Magic Wand Appeal -
Our £80,000 donation!

Inspired by the success of Sophie's Place, the Children's Treatment and Assessment Area funded by Sophie's Appeal, The Royal Hampshire County Hospital has launched a fundraising campaign to redesign the whole children's ward.

Sophie's Appeal is proud to support the Magic Wand Appeal and has made an initial pledge of £80,000, which was presented to the Hospital at our Sophie's Appeal Annual Summer Ball in July 2011.

For further information about The Magic Wand Appeal, click here.

Donate Your Car to Sophie's Appeal!

Local automotive recyclers Silverlake Garage have launched a brand new charitable scheme which has already seen Sophie's Appeal benefit.

Udonateacar.com is a scheme whereby when your car has reached the end of the road, you can choose to have some or all of the scrap value of your car donated to a charity registered with them.

Sophie's Appeal is proud to be one of the first charities to be supported by udonateacar.com and recently benefited when charity founder Mike Barringer said a final, sad farewell to his Peugeot 205. Udonateacar.com came to his house and picked up the car and handed over a cheque for the charity straight away.

If you, or any of your friends or family, have a car that is past it's sell by date, why not try udonateacar.com? Give them a call on 01489 772245 and you can donate as little or as much of the value of your car to Sophie's Appeal as you wish.

Giving Tree Appeal 2011

Thanks to the generosity of local school children and residents of Eastleigh, we were able to deliver over two hundred presents to sick children in both Southampton and Winchester hospitals.

The Giving Tree Appeal is hosted every year at Norwood School and attended by pupils from both there and the Crescent School. Some of Sophie's friends also attended. As well as learning about how important it is to think about those less fortunate than themselves, the children were treated to a few paragraphs from a new book inspired by Sophie called ‘Sophie's Magic Wand'. The author, Ivan Brett came to the school to launch the book which will raise much needed funds for the regeneration of the Children's Ward at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

After the assembly, one of Sophie's friends, Paige Small helped to deliver the presents. Here is what Paige had to say about her experience:

"The giving tree takes place every year at Christmas in remembrance of my best friend, Sophie. I was asked by Lin and Mike to take the giving tree presents to those who lay ill in hospital. When I am standing outside with all the presents, something inside me feels excited and happy, knowing that I'm going to make someone else smile by giving them a Christmas present. Talking to a girl my age made me realise how lucky I really am! That day she was feeling low, but by talking to her and about what she loves the most, made a big smile on her face! When I gave her the present I could tell she loved it already! It was lovely to meet her. All the children we met were so strong and brave and see it as an adventure. It's a real shame to see all the people so ill and at such a young age. I'm very lucky to have had the chance to do this, its a very touching experience. After an emotional hour or so I was buzzing, I felt so grown up and proud! I wish them all a very happy Christmas, and luck to the future!"

Thank you to all who donated presents to the appeal and have helped to spread a little happiness for so many poorly children this Christmas.

Sophie’s Appeal Quiz Night

Over 100 people attended our latest quiz night at Fleming Park Bowling Club.

The Wasps were runaway winners of this popular evening and helped to raise over £800 for the Appeal.

Following our last quiz evening which was decimated by snow at the same time last year, this evening was a tremendous success.

Thanks to all who attended and particular thanks to our quizmaster Paul Munday and his wife Janice for running the quiz and to Jenny and Martin from the bowling club who kept the nectar flowing during the evening.

Eastleigh's Christmas Cracker

People flocked in their hundreds to the launch of Christmas in Eastleigh this year to see the turning on of the Christmas Lights and the magnificent fireworks display that followed.

Grateful thanks to all of the people who visited the Sophie's Appeal stall and took part in the tombola or purchased Sophie's Appeal merchandise. Over £150 was raised towards the Appeal.

It was a wonderful day and a big thank you to Eastleigh Borough Council for making it all possible.

Annual General Meeting 2011

The AGM was held at the Holiday Inn, Eastleigh on Wednesday October 12th 2011.

The Treasurer gave her annual financial report, along with a summary of the year's events.

A particularly notable event during this year was the Charity handing over a cheque in the sum of £80,000 to Winchester Hospital, so they could begin renovation works on their childrens ward in conjunction with the hospital's Magic Wand Appeal.

Potential future event ideas were discussed at the AGM, and we always welcome any new ideas from our supporters. If you would like to raise money for Sophie's Appeal, please do get in touch with us to discuss ideas further.

Our sincerest thanks are extended to all those who have helped support the charity over the last year and we hope you are able to continue doing so into 2012.

Race Night 7th October 2011

Our Annual Race Night , held at Fleming Park Bowling Club, proved a successful and enjoyable evening, raising £530.00 for Sophie's Appeal.

Thanks goes to all those who attended and to our sponsors, Eco Car Care, S.R.Toomer & Co Accountancy , Buckinghams of Romsey, Signet Design & Build and the Holiday Inn,Eastleigh.

