Medical care
We gave 100% of funds raised at the Funny Blood BBQ 2010 to Contact a Family.
Jan Eastwood, Contact a Family’s Co-ordinator for the West Midlands, confirmed that “Amy Fox, on behalf of Contact a Family, attended a BBQ organised by Funny Blood in 2012. Amy had met Ruby shortly after Noah had been diagnosed with a rare blood condition and helped her claim some of the benefits they were entitled to. Amy very gratefully received a cheque for £500 on behalf of Contact a Family raised as a result of the BBQ. This cheque will help fund Amy to continue supporting families such as Ruby’s”.
We gave 20% of funds raised at the Funny Blood BBQ 2012 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
“A heartfelt thanks from Birmingham Children’s Hospital for this fantastic donation from Funny Blood. It will be used to support children, young people and families visiting our Haemophilia Unit by providing more comfortable seating, as well as toys and games, both of which we know are invaluable when families are waiting and naturally anxious.” Sarah-Jane Marsh, CEO of Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Equipment
We gave 80% of funds raised at the Funny Blood BBQ 2012 to The University of Birmingham’s Platelet Group (GAPP).
As described by Dr Gill Lowe “Funny Blood has helped to fund a new piece of equipment for researchers at the Birmingham Platelet Group. Platelet function testing is a time consuming and specialised process. The machine that they have bought is called a “PAP-8E” and is used to see whether patients have a platelet function disorder. It works by shining a light through a patient’s platelet sample and measuring the change in the passage of light as the platelets stick together. It is a very powerful and up to date piece of equipment and means that the researchers will be able to test more patients per week than they have been able to so far. The contribution of Funny Blood is very much appreciated by the Birmingham Platelet Group.”
Research
We gave 80% of funds raised at the Funny Blood BBQ 2012 to The University of Birmingham’s Platelet Group (GAPP).
Funny Blood has funded a medical student for the summer 2012 to work alongside The Platelet Group (GAPP), based at The University of Birmingham. The Platelet Group are researching Platelet Function Disorder and work directly on Noah’s – and his family’s – DNA and Bloods to help research the little-known condition.
Paul Carter is a third year medical student at the University of Birmingham. As part of his course he opted to spend a year studying for a Biomedical Sciences degree, focused on Cardiovascular Sciences, and was based in GAPP for his research project. As a result of his hard work and determination he obtained a first class degree result and hopes to publish and present his work at a national conference.
Paul will return to GAPP over the summer 2012 to work with the project on a Funny Blood funded placement. He undertook critical work in helping GAPP analyse the data they have collected on all their patients so far and to prepare it for publication in the medical and scientific literature, and also helped them manage their database.
GAPP are extremely grateful to Funny Blood for giving Paul this opportunity and for helping the GAPP project to continue to grow and expand, thus increasing the understanding of inherited platelet disorders. Paul said “Medical research, such as that carried out in the GAPP project thanks to the generous donations from Funny Blood, are vital for us to continue to understand medical disorders and how to treat them. This is why I´d like to conduct medical research into conditions such as bleeding and platelet disorders alongside my future career as a doctor as I feel it is the best way to make a positive impact on the lives of people with such conditions. I greatly appreciate the opportunity given to me by the GAPP project and Funny Blood to get involved in academic research as I am learning a great deal for a future career in research”.
Funny Blood aims to provide grants to support research into Platelet Function Disorder. Your help with raising money is vital to fund research into this little-known condition.
In the future
We have pledged that a significant amount of all monies raised will go to fund research into Platelet Function Disorders.
Charitable Incorporation
We have now raised the £5,000 to apply to the Charities Commission for Charitable Status; this is a standard set-out by them. We await the process to be completed and are hopeful of a positive result – and then the real work begins!
Why is it important to become a Charitable Trust?
Charities are often seen as more credible than other organisations such as a Community Interest Company or a Social Enterprise, for example. There is also a far greater amount of funding available for Charities, and businesses are far more likely to support a Charitable Trust than a Not for Profit Organisation. Funny Blood can make a real difference so please support us x
