How to raise £300 in 10 minutes? Sell cakes!

The Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra helped us raise a brilliant £330 for the CF Trust by asking us to sell cakes and drinks during the interval of their performance event held in Eton on 24th November.

We had a great selection of donated cakes from friends and family, including Lemon Drizzle cakes, a beautiful selection of cupcakes, chocolate brownies and sponge cakes, along with some super tasty Cherry and Almond tarts and Caramel Shortcake kindly donated by the Handmade Cake Company based in Maidenhead.

Although there were less people at the event than the organisers anticipated (the weather was horrendous!), we set out two tables of refreshments in the foyer, and each item was £1 (lots of people kindly threw in a few extra pounds here and there too!) The cakes went down brilliantly, and the left over cake went to our neighbours who kindly made a donation to the CF Trust and took them along to the church, who were very grateful for some homemade cakes to go with their teas and coffees after the service.

Due to our success and managing to cope with a large influx of people, the organisers of the event have asked us to join them again in March where we will hopefully be able to sell lots more cake and juice to raise lots more for the charity. 

A massive thanks to my Mum, Dad, Sally and Simon for helping on the night and baking loads of cakes before hand, and to Becky, Holly, Olly, Fran, Hannah, Catherine, and the Handmade Cake Co. for all your kind cake donations!

Cakes this Saturday!

So this Saturday we are running the refreshments for the Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra, where we are refreshing up to 400 people with beautiful cakes and juices!

Just to say thanks to those who have offered to bake cakes for our event on Saturday, and to our local Homemade Cake Co. in Maidenhead, Berkshire who have also offered to make a donation!

This week, my mum is going to be super busy baking as many cakes as possible, so if you still think you maybe able to help out by baking a cake or two, please just let me know and we would be ever so grateful!

Thanks bakers :)

Group Tandem Skydive 2013

In the last few months, myself and Audrey (my lovely CF South West lady!) have been getting together to start organising a group tandem skydive in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust next year. We now have some more solid plans which i'd like to share and hope you would like to get involved in what we hope to be a brilliant fun and once in a lifetime experience, whilst raising vital funds for the CF Trust.

Where: Salisbury
When: 29th June 2013
Sponsorship: £500 (£225 covers cost of jump, £275 raised for charity)

We are hoping to get between 30 - 50 people involved with jumping on the day, so if you would like to jump, or have any family or friends who may like to get involved, please contact me and I will give you more information as soon as I can!

You can register your interest on the right of my blog so I have you're details and can contact you, else just comment on this blog, message me on facebook, or pop me an email (emily.shimell@gmail.com).

Refreshments at Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra Event

We have been kindly asked if we would be able to support the Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra at their event on the 27th November 2012, with supplying and serving refreshments to the performers and audience.

With a break of only 20 minutes or so, serving between 300-400 people is going to be a little manic but hopefully with all the experience we have been gaining over the last few years, everything will run smoothly and we will be able to raise much needed funds for the CF Trust.

Refreshments are simply going to be juice and cakes to be able to deal with the amount of people (and also no plugs or kitchen!) and hopefully this will suitably refresh everyone well enough to enjoy the great performance that is going to be going on that evening.

We do need your help though. As you can imagine, cakes, cups, juice and kitchen roll for up to 400 people can add up, both time and money wise. So we are hoping that we can get as many people as possible to help out by offering to bake a cake or two!

We are looking for Victoria Sponge or Lemon Drizzle cakes in either a loaf tin or sandwich tin so we can pre-cut and serve with a drink. If you think you and your friends/family might be able to help out, please just drop me an email at emily.shimell@gmail.com or give me a call, or drop me a facebook message, or even reply to this post and I will let you know more details.

Thanks to everyone so far who has offered to help out baking for the night which we hope to raise around £300 for the CF Trust. And if all goes well, we might even be offered to do the refreshments again early next year!

See more about the Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra event here 

Peru Trek Photos!

I've chosen a selection of photos from my Peru Trek. Click on the album below to go to my Google Photo Album!

