News:- Multiple Sclerosis News Surrey

Please get in touch via if you know anyone who would like to find out more about volunteering as an oxygen chamber operator at the Samson Centre for MS. A half day or more a week or half day a fortnight or ad hoc cover is the time commitment required. Full training is given in our New Bradbury Annexe .We would love to hear from you if you are able to commit to an interesting and rewarding volunteering opportunity with us.

Click to Enlarge Image

A total surprise on 13 November when Jackie, our Centre Manager, was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a cake and a lovely Congratulations card which several members had signed.

Jackie had no idea that anyone had remembered that she had worked for 10 years at the Centre, let alone, organise a presentation to mark the occasion! John Hambly kindly said a few words and he and Sara, our Lead Physio had clearly been plotting behind the scenes while Jackie was on holiday.

A lovely gesture and much appreciated by Jackie

Click to Enlarge

What more fitting way to celebrate West Surrey Tennis Club’s  60^th Birthday than with TennisFEST, a Davis Cup style knockout tournament to win the Club’s coveted ‘Charity Cup’. An afternoon of fun and some fast-paced and exciting tennis saw teams of varying abilities competing in a noisy and well supported fundraising event, raising £926 for us here at the Samson Centre for MS.

To mark this special occasion the Tennis Club decided to join forces with its parent West Surrey Golf Club in supporting us. West Surrey Tennis Club’s, Glen Waterfall said, ‘ Our 60^th Birthday was a fantastic opportunity for us follow in West Surrey Golf Club’s footsteps and embrace the charity that they have been supporting this year. Our event will ensure that even more money is raised to support local people who are living with Multiple Sclerosis’.

Over 100 members and guests took part in TennisFEST and were watched over by an audience of friends, family and Team-mates. An amazing sum of £926 was raised through proceeds from entry fees, araffle and a barbecue.

If you know anyone who plays tennis, golf or any other team sport remind them that the Samson Centre would welcome their support whether it be for one match or adopting us as their charity of the year.

Click to Enlarge.

Click to Enlarge

What an amazing result! The disco organised by Megan Hambly last month raised a fantastic £1379 for the Samson Centre!

An additional £700 was raised for the Brain Tumour Charity – another great cause.

Thanks so much to Megan and all those lovely ladies who supported this event. A great night was clearly had by all!

Click to Enlarge Image.

Although Surrey Police Headquarters at Mount Browne regularly hold quiz evenings in aid of the Samson Centre for MS, their recent one was a very special event indeed.

Not only did it raise £600 for the Centre but the winning team, out of a strong field of 18 teams, included Tim Barrett a Samson Centre for MS member.

Tim guided his team to victory and the prestigious trophy too, fuelled on brains or ‘watching many tv quizzes’ as Tim puts it himself, and a curry supper that was enjoyed by all.

We are proud of Tim for being a winner, with the help of daytime tv quizzes or not and thank Surrey Police once again, for supporting us in this way.

James’s Liftoff- Click to enlarge

You will remember that Chris Boys and his crew were flying high for the Samson Centre recently. All in a good cause, all to raise valuable funds.

Even though at the eleventh hour two of his crew were swapped out, the team went on to complete their challenge.

The Team:- Chris Boys, James Gregory, Hilary Birkinshaw, Allan McDonald, Claire Dean, Dean Hemmings, Shaun Leake, Vicky Corner

However, there is good news and not such good news to report.

The good news is that they have raised over £1,200 for us to date.

The not so good news is that Chris dislocated his shoulder during his I Fly – a painful and distressing experience which resulted in him being taken to hospital by ambulance. A big “Thank You” to the crew for undertaking this Skydive and all of us at the Samson Centre wish Chris well.

If you would like to donate to their fundraising efforts, it is not too late. It would no doubt lift Chris’s spirits while he is nursing his injury and it will also help even more people who are living with MS.

justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-boys

Nick Moore and Brendan Moore

Nick and Brendan Moore

Completed the London to Brighton bike race on Sunday on a very hot day and raised a lovely £662 for the Centre.

Thanks so much to Nick and Brendan for supporting the Samson Centre for MS in this way and taking on this great challenge.

The New Bradbury Annexe

The Bradbury Annexe

The 4^th September was a day of great celebration when the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Mr Michael More-Molyneux officially opened the ‘Bradbury Annexe’, a new wing of the Guildford Waterside Centre building.

Members, users, staff, Trustees and volunteers of the Samson Centre  together with Trustees from the Guildford Waterside Centre gathered to welcome supporters of this £800,000 plus project, including Hugh Inman UK representative of the Bradbury Foundation which provided the largest single donation of £150,000 towards the costs.

Access to this additional space will  help the Samson Centre to deliver more oxygen therapy treatments with the operation of our multi-person chamber as well as introducing non-physical therapies in the newly created Lecture/Meeting room.

We had 33 amazing runners take part in the London 10k on Sunday and so far they have raised a fantastic £9000 for the Samson Centre for MS! Thank you so much to all our lovely runners for taking part in this great event.

Not one but two of our volunteers have now been awarded the prestigious ‘Order of Mercy’, by the ‘League of Mercy’.

Click to Enlarge Image.

In 2017, John Hambly had the award bestowed upon him. Now it is the turn of another long-standing volunteer Carol Kitching who recently visited  the Mansion House to receive her own ‘Order of Mercy’ presented to her at an annual award ceremony where 50 or sometimes fewer deserving volunteers are recognised for their outstanding achievements.

Founded some 120 years ago by the Prince of Wales and established by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, the ‘League of Mercy’ first had its roots in recruiting volunteers to assist the sick and vulnerable. It was later disbanded in 1947 with the advent of the NHS, only to be re-established in 1999 some 100 years after it was first formed. Today, it exists to recognise and reward long-standing volunteers who give their time to communities within the UK for charitable purpose.

The League of Mercy believes that it is vital to recognise and honour the work of volunteers. By doing so they feel will develop public awareness of the work of volunteers and encourage others to join them in giving up their time to the voluntary care of those in need.

Carol, as our members are aware has been a Samson Centre volunteer for 12 years and in that time, she has volunteered her valuable time in the office and also made copious cups of tea and coffee for members and visitors alike. Carol has been involved with many fundraising activities for the Centre, but one notable activity has raised over £100,000 alone and that is her organisation of Street Collections. Carol has  a listening ear, a warm and generous personality and a smile that has and continues to inspire and encourage all around her.

On that note we would like to congratulate Carol Kitching and thank her on behalf of everyone at the Samson Centre for her time, past, present and continued support.

A huge shout out to Sam Smith for organising an Assault Course event for us that took place on Saturday at Henfold Lakes near Dorking.

21 brave souls got very muddy, tackled various obstacles and had a great afternoon in the process!

An amazing £2800 has been raised for the Samson Centre. Thank you so much to Sam (who also took part herself) and everyone else who took part and helped raise such a great sum.

Huge congratulations to Steve Duckworth for completing the London Marathon on Sunday in a great time of 4 hours and 5 minutes. Steve has raised close to £3000 so far for the Centre which is hugely appreciated by all at the Samson Centre for MS.

We now hope that Steve is recovering well from his mammoth feat!

Many thanks to the Surrey Association of Woodturners for presenting a cheque for the Samson Centre

recently at one of their evening meetings in Mytchett. They raised a very nice £385 for the Centre.

Much appreciated by all of us.