News:- Multiple Sclerosis News Surrey

THE ORDER OF MERCY…….a very prestigious award with the most noble of origins.

Here we track its history and the fantastic news that in July 2017 the Samson Centre for MS’s very own John Hambly was awarded the prestigious ‘Order of Mercy’ by the League of Mercy Foundation.

Congratulations to John Hambly and thank you on behalf of everyone at the Samson Centre for your time, dedication and being one of the founder members who back in 2005 had the energy, drive, enthusiasm and wherewithal to turn a vision into reality. You were part of a building project that would ultimately provide a special place for people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Surrey and surrounding areas, a ‘safe haven’ that has now been successfully operating from its riverside location for some 12 years.

Some history about the award in their own words.

The League of Mercy was founded on 30th of March 1899 by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria. It was instigated by the Prince of Wales who became its first Grand President. Subsequently two further Princes of Wales (George V and Edward VIII) succeeded him in this office; finally HRH Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester took over.

The object of the League was to establish a large body of voluntary workers who would assist with the maintenance of voluntary hospitals and ‘otherwise relieve sickness and suffering’. When the 1948 National Health Act abolished these hospitals, the League was quietly wound up after performing its task extraordinarily well for nearly half a century.

Central to the annual activities of the League was a notable ceremony at which about fifty people each received a medal known as the Order of Mercy. These were bestowed as a reward for personal services gratuitously rendered in connection with the purposes for which the League was established.

It is clear that in the future, communities will have to rely more and more on voluntary help especially as the population grows older. Voluntary work for the sick, the elderly, the disabled etc has long been an integral and valuable part of British life. It is developing and enriching for those who engage in it as well as being immensely beneficial to those served by it.

‘They deserve a medal’, is something we often say to those wonderful volunteers who have served their organisations and communities outstandingly. Sadly, there are too few to go around!

That is why on the 30th March 1999, exactly one hundred years to the day that it was first given, the League of Mercy Foundation revived this distinguished award for voluntary service, assisting in the relief of sickness and suffering.

“We believe that it is vital to recognise and honour the work of volunteers. By doing so we may develop public awareness of their work and encourage others to join them in giving up their time to the voluntary care of those in need”.
Lord Lingfield – President of the League of Mercy

Just a short update to let you know about some recent monies raised for the Centre thanks to some great volunteers and others:

Dorking street collection on 19 May raised £696.19

Guildford street collection on 16 June raised £1541.88

Cranleigh street collection on 8 July raised £441.07

Sainsburys Godalming collection on 9 July raised £400.17

These collections are vital in contributing towards our running costs at the Centre so that we can maintain and increase the vital support and therapies that we deliver to people living with Multiple Sclerosis

We had 29 runners take part in the British 10k run in London on Sun 9 July on a very hot and sticky day.

So far, over £7500 has been raised between them, with the total still rising.

It was a great event again, with people running for several different charities.

Thanks so much to our lovely runners for supporting the Samson Centre for MS by taking part in the British 10k run.

We would love to hear from you if you would like to run again for us next year!

It is official, on Wed 5th July 2017 the staff and volunteers of the Samson Centre for MS smashed their own Caledonian Challenge of completing 80km in just one day. At 9pm, some 12 hours after the challenge began it ended on a high as we powered well past our goal and clocked up over 100km.

We started early, we finished late and we walked, ran and cycled through the midday heat in between and boy was it hot!

The staff Caledonian Challenge came about after 16 of John Hambly’s friends the ’16 Idiots’ as they like to call themselves, hot footed it up to Scotland (after some training) and took on both the wild open and the calmer waters of the Caledonian Canal. They were in canoes and paddling their 80km through these often choppy waters.

They were delighted to know that we too were doing something towards their challenge and that is how our staff Caledonian Challenge came about.

If you would like to support our efforts follow the link and visit the official Caledonian Challenge Just Giving page.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/16-idiots

The Samson Centre for MS was thrilled when Julia & David Hunt offered us the use of a wonderful marquee in their absolutely magnificent garden in the village of Compton in Surrey.

The weather was kind and we were bathed in sun and surrounded by beautiful flowers.

Add a lovely buffet lunch and the kind offer of antiques expert and tv personality David Ford to donate his time to be our guest speaker and antiques valuer and you have a perfect Summer occasion.

Some £850 was raised for the Samson Centre at an event enjoyed by many.

On Sat 11th March the Take That LIVE guys rocked the stage at GLive, while their audience watched from the aisles, and in so doing delivered £4,149 of funds for the Samson Centre.

We are delighted that QuDos presented the Samson Centre with their ‘THE INNOVATION IN PRACTICE 2016 AWARD– improving primary care or community services for people with MS’.

Bramley Golf Club present us with a cheque for £9,200

A huge thank you to Bramley Golf Club for raising an amazing £9,200 over the past year for the Centre. Pete Bonner was the Captain at the Club who agreed to take us on as their local charity to support for his year. Many thanks to Robin Bannister (one of our members) for writing to Bramley Golf Club and explaining that he used to play golf there and telling them what an enormous amount of good work our Centre does to enable people with MS to live their life as fully as possible and how much good they were doing by supporting us.

Local Charity of the Year

Many thanks to Sainsbury’s in Guildford High Street for supporting us as their local charity of the year. Jackie met with Leah, Allan and David from the store and we are looking forward to working with them and others over the coming months as well as collecting in the store and welcoming them to our centre. With enormous thanks for your generous support which is so valuable in enabling sufferers to live a fulfilling life with their MS.

Click image to give a donation

Eagle Radio Listen to Jackie's Podcast

Jackie Payne from the Centre talks to Eagle Radio

Jackie Payne, Centre Manager at the Samson Centre for Multiple Sclerosis in Guildford, spoke to Eagle Radio about the centre, which offers those with the disease physiotherapy, exercise, neuro health classes, oxygen therapy and an all-round happy atmosphere. Jackie also discusses how people can get involved with the charity and upcoming fundraising events.

Follow This Link to Listen to Jackie..
eagle-extra-2016-01-06.mp3 (18.39 MB, 8:02)

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