Peruvian Andes Trek 2012

My Peru Trek 2012 Part 2...

Continuing down...


As we passed beautiful calm lakes and through enchanted wooded areas, the stunning valley ahead came into view. Although still pretty cold, you could feel with every step the warmth increasing and i made plenty of time to take lots of breaks to take in the views and realise where I was and what I had just accomplished. 


After a couple of hours, one of the most beautiful rock formations and waterfalls came into view in front of a huge snowcapped mountain in the distance, one which I have managed to keep as a snapshot memory and hope to remember for years to come! We continued trekking down, crossing streams with the group quite spread out (everyone taking it at their own pace - we wern't going to be coming back anytime soon so we had to make the most of every moment!)


Lunchtime was our next group pitstop. We had a surprise instore that one of our cooks mums lived on the mountain side, a family of indigneous Peruvian mountain people living in a traditional Andes stone house, and we had the wonderful chance of going inside and seeing how these people lived in the Andes. A lady and the young girl sitting outside the front were busy weaving Poncho's whilst we got a glimpse inside the dark and smoke filled hut. The thatched roof inside was black with soot, and one out of the 3 small rooms was full of guinea pigs running around. This house was an amazing experience - something  I could have never imagined being able to experience and was amazed by the way these people manage to live in such a different culture to what I was use to.


After a big lunch and lots of begging dogs (and strawberry jelly made somehow with river water), we continued down for another 4 hours with the drive of knowing we had some cold beers waiting for us to celebrate our achievement and last night of camping. By now the knees and big toes were really in pain but the thought of a real flushing toilet at the camp we were staying at kept each foot moving one in front of another! 


Last Camp


Reaching our last camp was one of the biggest reliefs I have experienced! Seeing the sun shining on a lovely flat camping space and some cold beers the crew had brought along for us to celebrate finishing our trek was wonderful. And the camp even had space for us to hold a campfire and so the final evening was filled with funny stories of the trek, lots of getting to know one another (its strange how you get to know different sides of people depending on what activity you are doing) :) and discussions of what the next day would involve - our visit to Macchu Picchu. Late night and lots of beers had by all, a well deserved chill out night for all :)


Macchu Picchu


The Lares Trek we did was chosen because it is more remote than the standard Inca Trail, which sometimes you will find a few hundred people trekking with you at the same time, whereas our Lares Trek allowed us to view the Peruvian Andes in all its natural beauty, without bumping into any other trekkers or tourists for the duration of the trek. This did mean though that we didn't get Macchu Picchu on our actual trek but had the next day after our trek to go visit one of the wonders of the world.


A few hours coach journey from our last camp to a train station where we jumped on PeruRail. This few hours train journey I must say was probably the most amazing train journey I have ever been on and probably one of the most beautiful in the world. Through the valley of the Andes at the beginning of the Amazon Rainforest where Urubamba River flows, the train journey twisted between mountains and historic Inca ruins and arrived at the town just below Macchu Picchu where we would have to get a coach up to the Wonder.


On entering Macchu Picchu, it totally blew my mind. Much bigger than I expected, we were rewarded with a 3 hour locals tour by our Peruvian Trek Guides who knew the whole history of the ruins, showed us the spiritual, religious and worship elements to the ruins, and allowed to us see the beautiful Macchu Picchu in all its glory.


Macchu Picchu was actually busier with tourists than I expected and on arrival, the clouds were low so were coving most of the surrounding landscape. But with a tour guide who knew the ropes, he took us on a slightly "backwards tour" which would keep us away from the larger crowds and would (fingers rossed) allow us to be in the best locations once the clouds and crowds had cleared.


He was correct! After about an hour, the clouds began to lift and the main bulk of people were leaving the site. The beautiful Peruvian mountains with the Amazon Rainforest all around was the one of the most stunning view I have ever seen (alongside a few beautiful memories from Mt Kilimanjaro). 


Without a need to rush down to the town, I found a beautiful and quiet place to sit and take in the beauty of the man made and natural views I had right in front of me. For an hour or two, sitting in silence, I felt more peaceful than I think I can ever remember feeling. 


