.
To date we have raised just over £30,000 with a couple of donations still to come.
Ladies Night At The Races Is An Odds On Winner!
Friday 5th May 2017 was yet another successful Ladies Night to raise money for our fantastic Asthma Nurses.
A full house, attended by Ladies only and all thoroughly enjoyed the evening raising the brilliant sum of £2400.
A thank you to the stalls in attendance and a big thank you to all the Ladies who attended for your generous support.
A special thank you to The Holy Name Parish Centre for allowing this event and of course your valuable support.
Birmingham Conservatoire Student Dontates...
Jack Brookes is one of the GCMF family and has grown up with us. In his final year of studies and having raised money to make it a free performance, we were invited, amongst others, to St Chads Cathedral in Birmingham on 31 March 2017. ‘Old Music in a New World’ was enjoyed by all and after paying his project fees had £300 left over. Jack kindly donated it to the Fund specifically for our Asthma Nurses and their activities. We were not the only benefactors from his concert- a retiring collection request from Jack raised £250 towards Cathedral maintainance.
Well done and thank you for inviting us, keep up the good work!
The Great Midlands Fun Run 2017
We are looking for heroes to take part in the next Great Midlands Fun Run to help raise much needed funds to keep our Asthma nurses in post!!
The date was Sunday 4th June 2017 and they could walk, run or skip along the 8.5 mile route which was predominantly through the beautiful Sutton Park!
You can donate by clicking the button at the bottom of our website.
Thank you!
Nurses Take A Breather During Conference
Some of our wonderful George Coller Asthma Nurses at the [NPRANG] National Paediatric Respiratory and Allergy Nurses Group conference on Saturday 19th Nov 2016…as always doing a fabulous job. THANK YOU LADIES
George Coller Memorial Fund Are Honoured To Receive The Stephen Sutton Award At The Brummies!
Kim receives The Stephen Sutton Award( sponsored by Virgin Trains) from Rock Legend Bev Bevan & Phil Cavender, General Manager for Virgin Trains.
Kim was delighted to receive The Stephen Sutton award on behalf of the charity at The star studded Brummies Awards on 7th October.
This is a very special award that was born from the tragic loss of a national hero, Stephen Sutton. Kim said this is not only a huge honour but a massive responsibility which we all take very seriously at the charity.
Rocking the red carpet at The Brummies with guests.
Staffordshire And Shropshire Mark Masons' Donate.
Our grateful thanks go to the Staffordshire and Shropshire Mark Masons’ Benevolent Association for considering us as one of their chosen charities for this year.
The picture shows their current President, Mick Towns (right) presenting a cheque for £500 to our Deputy Chairman, Keith Brookes.
Many thanks for thinking of us, it is very much appreciated and will be used wisely.
Swanshurst School Remembers Sanah.
Our grateful thanks go to the Year 9 pupils of Swanshurst School for their fantastic efforts over four days in memory of their classmate, Sanah. One of the fundraisers, Tasmina, writes on behalf of the year:
On 4th October 2014, we lost our dear friend Sanah to an unexpected asthma attack. During the week of what would have been Sanah’s 14th birthday, 30th April 2015, Year 9 organised several events to raise money for the George Coller Memorial Fund. We held a penalty shoot out, where the students could fire balls at a teacher of their choice, we had a just dance competition, a staff vs students netball match, which the students won, a bake sale and a wear red lipstick to school day. Together we raised £1,122.70, hoping we made Sanah proud whilst helping a fantastic cause and having fun too!
Tasmina and all at Swanshurst,
We are honoured to be chosen as the recipients of all your hard work and we will do all we can to ensure your money is channeled to the people and projects that will make a difference.
The George Coller Nurses Ladies Night Success!
Friday 15 April saw us raise money for our nurses. The ladies race and pamper night was a huge success and raised a massive £3574.66p thank you to everyone who came and supported us! There will be more photos placed on our photo gallery shortly.
You Can Bank On Them! SWM & Wales Trailblazers Walk And Hike The Equivelant Of Lands End To John O'Groats
A massive THANK YOU to the South West, Midlands & Wales Trailblazer Team from TSB bank for all your effort and hard work in raising over £1000!!! Pictured are Debbie West and Cristian Honeychurch in fundraising mode!
GCMF Vintage Fun Day At Aston Manor Transport Museum 4 May 2015
A fantastic day at a great venue. We have had feed back by some of those who attended and everyone enjoyed it – I’m sure the weather had something to do with it as well as the free bus rides!
To all those who participated and assisted – a massive thank you as without you it would not have been the success it was.
We also send grateful thanks to all those who attended for helping this charity raise some much needed money.
To date the event has raised £1590 with a couple more donations to come.
Charity Receives Prime Minister's Award For Emergency inhaler Campaign
We are delighted to announce that our 12 year campaign for schools to hold an Emergency inhaler is over.
All schools across the U.K from 1st October 2014 will be allowed to keep a spare inhaler on the premises if they choose to.
We have been campaigning for a change in the law since 2002 and wish to thank everyone for getting behind us on this life saving crusade.
The change in the law means that over a million children affected by Asthma will all have access to potentially lifesaving medication.
It has been estimated that over 86% of children have been without their own inhaler because it’s been lost, forgotten or out of date.
Schools can obtain an inhaler by going to their local pharmacy with a sheet of headed paper signed by the head teacher.
We are currently working with Education for Health to provide online Asthma training for schools.
This resource will be free of charge for all schools to access across the U.K and will be available shortly.
WOW - Nomination by Lee raises £7,500 For The Fund
When Lee Woodhall asked us last year if he could put the charity forward to the Wolverhampton to Aberdovey Bike Ride (run by Police Officers/Staff with connections to Wolverhampton Police Station) we had no idea how much would be raised.
Lee and his friend, Mark Green, joined around 448 other cyclists on 21 June 2013 to ride the 100 miles from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC to Aberdovey on the Welsh Coast to raise money for 12 chosen charities of which we were one.
Our grateful thanks go to the 450 riders (Lee in particular) and the organisers for making it possible, who managed to raise about £60,000 in total, giving us a huge £7,500 which will be wisely spent in our continued fight against Asthma.
THANK YOU Lee for your support.
Mark Green and Lee Woodhall at the Finish Line in Aberdovey.
Presenting Petition to the Prime Ministers Office
On May 4th 2010 we handed the petition in to the Prime Minister’s offices at 10 Downing Street, specifically requesting that Emergency Asthma Kits be placed in all schools across the UK as a matter of urgency.
This petition looks to achieve that objective quickly, in order to support pupils and teachers in cases of Asthma. this will help towards making school a safer environment for everyone, especially our children.
We actually managed to get the amazing amount of 5333 signatures on the petition and we would like to sincerely thank everyone who took the time and the trouble to sign it.
