There’s always people raising money for NRAS, and in the next few weeks there’s a few more folks with their own challenges to raise money.

Elaine Williams is planning to swim 100 lengths as her fundraiser, as someone who has RA herself this really is a demanding challenge. You can sponsor Elaine over at her JustGiving page. Good Luck Elaine, and I hope it all goes perfectly for you

Paul Keats is part of the NRAS team, and is going to take part in this years Great North Run to help raise funds and awareness for those with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It’s a great effort from Paul as he was a late replacement for the event. I wish Paul all the best for the run. You can sponsor Paul on his JustGiving page.

I’ve now created a separate blog for the great rail race you can find it at
www.nrasgreatrailrace.wordpress.com

There’s been a few more donations, and the total so far is an amazing £310! there’s also gift aid to the value of £78.13 too.

I’m so overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone who has contributed.

Only a few days to go until I start the voyage.. Camera batteries checked, lens cleaned, laptop case dug out, all the paperwork for the trip ready to go too.

Best dig out some posh gear as i’ll be in first class too.

Amazing!

As of 2pm this afternoon my £250 target has been hit. I’d like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has donated.

Another update for you all.

I’ve just had notification from Val at NRAS HQ that First Great Western have kindly upgraded me to first class on both legs of my journey with them. Which is from Plymouth to Penzance, and the Penzance to London Paddington leg.

So my thanks go to First Great Western for their very generous donation.

Also the current JustGiving total is at an amazing £213! I really can’t express my thanks enough to everyone who has donated to the fundraiser.

I had a call this afternoon from NRAS HQ, and it seems that First Scotrail have kindly donated a sleeper berth for my London Euston to Inverness leg of my journey next week. So a BIG THANK YOU to First Scotrail for their very kind donation, and may I also say another big thank you to everyone who has donated so far.

I was bored earlier and was tinkering with the My Map feature of Google Maps, I might set one up for the journey, and include snippets of useless information and some photo’s during my journey. I’ll let you all know once I’ve set it up and it’s up and running.

Latest updates are on twitter – search for #nrasgrr, also available on Facebook

With a few days gone since my JustGiving page opened I’m overwhelmed at the generosity of folks especially in these difficult economic times. Friends, members of NRAS, the Honda Trail Bike Forums, and Cable Forum have been donating to the fund and it’s already at an amazing £133.00.

I’ve been printing off copies of my route plan and timetable (double checking everything including the cross London transfer), setting up twitter so it updates my Facebook status, and even setting up twitter to accept sms messages from my phone.

I’ve also been looking for free Wifi hotspots (without much luck at the moment), in the places I get a short stop over so I can upload any pics I might have taken en route.

As mentioned on a previous blog entry, you’ll be able to follow the progress, here, and also on Twitter (look for #nrasgrr ) and my Facebook page.

I’m quite looking forward to the trip, and I’d just like to thank again those who have donated so far, you’re all stars.

Hi Folks

I’ve set a date for my Great Rail Race of 8th/9th September.

I’ll be using the following services…

Tuesday 8th

Cross Country Trains XC151000
Birmingham New Street d 07.12
Plymouth a 10.48

First Great Western GW110100
Plymouth d 11.18
Penzance a 13.18

First Great Western GW121300
Penzance d 14.00
London Paddington a 19.24

First Scotrail SR270307
London Euston d 21.16
Inverness a 08.30 (Wednesday)

Wednesday 9th

First Scotrail SR041000
Inverness d 09.18
Perth a 11.33

First Scotrail SR530600
Perth d 11.59
Edinburgh a 13.19

Cross Country XC175000
Edinburgh d 14.08
Birmingham New Street a 19.08

Total Mileage for the trip is around 1806 Miles

I have now set up my just giving page which you can find at Just Giving

Even a tiny donation of a £1 can help NRAS to continue their work for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Many thanks for all of your support

Jo.

You will be able to follow the trip online at the following sites

Facebook: Look for Joanne Connors
Twitter: Follow Joanne_C or look for the #nrasgrr tags
Blog: http://robojo.wordpress.com/

Over the last week or so I’ve been hatching a plan for a fund raising event for NRAS. Despite an improvement in my fitness level of late I’m still nowhere near being able to undertake some of the wonderful things members and friends of NRAS are doing.

So.. In a moment of brain activity (a rare thing for me) I came up with..

The Great Rail Race
A Fund raising Idea for NRAS

The great rail race won’t involve me cycling long distances, leaping out of a plane, or anything strenuous at all.. My plan is to travel from Birmingham to Inverness and back to Birmingham by train.

What’s the big deal with that I hear you ask? Ohh did I not mention that I’d be going via Penzance and London on the outward journey, and returning via York on the last leg. My plan is to complete the challenge in 2 days, and I plan to blog the entire journey as it progresses.

I’ve always loved train travel, and having worked for British Rail before the RA forced me into retirement on ill health grounds, I have a good knowledge of the rail network and what I could achieve.

I’m hoping that the rail companies on the services that I will be using in my quest will get onboard (sorry bad joke!) and won’t mind me having some NRAS leaflets available to passengers to help raise awareness.

The information below is subject to alteration, while I schedule the event, and may change if there’s the usual September timetable change. I will include the number of miles the journey will take once I’ve got all the data as it can depend on the routes the services take.

Day 1 Arrive Depart
Birmingham 07.12
Exeter St. David’s 09.43 10.13
Penzance 13.18 14.00
London Paddington 19.24
London Euston 21.16
Inverness 08.30 (Day 2)

Day 2 Arrive Depart
Inverness 09.18
Perth 11.33 11.59
Edinburgh 13.19 14.08
Birmingham 19.08

I have spoken with the fund raising team at NRAS who think it’s a wonderful idea, I’m going to set up a Just Giving Page for the event, but first I am waiting a reply from the train operating companies before I schedule a date for my epic rail marathon.

I’ll keep you all posted

As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, we will all write about a bad experience from a firm or service, and it’s not everyone who will express their thanks when they get good service. I have always been a firm believer in giving credit where it’s due and below are two companies I’ve recently had dealings with and the service has been excellent.

The two firms are:

Graham Tiso Ltd
I ordered some base layer clothing, via Amazon, within 1 hour of placing my order I’d had a dispatch notification, and the items arrived safely today, well packaged and exactly as described.

The Essential Oil Company
I bought some Epsom Salts from them via Amazon, and placed the order yesterday morning, the 2Kg bag arrived this afternoon via the courier. The Epsom Salts are great for the Rheumatoid Arthritis, and really relaxing in a lovely hot bath.

So a BIG thank you to both firms, for the great service they’ve given, a satisfied customer here who won’t hesitate to recommend them both.