It was a pleasure to come and talk to some of you about how we can all play our small part in supporting Brain Tumour Research. You were all very enthusiastic and great listeners so I look forward to hearing all about your fundraising events and return to talk about exactly how this money will be spent.

A huge thank you to some of the Pupils at Headington Preparatory School. You were delightful to meet and are clearly focused on wanting to help others. Thank you for all your fundraising efforts.

The lovely Binning family held a special fundraising event in their garden to help the shortfall suffered by many charities unable to volunteer in the ‘feel good’ charity tent at this years cancelled Truck Festival.

“We had a very productive weekend in the garden with a band, bar and bbq and split the profit three ways between Blue Skye Thinking, Steventon Church and Batemans.” Georgia Binning

The Dragon Christmas Charity Sale is a major annual event and a great Dragon School tradition. It takes place at the end of the Christmas term and is one of the most entertaining and eagerly anticipated days in the Dragon calendar. Each year more than 400 parents, staff and children get involved in making the Sale happen, and as well as being a lot of fun the Sale raises funds that are distributed to more than 75 charities locally, around the UK and abroad. We were lucky enough to be one of those lucky charities.

Goring & Streatley Golf Club, situated on the Oxfordshire Berkshire border, was founded in 1895 and, unlike a lot of golf clubs ladies have had a presence since its inception. One of the honours as Ladies Captain is being able to nominate a charity for my year. In 2020 I chose Blue Skye Thinking and although the opportunities to fund raise were few and far between I was delighted to be able to make a donation. During the first lockdown one lady spent time everyday walking round her garden and was sponsored to do so. (Thanks to her understanding husband who had to purchase grass seed!) Another lady made face masks, not only for members of the Club but also for the local community. As I am staying on for a second year, the fundraising will continue.
Gill Athey – Ladies Captain 2020-2022

Amelie, Kate, Louise, Lily, Jenifer, Chloe, Maddie & Emily from Didcot Girls’ School all made the finals of First Give. A personal development project to help build a culture of giving, First Give allows pupils to choose a chosen Charity, learn more about them, organise and hold a fundraising event and then present their finding at school. The winning team are awarded £1000 for their chosen charity. Among very steep competition, Amelie, Kate and Louise were successful in winning this year’s competition and we are so very grateful.

Thanks also to Head of Personal Development at the school, Stuart George

Thanks to the generosity of our community school. We are delighted to thank you all for the contributions made at the 2 performances of 'The Sleepy Shepherd'. The £224.20 raised, will be put to great use.

Brewin Dolphin is a UK FTSE 250 provider of discretionary wealth management. With £45.0* billion in total funds, it offers award-winning personalised wealth management services that meet the varied needs of our clients including individuals, charities and corporates.

It gives clients security and wellbeing by helping them to protect and grow their wealth, in order to enrich their lives by achieving their goals and aspirations. Its services range from bespoke, discretionary investment management to retirement planning and tax-efficient investing. Its focus on discretionary investment management has led to significant growth in client funds and it now manages £40.1* billion on a discretionary basis. Its intermediary business manages over £13.8* billion of assets for over 1,700 advice firms either on a discretionary basis or via its Managed Portfolio Service.

*As at 30th September 2019 through Brewin Dolphin’s Small Grant’s Programme, which has been running since 2013 and allows employees to apply for a grant for a charity that they are personally involved with, the company donated £1,000 to Blue Skye Thinking.

Nomads Vets are a charity focused Rugby Team and are proud to support two amazing causes by raising funds and awareness through playing in tournaments, hosting charity days and taking on other activities. Our first chance to represent Blue Skye Thinking and Special Effect was at The Bournemouth Rugby Festival on August Bank Holiday weekend which we only went and won! We are following this up by entering The Dubai International Vets Tens in December. In between that we have matches against other charity teams and a number of The Nomads will be jumping on bicycles not always designed for the average size of Rugby Player to take part in the London to Brighton Bike Ride in September!

All donations massively appreciated and will be split equally between the two charities.

Their support is ongoing with a high profile trip to Dubai later in the year. The club always welcome new sponsors if you have a business you wish to promote. You can also donate to the Charity through the team page here

Support for the Nomads means more support for us too!

The school grounds were transformed into a silver paradise to celebrate their 25th Anniversary and held a magnificent Silver Ball, hosted by BBC personality Charlie Ross. A Whopping £25,410 was raised and will have a significant impact on funding a UK lead, international, paediatric brain tumour research project. Details to follow in 2020.

Year 6 pupils raised £304 over the summer walking ‘ Walk a mile in my shoes’. Very big thank you to you for coming up with outdoor activities!