Bishopstoke Carnival 2011

For the second year running Sophie's Appeal ran a very successful tombola stall at the annual Bishopstoke Carnival. Despite the windy and rather wet weather there was still a good turnout and nearly £100 was made!

Six - a- side Tournament

Cherbourg Football Club organised the 6th Six-a-side Tournament in aid of Sophie's Appeal at Crestwood College on the 9th July, raising £1020.38, bringing the total raised to date to over £6k.

17 teams took part; Winners in the adult section were The Flumps, with Cherbourg as Runners Up. In the Junior Section, Cherbourg Saints won the penalty shoot out, putting Toynbee Boyz into 2nd place.

Saints Player Joseph Mills attended the tournament, providing many memorable photographs.

Sincere thanks goes to Crestwood College, who donated the venue.

Eighth Annual Summer Ball

The eighth Annual Summer Ball was held once again at the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel and Country Club and raised almost £8000 for the appeal.

Guests were welcomed with a Pimm's reception and entertained by close up table magic from the amazing Wayne the Weird.

Following the meal, Pascale Somers from Beyond the Moon, one of the organisations supported by Sophie's Appeal, presented a Bronze Award in recognition of the work that the Charity does for very Sick Children. Pascale said ‘We are tremendously grateful for to Sophie's Appeal for having sponsored 10 British families from the Southampton area.'
We were also very proud to present a cheque for £80,000 towards the Magic Wand Appeal, for the re-development of Northbrook Children's Ward at Winchester Hospital. This Appeal was inspired by Sophie's Place, the dedicated children's assessment and treatment area funded by Sophie's Appeal.

After the games and Grand Auction there was dancing and a disco until the early hours.

Our thanks go to all those who have supported the event from those who attended to those who donated raffle or auction items and to the committee who worked so hard to make this such a wonderful evening.

The Eager Eight's Ben Nevis Bimble

Eight good friends chose what was possibly the worst weekend in June to climb Ben Nevis for Sophie's Appeal.
Led by Dave Watson, Trevor Compton, Jez Hewlett, Mac McGinn, Julie Stevens, & Friends braved high winds, torrential rain and a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland to conquer the highest peak in the British Isles.
They team managed the round trip in a little over seven hours and raised over £700. Thank you for you great achievement.

B&Q Eastleigh 10km Road Race

Our thanks go once again to Ben Laney who completed another 10km Road Race to raise funds for Sophie's Appeal.

Around 1800 runners enjoyed the cool and breezy conditions of the 27th annual race.

An exhausted Ben completed the race in 57mins, raising £180.00.

Southampton 41 Club Donates £300

Sophie's Appeal was delighted to be invited to the Royal Southampton Yacht Club to make a presentation to the Southampton 41 Club recently.

41 Club is the pet name for The Association of Ex-Round Tablers' Clubs. Originally, membership of Round Table was limited to men in the age range of 18 - 40 years, so that following his 40th birthday, a member of Round Table would have to retire. He was then eligible to join The Association. In 1998 Round Table raised the age limit to 45 and so it is now possible for a member of Round Table to also be a member of 41 Club.

Following the presentation the Chairman of the Club, Mr Bob Stevenson, made a donation of £300 to the Appeal on behalf of the members.

We would like to thank the Chairman and the members of the Southampton 41 Club for their hospitality and generosity.

Pampering and Pink Lanterns to mark Sophie's 13th Birthday

Sophie's Appeal has spent an evening pampering local ladies at an extra special fundraising event to mark what would have been Sophie's 13th birthday. 99 guests (including family and friends) enjoyed some pampering treatments and trialled beauty products, whilst enjoying a ‘pink drink' (non-alcoholic cocktail), chocolate fountain, and homemade cupcakes. During the evening, Sophie's mum gathered together those nearest and dearest to Sophie to release pink lanterns to mark what would have been her first teenage birthday.

Lin Barringer, Sophie's mum and charity co-founder, said: "We wanted to mark the day of Sophie's 13th birthday with a suitable celebration that she would have really enjoyed herself at this age. In these cold winter months, a ‘girl's night in' of pampering and treats was the perfect way to make everyone feel a bit brighter, and we even managed to raise over £700 at the same time. The lanterns were Sophie's favourite colour [pink], and seemed a fitting way to mark this special day."

Thanks to all who gave their time to make this such a special evening

Charity Quiz Night

The snow and icy conditions did not deter the Quiz goers; they turned up ready to test their knowledge.
The Quiz Master however was snowed in, so Lin Barringer, co-founder of Sophie's Appeal took the role of Quiz Master, displaying a natural aptitude to the role.
The Quiz goers were treated to a ploughman's followed by freshly baked mince pies (kindly donated by Sainsbury's Eastleigh.)

The quiz raised £423.92 and was enjoyed by all who supported the event.