In conclusion: The real beauty of Macchu Picchu and the Peruvian Andes was not just the stunning views and awe inspiring landscape but the immense feeling I felt inside, loving, spiritually and emotionally, from visiting and experiencing all these things in person. 

I made it! My Peru Trek 2012

On 19th April I set off from Heathrow for a 22 hour travel, 3 flight journey to Cusco, Peru. Not too keen on flying so this was a bit of a challenge in itself, but arrival in Cusco was really the start of my amazing Peru adventure! Here I will try give you a bit of an insight into what we got up to and what was involved in the Trek!


Arriving in Cusco


It was strange to arrive in Cusco with people you had only met less than a day ago, but had already become good friends - i think this is one of the best things about these kind of trips, you get to meet so many people from different walks of life, raising money for different charities for all different reasons, and although I know i'd have never met these people in normal day to day life, we all come together on the trip with something in common and you end leaving with an amazing group of new friends!


Getting of the plane in Cusco was strange - Cusco is already at an altitude 3 x the height of Snowdon, and if any of you have ever been to altitude before, you'd know the reason for acclimatisation! Suddenly feeling light headed and nauseous wasn't the nicest start to the trip but this soon passed once on the coach on the way to our Hotel, seeing my first glimpse of Peru and the new Continent I was now in!


After lots of travelling and time difference, we were still only at lunchtime (Peruvian time) so spent the next few hours having a wander around Cusco, getting continuously called to and jumped out at by market traders and shop keepers selling all the weird and wonderful things you can imagine in a Peruvian tourist town! Taking the walking slow (just standing still it felt like i'd just done a few minutes running on the treadmill!) we wandered to pick up some epic nacho's and had some getting to know each other time before our acclimatisation trek the day to come.


Acclimatisation Day


Our 2nd day in Peru we jumped on the coach at around 7.30am to head up above Cusco to begin acclimbatising in the hills. Our local tour guides (who spent the week with us) Jameile & Alberto took us up to Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexy Woman), a beautiful Inca area used as a Fort when Peru was invaded by the Spaniards. In the rocks you could see images of Llama - the stones were brought up by hand and, similar to the Egyptian pyramids, archaeologists are still are not sure how they managed this with some of the stones weighing up to 50 tonnes!


Some flat acclimbatising walks around here were strange - having to walk slowly on the flat was a little worrying as you realise how much your body is being affected by the lack of oxygen! After a few hours we moved up to Tambomachay, an Inca spa with natural springs, which for someone who has never experienced these kind of historical wonders before, were just beautiful (but then to be told this was nothing compared to what I was going to see was a little bit daunting! If I was getting excited now, what was I going to be like around these people i'd never met before?! :D ) Then a four hour walk down to Cusco helped our bodies get use to the "Climb High, Sleep Low" scenario that is common for any trekking at altitude. After a good few hours getting to know more of the group, we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back into Cusco town for the afternoon to relax before our next day beginning of the main Lares region Trek. 


Off to the Lares Region & Hot Springs


Early morning breakfast (around 6am) for an early set off on the bus - we had a 3 hour bus journey through the Andes seeing the beautiful mountains and valleys. We journeyed through the Sacred Valley and via high mountain trails, through remote villages and small towns. A toilet stop allowed us to have a few minutes to see a real Peruvian market with vegetables and fruit I have never seen before, and Avacado's and Papaya the size of melons! 


After another hour or two we arrived at the beginning of the Lares Trek where we were greeted by hot natural springs and although it was very cold and raining, around half the group jumped in for a dip - they were scorching! We had an hour or so to wait until lunch here so a nice relaxing session in the springs was great to fit in before starting on the long trek in the rain!


