By Helen Hyland, Fundraising Manager, ME Association.
Baz Hornsby is one of ME Association’s most committed fundraising characters. His flair for dreaming up new challenges, his passion for seeing them through, and his ingenuity when things don’t go quite right, are the stuff of legends.
Sometimes with fundraising, things don’t always go to plan. And such was Baz’s first campaign – he started planning how he might travel on his mobility scooter all the way from Lands’ End to John o’ Groats. Sadly, it didn’t succeed.
Not for lack of preparation, nor planning, but simply because when you have M.E., there are good times, not so good times, and simply horrid times. And this was not a good M.E. time. But undaunted, Baz then set to and invited all his friends to a festive sponsored walk. That worked like a dream, and they all had a ball.
Baz was the first fundraiser to meet my own dog Neo. We caught up with him earlier this year, when he was up in Scotland scouting out possible routes for a new adventure. We walked the dogs out to Cramond Island (near Edinburgh) across the causeway. As we walked, we talked.
We talked about the times before M.E. when he’d been able to hold down a job as a skilled carpenter; about his frustrations with his body when M.E. hits hard; about how hard it was to get even people who knew him well to understand the pain, debilitation, and frustration of this horrid illness; and his burning passion to do all that was humanly possible to raise awareness of M.E. and funds for the ME Association.
He’s easy to talk to, and I felt that we could have chatted forever. It was a great day and the dogs had a great time – chasing balls and playing along the path, in and out of the water.
Then in May, Baz set out and conquered the full Great Glen Way on his mobility scooter, again with his two dogs as company. He had many adventures along the way, but his resourcefulness, and his belief in the generosity of humankind saw him through.
The dogs were there throughout – an essential part of the team, as, to quote Remus on Baz’s fundraising page, “My ‘dad' has ME and it is my job to love him as much as I can (and I do!). Together we go on walks and adventures, as much as we can as and when his ME allows.”
So, Neo wasn’t the first fundraising dog for ME Association. And I doubt if he’ll be the last. Whether he got any tips from Remus and Susie about supporting a fundraising human, I don't know. Although they are clearly experts. And Neo did a spectacular job of representing the ME Association through the streets of Glasgow last weekend.
Thank you to everyone that has supported our ME Association fundraisers throughout 2017. We appreciate each and every donation that helps us to help make the UK a better place for people with M.E.
Fancy raising funds yourself?
If you are interested in raising funds for the ME Association, then why not give Helen Hyland, our fundraising manager, a call on: 01280 838964, or email: Helen.Hyland@meassociation.org.uk. You might also like to visit the fundraising section of our website.
Please help us to continue our work
Please donate – whatever you can afford – to help us make the UK a better place for people with M.E. Just click the button below to visit our JustGiving page:
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