Birthmark Support Group Fun Days 2008

For 2008 we have the following Fun Days planned:

Birmingham - 11th May 2008 - King Edward VI High School, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2UB

Chigwell - 21st September 2008 - Chigwell School, The High Road, Chigwell, Essex IG7 6QF

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day and AGM

The Drama Centre, Chigwell School, The High Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6QF

21st September 2008

When? On Sunday 21st September 2008, from 12:30pm to 5:00 pm.

Where? In the Drama Centre and beautiful grounds of Chigwell School, The High Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6QF. See 'getting there' below.

Who? For children, teenagers and adults with birthmarks, other members of their family and friends.

Why? To meet others, exchange ideas, share experiences, give mutual support, make friends…and have fun!

The Programme Arrival from 12 noon. A Welcome Pack will be supplied to all attendees.

From 12:30 pm a barbecue lunch will be available (for those who have pre-booked), or you may like to bring a picnic. During the afternoon there will be games and activities to suit all ages:

• Bouncy Castle
• Outdoor games and equipment
• Football, and other ball games
• Tennis
• Meet Poppet the pony
• Indoor games
• Children's entertainer
• Swimming in heated outdoor pool
• Merchandise stall

Informal medical consultations with specialists from the Birthmark Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital and it is also hoped that representatives will be on hand to advise on cosmetic camouflage and offer demonstrations.

Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon.

Our Annual General Meeting will take place at 2pm and there will also be a chance to see our award winning DVD.

Cost There will be no charge for the event, except for any refreshments. There will be a BSG merchandise stall.

Getting there Chigwell School is located on the High Road (A113) in the village of Chigwell between Epping and Hainault Forests. Chigwell village is located just off junction 5 of the M11 (inside the M25) and is only 7 miles North West of the City of London. To obtain a full map of the area go to www.streetmap.co.uk and enter the Post Code IG7 6QF in the search window. An option is available to print the map from the displayed page. Chigwell Tube station is on the Central line and is about a mile from the school. The local taxi firm, Saddlers (020 8508 0107) accept bookings to transport visitors between the station and the school.

For more information about the school see their website: www.chigwell-school.org

Parking The Hainault car park within the school grounds has been made available to us for this event. Enter via the main entrance and the car park is on the right.

Overnight Accommodation For reasonably priced hotels in this area, please contact the Premier Travel Inn or the Travelodge.

We do hope that you will put this date in your diary and join us for this occasion; the more who come the better the experience for everyone. In order to plan catering and other arrangements we would like those intending to come to let us know preferably by completing a booking form (save the blank form to your PC and fill in). Please send completed forms to: info@birthmarksupportgroup.org.uk or by post to BM The Birthmark Support Group, London, WC1N 3XX.

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day

King Edward VI High School for Girls, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2UB

11th May 2008

The sixteenth BSG fun day took place on Sunday 11th May 2008 in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The venue for the fun day was once again the King Edward VI High School for Girls, organised with the kind permission of the Headmistress, Sarah Evans. Sarah also organised a team of staff to help set up the event and assist with activities during the day which dawned bright and sunny and remained so for the whole day. Our sincere thanks go to Sarah and her team for whom nothing was too much trouble. Activities to entertain and exhaust the children included

• Bouncy Castle
• Swimming
• Games
• Giant Jenga
• Giant Snakes and Ladders
• Ball games

Huge thanks again must go to Pete and Stacey from Progressive Resources Ltd from Ringwood for providing the outside games and bouncy castle, and last but not least their faithful companion Scrumpy who did as much running around as the children!

Nick and Jane Ward were instrumental in the day's success in providing a fantastic barbecue lunch for around 80 people , arriving with a trailer in tow that contained a barbecue, gazebo and all the food and refreshments for the day. Thanks must also go to the Farquhar Family for providing home made cakes which were greatly enjoyed by all and Mark and co for serving hundreds of cups of tea and other refreshments throughout the day. We were delighted that Suzanne was able to attend to introduce herself to our teenage members as the new contact for Teentalk. Many thanks also to Dr Celia Moss from Birmingham Children's Hospital for attending and speaking to parents; Dr Moss was present for the viewing of the BSG DVD and was on hand to answer questions.

As usual we are indebted to Sister Jane Linward from the Birthmark Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital who gave up her precious day off to attend and chatted to people about birthmarks and treatment options, and as usual was kept extremely busy with people who had lots of questions to ask.

Carolyn from Veil Cosmetics attended with samples and advised people on suitable cosmetics for camouflage makeup on various skin types and their application.

Alana Smith pulled out all the stops again with an excellent raffle, and Louise & family sold lots of BSG merchandise, the new range of babies' and toddlers' t shirts and sweatshirts being a great hit. We're already planning the next Fun Day which is being held in Chigwell, on Sunday 21st September 2008. Hope to see you there!

Here are some photos from the day........

More sausages???	Puzzled?
Chillin	Time to play
Splashing time	Do you want Cinnamon on that?
Thirsty work	Are the Fire Brigade on their way?
Now where's that BBQ	Thanks once again to the head for another fantastic day.