Not suprisingly (for those who know me) I somehow managed to lose my waterproof jacket here for a short while - thankfully we had our Peruvian tour guides and switched on Skyline crew to help us search it out :)


Starting the Lares Trek


The beginning of the Lares trail followed a beautiful river through a valley, but with the low cloud and cool air, we were well wrapped up in waterproofs catching just a few glimpses of the hills and mountains to come through breaks in the cloud. We started to realise how this "remote" Lares region was actually bustling with indigenous mountain people who would come and watch and greet us, and set up small stalls on the path ways selling their goods, ponchos, hats and scarfs, jewellery and drinks in their beautiful traditional Peruvian bright clothing. 


A real highlight of our day was when a few of us girls managed to catch a few minutes ride on our ambulance donkey, a few minutes to catch our breath in the altitude! We were also passed by a group of local potato farmers and managed to get a photo with them in return for a handful of coca leaves each (bought at the Peruvian market on the way!) 


We arrived at our first campsite around 5pm which was at a local school in the valley. Not like a school we would recognise, more a few buildings and a grass area with stone walls and a hole dug in the ground as a toilet. One of the strangest things that continued throughout the trip was the amount of random dogs that appeared around camp and on the trek - i was expecting this to bother me but these dogs were so lethargic that I was fine, even when they poked their heads into the tents and hung around begging at dinner!


Continuing with the Trek...


The next day began at around 7am with a steep trek for about 3 hours around and up the valley. Gaining altitude, we lose 1 degree per 100m rise so being well wrapped up again was a necessity! The beautiful views of lakes and mountains were breathtaking and every direction was never a disappointment. We hit a few tough steep climbs on this part of the trek and with the lack of oxygen being my main problem, i had to take it slow to reach the peak of the day. Rewarded with some stunning views of mountain lakes, seeing one of our donkeys try to do a run for it and some yummy chocolate snacks (and a not so yummy oaty/sugarpuff/nut/cereal bar which the donkey appreciated more than me), we continued to trek for another two hours to our lunch spot, where the sun greeted us for a few minutes of sunbathing, a yummy (but rather filling) meal and a cup of coca tea got us prepared for our next few hours to camp! Another 3-4 hours trekking after lunch included quite a bit of drizzle, (and my attempt at getting waterproof trousers on required another two people's help to make it a success) which was a little disheartening - with low cloud and drizzle you do start to worry that the scenery is going to be covered and the beauty of the Andes isn't going to be seen! But with our super fast group, we managed an an additional 200m above where we should have been camping, and therefore reached our camp at 4,100m, so there was definitely a feeling of acheivement and positivity in the group even before hitting the high point!


I must now mention the beautiful food we were served throughout the trek... The cooks managed to dish up some wonderful meals up the mountain and really stuffed us with stews, chicken, lamb, rice dishes, tasty soups and even jelly for desert. I'd definitely recommend the peruvian mountain chefs if theres ever a chance of you getting to try the food, you'd be amazed! :)


Summit Climb


The next day was our summit climb. From 4,100m we had another 500m to climb in altitude to Mount Haton Paso. Slowly setting off from camp, we meandered our way up the high and steep mountain trail and although having lots of small breaks to catch my breath every few minutes, I couldn't stop for long as it was now getting really cold but these hours up to the high point were really tough for all of us, especially when you know your body can do more but the lack of oxygen just isn't letting you!

The team were great with everyone encouraging and helping each other along and I think this really helped for all of us to manage to make it to the summit of our climb at 4,600m! Pretty windy and cold up here but time to grab a few photos and take in the scenery and the beautiful lake that appeared below us and realise what we had all just managed for our charities and ourselves! 


Feeling rather chuffed with the acheivement of 4,600m we began our trek down the other side of Mount Haton Paso where the knees started to work a little harder than previously (and anyone who knows me and my knees, they don't really get on). But with the pass behind us keeping us sheltered from the wind, it was much warmer and comfortable to take it slow and really take in the beautiful scenery of the moutains, sheer slopes, lakes and landscapes all around us.


Will be continued...

3 days! What (apparently) I am to expect...

So just 3 days until i head off to Peru for my Andes challenge! I have been told a bit more information from the tour operators and some fellow Kilimanjaro trekkers as to what to expect so thought i'd share a bit here (and then can compare when I am back with what it was REALLY like!!!)


