Yorkshire performing arts group, DanSing, hosted a festive benefit concert in aid of the Friends of Alfie Martin charity at St. Joseph’s Church, Wetherby on 21st December 2015.

British recording artist, Mike Lovatt, who is Principal Trumpet with the Grammy nominated John Wilson Orchestra, headlined the event and was joined by renowned dance pianist, David Plumpton, TV journalist and presenter, Christine Talbot and Tempo FM broadcaster, Bill Baker.

The impressive concert line-up also featured the Music for Youth award winning Brackenfield School Choir, musical theatre artist Amara Okereke (NYMT, Artsed), performer Lucy Sherman (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Leeds Playhouse), boy soprano Frankie Bounds, contemporary dancer Rosie Winter, soprano Megan Mead together with DanSing’s own aspiring performers.

Our thanks go to all who organised and took part in this event, particularly the organising/creative team: Musical Director, Helen Leaf, Director, Jane Waring, and Choreographer De-Napoli Clarke. The Friends of Alfie Martin committee was wowed by the performances as well as the very generous £2,500 that was raised for our cause.

The Christmas Fair, held at the Square and Compass in North Rigton near the end of November, was an unprecedented success; we had more of our supporters joining us than ever before.

There was a wonderful selection of stalls, as is evident by the photo collage above, very kindly provided by Jools Henshaw Photography. Mince pies and tea and coffee were enjoyed by all. We are delighted to report that the event raised approximately £2,000 for our cause.

On August 23rd, Ella Pattison-Sharp and Cath Fieldon completed the Tough Mudder Challenge in support of The Friends of Alfie Martin.

Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile military style obstacle course consisting of underwater tunnels, the ‘Ring of Fire’, ‘Electroshock Therapy’ and plenty more! The girls set themselves a fundraising target of £500 and managed to raise an amazing £767 including gift aid.

Thanks so much girls!

Sam and her staff at the Fox Inn, Thorner, ran a charity fun day that included stalls, stage performances and an auction in August. Despite the horrendous weather for most of the day, the event was a great success and raised approximately £2,500 for the charity.

We are very grateful to everyone at the Fox Inn and know that the money will buy equipment that will help small lives.

A very girlie affair, but lots of fun was had by all (as you can see below). Thank you for all of your support, helping to raise an amazing £1,785 so far. As always, this is greatly appreciated, and a big thank you to the committee members that worked so hard to make this a success! 💕 Well done all!

We had some amazing fund raisers at the Wetherby 10k! Well done to all our runners, and a special ‘well-done’ to Betsy for competing in the juniors 5k race 💕.

We struggled through the heat but there were some fantastic times from our squad: 41mins, 45 mins etc. Henry Martin, Jes Holdworth, Kristian Keinhorst, Sue and Alice Keinhorst and co who all made it look easy, which it certainly wasn’t!!!

Four committee members also made it round: our very own Fiona Martin, Sarah and Chris Britton, Natalie Mitchell and Jacqui Land (who flew round), well done all.

So far we’ve raised a truly amazing £3,960, with money still coming in. Thank you to all our runners and all our supporters, we are so very grateful for all you do for us 💕x

Excerpt from the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in-house magazine:

The Leeds Neonatal Unit team were very pleased to receive a donation of new equipment recently. The equipment will enhance our ability to provide the best care to newborn infants born with encephalopathy due to an interruption to oxygen supply during labour.

The Friends of Alfie Martin were overwhelmed to be presented with a cheque for £20,000 from the Freemasons Lodge of Excelsior & Prudence.

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held at the impressive Royal Hall, Harrogate on 5th May where the Provincial Grand Master presented Fiona Martin and Jacqui Land (Treasurer) with the cheque before being guests for a celebratory dinner at the Majestic Hotel. This fantastic amount of money is so gratefully received and will allow us to purchase a life saving ultrasound scanner from brain and cardiac scanning of small and vulnerable babies.

Huge heartfelt thanks to John Myers and colleagues from the Lodge of Excelsior and Prudence for all your support.

Thank you so much to Gary and Karen Pickersgill and team for the amazing £900 raised at the football tournament at Thomas Danby College on 30th May.

They’ve even had a fantastic piece in the Yorkshire Post (read the full article here).

So far special thank you’s to all the people that turned up on the day to raise an amazing £320, Bentleys for their cheque of £100, £200 from SSE and £250 from Deloitte thank you so much to all. Also to Gary for the additional £30 he collected.

We are so very grateful 💗

Thank you so much to Jessica Holdsworth for the amazing achievement of running a mind blowing 100 miles over 13 competitive races !!! She has raised a huge £1,460 plus gift aid !!! 💕 Jes says it was one of the most rewarding things she has ever taken part in. The moment she crossed the finish line of her last race she felt she has completed something really special in Alfie’s name. The targeted events were spread over a 6 month period and posed a real challenge in themselves as Jes says in her own words :-

“Not being a runner myself and having to get up in the miserable English weather to complete a race on a horrid Sunday morning took mental endurance and perseverance. It also allowed me to reflect on all the wonderful things the friends of Alfie Martin have achieved in Alfie’s name. I am proud to have contributed to your efforts”.

Jes also wanted to thank her running buddies; Mark Talpade, Victoria Phillip, Gemma Crossley, Faye Edmondson and family Holdsworth !!!

Thank you Jes for your truly amazing achievement and inspiration in this personal challenge 💕x

We’d like to say a huge thanks to Gordons, our first corporate sponsors, for their extraordinary fundraising and support. We’ve been overwhelmed with the genuine interest and enthusiasm with which the teams there and their clients have embraced our cause.

We hadn’t anticipated such incredible support and the monies raised will now go directly to where they’re needed, so this huge donation really will make a difference and save babies’ lives throughout Yorkshire.

Read the full article here.

Fantastic article for the Yorkshire Post, Thank you again for all the support x

More than £30,000 of vital equipment has been donated to help critically ill newborns at Leeds Children’s Hospital. Read the full article here.

Thank you to Jo Fuller and the amazing Crystal Ball Committee for raising an outstanding £70,000 between their chosen charities Friends of Alfie Martin, Harrogate & District Stroke Unit & Paperworks. We are extremely humbled by your hard work and generosity. Over 500 people attended the ball it was an amazing, fun evening thank you so much to everyone who contributed to that unbelievable total we are so grateful for all the time and effort. Also there was a shooting event prior to the ball and again the work that goes into putting these events on is unbelievable, thank you to all.

Some photos from the conference at Pavillions of Yorkshire

On the 19th July 2014, the Lost in Allegro team set off on an epic adventure, driving a 37 year old Austin Allegro Estate from Leeds, UK to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - 10,000 miles away. Visit the Facebook page to see how they got on!

Thank you to Georgia Pick, Flynn, Rob for organising a fabulous fish & chip Quiz Night for The Friends of Alfie Martin. Well done to Angela & David for making the Quiz so much fun too!

Wishing Flynn & Rob lots of luck for their four day cycle ride of 420 km across the Nevada desert! Plenty of water required boys!

Please sponsor the boys with their amazing efforts & click here to visit their Just Giving page.

15th November 2014 at the Majestic Hotel

Thank you to Gordons LLP for a fabulous girlie night last night at Space NK, Harrogate - champagne, nibbles, make-overs & raising money for critically il babies - what is there not to love about that!

The Sun Pavillion, Harrogate, hosted the Together Friends charity lunch, which raised over £4,000.