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day The Drama Centre, Chigwell School, The High Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6QF

16th September 2007

Chigwell School was the setting for the fifteenth Birthmark Support Group Fun Day. The day kicked-off at midday and all attendees were greeted with a Welcome Pack that contained a welcome letter with a programme of events, Contacts list, Adults and Children's quiz etc and a present for each child. It was a perfect, early autumn, warm and breezy day and everyone was able to make full use of the lovely grounds.

Children made a beeline for the bouncy castle and were ably supervised by the students of the school alongside the fantastic guys from James Coakes and Progressive Resources Ltd (who supplied and supervised the equipment). When the kids had lost some of their oomph there was also Giant Connect4 and Giant Jenga to entertain them.

The refuelling stop in the shape of a BBQ was ably managed by the whole Kemp Family who delivered a fabulous fare to satisfy the hungriest appetite.

Things carried on apace and it was a surprise to many to find 3 Big Brother Housemates in the form of Jonty, Kara-Louise and Carole making an unannounced appearance. Carole has been the resident face painter at our South-East Fun Days for many years.

Doctor Samira Syed and Sisters Jane Linward and Hilary Kennedy from the Birthmark Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital were on hand to dispense medical advice as needed. A special mention of thanks must be made for Dr Syed who attended even though it was her birthday.

The Refreshment stall did a roaring trade and there were many takers for the raffle. Clinique representatives ran their regular stall to supply skin and camouflage advice all afternoon. Many enjoyed a swim in the school's open air pool (which was amazingly warm - honest).

Children were delighted to make the acquaintance of Poppet the pony (back by popular demand). Not back by popular demand, but he came anyway was Marco the Clown who got up to more anarchic antics. This man can make you feel tired just watching him. He, as ever, gave his time for free and sent many children away very happy with only the odd adult twitching.

Carole performed her normal high quality range of face painting and worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon. Children would have still been queuing at 9pm if they'd been allowed to.

Nick Ward chaired the AGM and presented the Group's yearly report. Toni Lingfield, after stepping down from the Committee last year was re-elected on to it. The group's accounts were presented, reviewed and accepted.

Nick took the opportunity to outline the major funding project the group is embarking on to manufacture and distribute the Birthmarks DVD to raise general awareness with regard to birthmarks. A sneak preview of the draft DVD was aired to provide a sample of the eventual product which will be launched in early October 2007.

Big, Big thanks are due to:

Toni Lingfield for masterminding the day;

Chigwell School's headmaster, Michael Punt, and his staff for allowing us to use their magnificent site and for the generous help that they gave during the organisation of the event. Special thanks are due to Tina Page, the Bursar's Secretary for her unstinting help leading up to and during the day. Thanks are also due to the Bursar and the sixthformers of the school who volunteered to help out on the day;

Jo & Martin Kemp and their family for the fantastic BBQ;

Marco the Clown for helping us all find the child within;

Carole for the excellent face painting (again)

James Coakes and Progressive Resources for the outdoor games and bouncy castle - and to Simon and his colleague for driving all the way up from Southampton, setting everything up and supervising even down to the free bottles of water;

Maggie Murfitt and Mark Checksfield for manning the registration desk and tea stall respectively.

 

Thank you all - It was another Fun Day to be remembered.

 

To gain a flavour of the day see the photos below.

Oh we're soooo celeb now dahling. The Big Brother housemates, Jonty, Kara-Louise and Carole with friends.	There were sightings of rare Pink Bears
Girl Talk	I can't stop bouncing
OK Punk make my day....	Aawwww MUM
I don't believe it, someone's let him back in.	Groovin' with Marco
The ever lovely Dr Syed receives a special birthday fanfare	Wildlife

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day at Clayesmore School Nr Blandford, Dorset DT11 8LJ

13th May 2007

The 14th Birthmark Support Group Fun Day took place in the beautiful grounds of Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster Nr Blandford, Dorset. Unfortunately, despite the Sun dances and prayers, the weather decided that it was going to be very much an indoor affair. That didn't dampen the spirits of our intrepid BSGers though who came from far and wide to enjoy the day. The turn out was excellent.

Those familar with the format of these days got down to business straight away by tucking into the BBQ cooked and served by the multi-talented Nigel. After that a host of games and activities were on offer including basketball, swimming and bouncy castle. Clayesmore school Year 9 pupils were on hand to help and organise games. Nothing was too much trouble for them, they looked after the children, played with them are were generally exceptional when it came to finding plates, bottle openers, etc etc ! A big thank you goes out to them.

We found a new master baker in the form of Karen who despite having a 4 month old and 1.5 year old baked all of the fantastic cakes for the cake stall and then proceeded to man it for the day to boot. Karen, you put us to shame but many, many thanks for your efforts.