The trail takes me through the sacred valley in the Peruvian Andes to the Lares region, a remote area which is rarely touched by other tourists. We are told we are very privileged to be able to spend time in the area and will meet some wonderful locals and get a real insight into Peruvian life! 


Altitude - no one can train for altitude and it is likely that most if not the whole group will experience some form of altitude sickness but apparently this can (and is most likely to happen) on arrival into Cusco! Hopefully sickness, headaches and nausea will pass quickly, but I think I will just need to grin and bear it! 


Apparently the food will be wonderful - lots of local authentic Peruvian stews, fish and lamb - and if you know me, I will be definitely making sure I fill up and try pretty much everything I can (i'll use the excuse that I need the energy...)


So a typical day will involve lovely early mornings... 5:30 wake up, tents cleared and everything packed ready for breakfast and the daily briefing at 6.30, ready to head off by 7! Our trekking days consist of approximately 7 hours trekking a day, passing some amaing inca sites and ruins, stunning scenery and high mountain peaks whilst we hike up and down the mountain passes in the remote region. Day 6 will involve hiking up the mountain of Hatun Paso, our highest peak at 4600m (15,000ft). 


Day 7, our main trekking days are complete and our hard trekking efforts are to be rewarded with a visit to Machu Picchu on a breath taking train journey to Aguas Calientes. From here we move to Machu Picchu, known to be one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world. Macchu Picchu is actually one of the lowest points of the whole trip and I have been told that it will feel such a relief to be there as altitude will be much less and it really is a rewarding day once the trekking is complete. 


Our final day finishes with our celebration meal with the group and a chance to reminisce about the weeks trek!


Everything sounds wonderful and although its going to be really challenging, i can tell it will be one of the most rewarding things I will ever do. 


I will update you on the challenge when I return on the 28th! xxx

2 weeks to go!

In 2 weeks time I am off to Heathrow to catch a plane to Madrid, to catch a plane to Lima to catch a plane to Cusco! Not too excited about this part - I can't stand flying so this part of the trek must have completely slipped past me when signing up! But all adds to the challenge I guess so must grin and bear it!

I am amazed at the generousity of all my family, friends and strangers who have helped me reach yet again a massive target (now over £7,250) for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. This will give me a huge boost when i'm out there so thanks again to all of you

I have some more info on the trek "schedule" so I will update you all on this in another post a bit later!

Hit the £7000 mark!

Today I hit the £7000 mark for this years sponsorship and event fundraising for the CF Trust. I am sincerely grateful to all of you that have helped me reach this figure for a second time in memory of our beautiful friend Kirsty. Cystic Fibrosis remains the UK's most common life threatening hereditary diseases and relies on support from the public to help research into finding a cure.

Every penny counts and I am so pleased that so many of you have helped out by sponsoring my challenges, coming to our events and spreading the word about Cystic Fibrosis.

If you'd still like to sponsor, please go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/EmilyShimellForCF

Under four weeks until I head off on my trek, more information about my trek will be up soon!

All my love xxx

Gene Therapy Trials To Go Ahead

So pleased to hear the news that the groundbreaking gene therapy treatment trials will be going ahead with phase 2. After huge uncertanties over the last year of whether the CF Trust could reach the funding to enable to next stage to go forward, the money has finally been raised by fundraisers, donations and medical funds. This is a huge step forwards towards finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Click here to go to the full story on the CF Trust website >>

RACE NIGHT TOTAL!

Thanks to everyone who came along to our Race Night on Saturday evening. We had a fun filled evening with horse races, beautiful food, great company, a bar, a great raffle and loads of wonderful prizes, we sold out of entry spaces, and raised a grand total profit of £1510.98 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Thanks to all of our race night runners, our chef, bar staff, coordinators, raffle ticket sellers and all of you who came along and supported the event, our race sponsors and companies who donated prizes. This has been our biggest event organised and biggest amount raised for a much deserved charity, the CF Trust.

