Fundraising

The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation funds research into integrative medicine to improve the lives of people living with ME/CFS.

Each year, nearly a quarter of a million sufferers don’t receive the care they need to recover and, like you, we want this to change.

We are currently fundraising for a unique, three-year, clinical trial with the aim that our treatments will soon be available to all, via the NHS.  

We need just £22,000 to launch this vital research in 2015. 

Here’s how you can help improve the lives of others living with this horrible illness. 

(And we can guarantee that every penny will go towards this research – all our fundraising is done by volunteers and the charity’s overheads are covered by the Clinic!)

Make a donation

Giving online is quick and easy at www.justgiving.com/optimumhealthfoundation/

Get your company involved

Do your employers offer payroll giving?  It’s a simple, tax efficient scheme which means that you can donate to the Foundation, every month, before tax.  This means that a monthly gift of £10, could cost you as little as £6.00, but the Foundation will be able to re-coup the full amount from the tax man!

Interested in getting a team together for a volunteering or fundraising event?  Contact the Foundation below for ideas and support.

And finally, does your company run a ‘Charity of the Year’ scheme?  If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Celebrate each stage of your recovery

Whether it’s a fun ‘Smoothie morning’ fundraiser or a sponsored run, walk or cycle, every penny makes a difference.  We can offer ideas, inspiration and support.

Take a look at our Just Giving page to see some of the fantastic fundraising that others have done! www.justgiving.com/optimumhealthfoundation/

Leave a lasting legacy

Leaving a gift in your Will to the Foundation would make a significant contribution to research into the treatment of ME/CFS, now and in the future, and would be free from inheritance tax.

In memory

No amount of money can ever replace a lost loved one, but fundraising for this vital research could leave a lasting legacy for others. Please email us if we can help with advice about raising funds in memory of a loved one.

Major gifts and philanthropy

Are you considering making a personal donation or giving through your own Trust or Foundation? Please contact us so that we will help you get the maximum value for your gift.

If you would like to get involved in fundraising for this exciting new research, please contact  at [email protected] or  via Grace at 0845 226 1762

Previous Fundraising Events

Simon Limpus – Bonfire and Fireworks Night

Simon Limpus (a former patient and OHC’s first ever employee back in 2004!) organised a bonfire night with fireworks and various stalls on 12th November 2011. The event was attended by around 80 people, with apparently the festivities continuing to 6:00 in the morning! Some of the highglights included Simon managing to get hold of over £1k of fireworks for £50 (its a very long story!) with people commenting it was the better than their local town display, the tug of war event, and the charity auction. All together £1,123.46 was raised, a huge amount of fun was had, and there are now plans for a yearly event!

Simon is undertaking an incredible charity event in February.  He will be  be motorbiking 1500km across Siberia in temperatures ranging from –40 to –60! You can watch a video with Simon and Alex about his journey with ME/CFS and the fundraising event in support of The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation by clicking here.  All sponsorship received will go directly to the Foundation (with over £1200 already donated), so please do support Simon in this incredible adventure! You can read more about the event and sponsor Simon at www.Icerun2012.com

Click here to read an article in the Surrey Advertiser about Simon’s event

Click here to read an article in the Motorcycle News about Simon’s event

Nancy Poller  – Sponsored Walk

Nancy Poller, a former patient of the clinic, walked the 15 peaks of the Malvern Hills in June 2011, raising almost £1000.  In Nancy’s words: “Well…I did it! 7 hours, 15 peaks and lots of sandwiches…We walked from Chase End hill at the very South end of the Malverns all the way to North Hill, crossing through Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire along the way! I climbed every one of the 15 peaks on the route, with brill support from Andy and Dad. Buckets of thanks to everyone who sponsored me and supported me! Thinking of all the people who were behind me really helped, especially on the last few peaks when energy levels were flagging!”

Ian Hatton – Sponsored Bike Ride

Ian Hatton, whose daughter has been a patient at OHC, completed a mammoth coast to coast cycle in July 2011, raising over £2000 for the foundation. Ian said, “The ride was fantastic. Scenery was such that you wished you had a video camera strapped to your helmet, and the weather was so kind to us, not a drop of rain, and the wind wasn’t too strong. Quite an achievement for us all, and I’m delighted to have been able to increase the awareness of the work you do, and raise a bit of funding for the future.”

The Optimum Health Foundation Sponsored Firewalk

January 2009 saw the first ever Optimum Health Clinic Foundation firewalk, and what an exciting event it was.  A rather brave (or just plain stupid!) group of patients and friends of the clinic took on the burning coals with huge enthusiasm, with most of the group choosing to walk across twice.  Included in this group was Alex’s mum, who also stars in one of the best photos of the event.  If anyone ever needs proof of a mothers’ unconditional love, firewalking surely has to be it!

Lindsey Oliver – Sponsored Run

Former patient Lindsey completed the Great South Run in November 2008, raising over £500 for the foundation.  Here is her account of the experience: “I had run in a couple of 10 mile races before Sunday so I had some sort of idea what I was in for, but the last one was 16 years ago, which is definitely long enough ago for me to forget most of my experiences and be pretty nervous!

When I decided to do the race I wasn’t able to run for longer than 20 minutes, so I knew I had some training to do. My aim (in the beginning at least!) was just to complete the course without finding it too difficult, so my training consisted of running for as long as I was reasonably comfortable with 2 or 3 times a week, and increasing the distance a bit every week.

The first few runs were really hard, and often accompanied by thoughts of ‘Oh God, how am I ever going to do this!’, but after a couple of weeks it got a lot easier, and I was surprised by my levels of improvements even from week to week, and experiencing this made it much easier to both carry on running, and to believe that it was all going to turn out well in the end. Training didn’t always go well – I had many tough sessions and many missed sessions (due to any number of reasons including late nights, laziness, and an impromptu trip to New York with resulting jetlag!), and to be honest, I did feel rather unprepared on the day – I always knew I was going to do the run, but I was rather scared at how hard I’d find it!

As well as feeling a bit undertrained, I had also felt a bit ‘coldy’ for a couple of days before the race, which was also not ideal (and brought on more fearful thoughts about whether I should do it, and how hard it would be if I did). I have a wonderful friend to thank for pointing out to me that it was probably down to the expectations that I had placed on myself and the resulting stress rather than actually having any cold, which turned out to be totally right. I hadn’t really been aware of all the things I had been thinking concerning the race and the pressure I had put myself under – that I wanted to run under a certain time, and the judgements about myself if I didn’t achieve this, and my fears of how hard the race would be due to poor training – none of it ideal preparation for something that was supposed to be fun!

Race day finally came, and it was brilliant. A few nerves, but as I knew that any expectation was mine and mine alone, I was able to let go of them a bit and just run. I started off slowly (which was made easy by the hundreds of people all around!) and just kept going. Running in a big crowd made it easier than running alone – there was always someone coming past me, but, I was also always overtaking someone else!

I genuinely enjoyed the feeling of running, and I had big moments of feeling really proud of myself – I was really doing it! And, it was much easier than I thought it might be. I crossed the line feeling tired but physically fine, which was brilliant; and I must admit to being a bit emotional too – I had done something that 4 years ago I never thought was possible. I also had the added bonus of my race time (1hr 31) – it was the same as I had done it 16 years ago, which was amazing!”