This is in danger of turning into an awards ceremony but thanks are also due to:

• FLeur de Lys Florists, 26 Station Rd Poole - for providing the Head Masters bouquet
• Carole Hockey, Hockeys Farm, South Gorley, Fordingbridge, Hants - suppliers of our organic burgers & sausages for a good discount
• Waitrose - who gave us a £30 voucher for salads

And finally an extra special thank you is due to Martin & Eleanor Cooke - the Head Master and his wife and all the staff at the sports centre headed by Glynn for helping us put on such a successful day.

Here are some photos to give you a flavour of the day:

The BSG Hoodies were there.....	And so were lots of friends
The weather was at its british best.......	But that didn't put off the michelin starred Chef.
A BSG first - Pink Basketball, rumoured to be an emerging Olympic discipline.	Jane x 2
Let them eat Cake	No, No, No, Ronaldo normally dives like this
Thankyou Clayesmore	Look, if you don't want that cake, hand it over.

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day, The Bridge Street Chapel Centre, Heath Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 4XR

10th March 2007

The thirteenth - unlucky for some but thankfully not for us! - Birthmark Support Group Fun Day was held in Liverpool at the Bridge Street Chapel Centre. I am very pleased to report that our good luck with the weather has returned and it was a very sunny day in Liverpool. As usual, Liverpool was very well attended with lots of familiar faces and some new ones thrown in for good measure.

We nearly didn’t meet Poppy and her family due to their Sat Nav being quite insistent that there isn’t a Heath Road in Garston. Thankfully they didn’t give up and found us eventually. The fine array of food was most welcome and everybody enjoyed Jodi and her friends’ home made soup and lovely sandwiches. Once we had all satisfied our hunger, the adults had a cup of tea and chatted among themselves.

The young at heart played on the bouncy castle and made some very impressive pictures and toys from the arts and crafts supplied. FiT and Teentalk members caught up with old friends, exchanged tales and enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends too.

A few brief words	Unaccustomed as I am........
Those grown-ups don't know what they're missing	Phew, I'm fair worn out now

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day St Brides Church, 21 Greenlees Road, Cambuslang, Glasgow G72 8JB 18th November 2006

The twelfth Birthmark Support Group Fun Day was held in Glasgow at the St Brides Church Hall. Our good luck with the weather finally ran out. It was very cold and wet in Glasgow all weekend. We didn’t risk booking the bouncy castle for this event as we suspected the November weather would let us down.

We made up for it though, or rather Anne MacIntyre and her family who organized the day did, with lots and lots of lovely food and fantastic arts and crafts for the Kids and the Dads, yes Dads we have photos, so you can’t deny it! The day was full of the usual chat. People meeting for the first time and discovering they only live around the corner from each other and also those who use the event as a great way to catch up. This was the first year that the BSG held a Fun Day in Glasgow.

This was historically a CMN venue. Now that we are all part of the BSG we have made this a new BSG venue and we shall be coming back again next year. So please put the date in your diary and we will see you on the 17th November 2007.

I think it's a Matisse?

The Birthmark Support Group Fun Day

King Edward VI High School for Girls, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2UB

14th May 2006

The tenth BSG fun day took place on Sunday 14th May 2006 in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The venue for the fun day was the King Edward VI High School for girls provided with the kind permission of the Headmistress, Sarah Evans. Sarah organised a team of pupils and staff to help setup the event and run activities during the day. These included:

• Bouncy Castle
• Swimming
• Games
• Refreshment facilities
• Giant Jenga
• Giant Snakes and Ladders
• Ball games

Nick and Jane Ward were also instrumental in the day's success in arranging and advertising the event and co-ordinating the attendance of members from the group, including the Face It Together (Adult) and Teentalk (Teenagers) sectors. Nick and Jane arrived with a trailer in tow that contained a barbecue, gazebo and all the food and refreshments for the day. They are clearly use to catering for small armies. About 100 people attended the day and they were very well fed and watered.

Dr Samira Syed and Sister Hilary Kennedy attended from the birthmark unit at Great Ormond Street hospital and chatted to people about birthmarks and treatment options.

Orla Morris hosted the Face It Together event whilst Jacki Lovelidge looked after the Teentalk members.

Three representatives from Clinique set up a stand and advised people on the most suitable cosmetics for camouflage makeup on various skin types and their application.

Alana Smith pulled out all the stops again with an excellent raffle (the wine prize was a lovely way to finish off the day after the drive back from Brum). The Busfield family did their normal Street Trader's market stall act and sold lots of BSG merchandise to boot.

Brian and Julia Higgins attended and started their sponsored weight loss challenge. See the Funding page for details

Many thanks to the Headmistress, staff and pupils of King Edward VI High School for girls, Nick and Jane Ward and Alana Smith for organising a great day.

Here are some photos from the day.........

Easy does it	Cripes, Let's get out of here before they find out.
The best Diner in Town	salt, mustard, vinegar, pepper
Water, water everywhere	Dr Samira Syed chats to a family
Tumbling Dice	OK, OK you can go first
Clinique provide cosmetic camouflage advice	Who wants to play?