RACE NIGHT REGISTRATION

Please see below post for more information on the race night.

You can now register for the race night via the link RACE NIGHT REGISTRATION on the right!

Before you register, please take a look at the owners and jockeys page. Own a horse or be a jockey! See your name on the big screen! Each winning horse owner and jockey for each race wins a bottle of wine!

You can purchase these at the same time as you pay for entry. Just add £1 per horse and per jockey onto the fundraising page and tell us on the registration page which horse/s you'd like in the comment box during registration! Owners and Jockeys can also be for those unable to attend the event so how about turning your boyfriend into a jockey for the evening or even buying your wife a horse?!

We look forward to seeing you on the night. Please note our last event sold out and people were unfortunately turned away! We do expect a similar number to register this time around so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Race Night 3rd March

The race night is going to be held on the 3rd March and will be held at Pinder Hall, Cookham. I'll try to explain to you how the race night works and I hope it gets you excited for a night of adrenaline pumping, horse racing, face smiling and yummy food!

The race night consists of 8 races. Each race has 8 horses and 8 jockeys riding them (Simple!). For each race, you can choose the horses you want to win and buy your tote tickets at the tote table. Once the betting is closed, its time to stand back and watch the race will full commentary and cheer on your horse over the finish line.

The total taken on each race will be split 50/50. 50% towards the charity, 50% into the winners pot. The pot is then split between all the winners so look forward to coming away with some winnings on the night!

We will be serving hot supper for all attendees half way through the night, wonderfully catered by Vanessa (my mum). (And for those who have had any food by Vanessa before, you know thats a real good reason to get down on the night!)

The night will cost £6 entry per person which includes your supper.

Each race will be sponsored by a local company, group, individual etc. in return for advertising on the night (on the race screen, on the sponsors table, in leaflets etc) so if you think you maybe able to help with this, please message me!

There will also two bottles of wine up for grabs on each race for the owners of each winning horse and horse jockey. Its just £1 to buy a horse or jockey and then a 1 in 8 chance of winning! These will be sold in advance of the races (if you would like a race sheet and think you can get family/friends or take this to work and get some filled out, i'd be very grateful!)

This night is going to be a real fun evening with a great raffle, a special race where you have the chance of naming the horse anything you like (your wife/partners name? Your own name? anything goes!) a great value bar and supper, so please come and support my last event and help raise vital funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

For all of you who attended the Mega Music Quiz Night, I hope you had a really good night and hope to see you again at the Race Night! 

Volunteers Needed, Bristol, 11th February

I have kindly been given a day bag packing to fundraise for the CF Trust at Tesco, Kellaway Avenue, Bristol on 11th February 2012.

I will be needing as many volunteers as possible for the day and hoping that together we can raise around £300 for the Trust. I have a few friends who have offered to help but to raise as much cash as possible, we need to be able to cover as many cashouts as we can and be able to give breaks and lunch to those volunteering! If you think you could spare a couple of hours on the Saturday, I would be ever so grateful. 

Please let me know if you'd like to help out and I will get more information to you as soon as I can. Either email me - emily.shimell@gmail.com, comment on this blog, or contact me via my facebook/facebook fundraising groups. Many thanks

2012, 4 months to go!

So its January 2012, meaning only 4 months now until my trek in the Andes! I have set my targets and goals for training including lots of gymming, swimming and hill walking along with further fundraising events for the CF Trust - our Race Night will be held on the 3rd March in Cookham, Berkshire.

If you don't know already, I am climbing to over 15,000 ft in the Andes, a 6 day trek for up to 8 hours a day, through mountain passes, Peruvian forests and villages, to the top of Mount Hatun Paso and finally to Macchu Pichu. I aim to raise £4,000 for the charity and hope that you can support my fundraising by sparing any pennies you may have and sponsoring my trek! You can do this by visiting www.virginmoneygiving.com/EmilyShimellForCF or via the link at the top of this blog.

I greatly appreciate every penny and hope that we can all work together to see off CF.