Forthcoming events

 Theatre trip (Epsom) – Aladdin

 “And we can’t wait to see Aladdin next year” is a quote from the January 2009 newsletter after last year’s successful outing to the pantomime Peter Pan. The time has come…

Aladdin is being performed by the same theatre group as last year’s fantastic afternoon of traditional fun. So why not join us to enjoy the story of the street urchin Aladdin, the Sultan’s daughter Jasmine and the genie in the magical lamp.

We have booked 32 seats and 2 wheelchair spaces for the performance at 2.30pm on Saturday 9 January 2010. The full price of the tickets is £16.50 but Surrey ASBAH will subsidise this event and tickets will cost only £6 each. A bargain! Deadline for booking is 27^th November.

Coffee and Chat

Sarah is organising a coffee morning with a talk on a subject of interest. It will be held on a weekday morning in either Kingston or Sutton. One option for the talk is for a speaker from the Benefits Agency to talk to us about DLA and AA. Alternatively, Gill Yaz (ASBAH Medical Adviser) could talk about her work or a specific issue such as continence. If you are interested, please contact Sarah. The precise date and the topic for discussion will be agreed by those who express an interest. The last coffee morning was very successful.

Annual General Meeting and Meal

The AGM will be held on Sunday 7^th March 2010. We plan to meet for lunch in Walton on the Hill and to move on to Lower Kingswood Hall for our meeting. Jackie Bland, ASBAH’s new Chief Executive, has been invited to attend the meal and speak at the AGM. More details nearer the time but please make a note in your diary now.

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Fundraising

Prize Draw / Summer picnic

We had a great attendance again at the picnic at the end of June and the weather just about stayed dry and sunny. The prize draw tickets sold even better this year than last and we would like to say a big “Thank You” to everyone who helped sell or buy tickets. Ticket sales were in excess of £700 and the profit has been doubled by Barclays Bank to give us a final total of over £1300!! All the prizes have been distributed to the lucky winners. Massive thanks go to Linda who organised the Draw and achieved the wonderful selection of donated prizes.

Sponsored swim of the English Channel

After a few delays due to poor weather conditions, Andy attempted his swim across the English Channel at the beginning of August. His swim went well although he didn't make it all the way – he completed 17 miles and then started to struggle with his breathing and had to stop. This was a magnificent effort and we all congratulate him on swimming so far in incredibly difficult conditions.

Surrey ASBAH has received £5,568.47 in donations and there is a little more still to be received. This is the largest amount raised by any fundraising event for Surrey ASBAH and we are all very grateful.  

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Canal boat trip

The boat trip on 19^th September saw two groups of Surrey ASBAH members enjoying beautiful warm weather and a very interesting trip on the River Wey. The afternoon group went through the centre of Guildford and then out into the countryside. Many thanks to Sarah for organising this.

Scientific research – Gill Yaz

Earlier this summer, Gill Yaz attended the Annual Scientific meeting of the Society for Research into Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, this year held in Belfast. The scientific presentations were, as ever, fascinating and on a wide range of subjects. Gill has written a report of the conference giving brief summaries of a number of the research projects. Anyone who is interested in reading about the research can also find all the abstracts on www.srhsb.org