hi, training has been going really well.The night swim with glow sticks was very festive, everyone with different colours i think the team was colour coded but i could'nt work it out, but it was very pretty.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Trip to Bournemouth/Portsmouth, September 1st-2nd
Heey everyone :)
This was a really good trip - 'interesting' in parts but good all the same.
We left Cornwall at 6pm and drove up to Bournemouth where we had the pleasure of staying in the Bonnington Beach Hotel - a hotel somewhat apprehensively booked by Len where we had a slightly strange but actually very funny night.
The next day, bright and early and following bacon sandwiches for all (we've had better), Len, Didge and Rose dropped us in the centre of Bournemouth for a spot of shopping while they dissapeared to look at a boat they were considering buying. After hitting the sales and exploring Bournemouth Pier (up to a point - they charged 50p to go on the actual pier) we hopped back in the bus and were off to Portsmouth. 1 and a half hours later we were at the Navy Dockyard which was SO EXCITING! There were loadssss of massive ships and sailors wandering around in their special caps and everything. We were guided to the HMS Trumpeter - see photos below - which was an awesome ship, just the right size and with a very lovely Captain (Richie Gray). We were shown round the boat by Richie and had lunch with him and the crew; following this was a little session of questions from both sides as we sorted out the particulars of the swim (ONE WEEK AWAY!).
We now know that we will probably be going up to Dover on the 9th or 10th and staying in a school in Kent while we wait for the best time to swim. Richie and the guys on the HMS Trumpeter are going to have a special ladder (!) made for us to easily get in and out - there's even a stretcher we can use if we need it! We also sorted all things dietary and any other little issues we'd been wondering about.
Following this it was back on the roads, heading home to Cornwall for school - we had our first day back today which is why we are writing this now (we = Luce and Em) in our first free period of the Upper Sixth Form! Studying hard already you see.
Will update over the next few days with any news. Also, just a quick thank you to all those people still donating - sponsorship seems to be flooding in at the moment which is amazingly helpful in the build-up to the swim - we are all sooooooooo excited!
Love
Luce and Em on behalf of L.E.N.S. Team xxx
This was a really good trip - 'interesting' in parts but good all the same.
We left Cornwall at 6pm and drove up to Bournemouth where we had the pleasure of staying in the Bonnington Beach Hotel - a hotel somewhat apprehensively booked by Len where we had a slightly strange but actually very funny night.
The next day, bright and early and following bacon sandwiches for all (we've had better), Len, Didge and Rose dropped us in the centre of Bournemouth for a spot of shopping while they dissapeared to look at a boat they were considering buying. After hitting the sales and exploring Bournemouth Pier (up to a point - they charged 50p to go on the actual pier) we hopped back in the bus and were off to Portsmouth. 1 and a half hours later we were at the Navy Dockyard which was SO EXCITING! There were loadssss of massive ships and sailors wandering around in their special caps and everything. We were guided to the HMS Trumpeter - see photos below - which was an awesome ship, just the right size and with a very lovely Captain (Richie Gray). We were shown round the boat by Richie and had lunch with him and the crew; following this was a little session of questions from both sides as we sorted out the particulars of the swim (ONE WEEK AWAY!).
We now know that we will probably be going up to Dover on the 9th or 10th and staying in a school in Kent while we wait for the best time to swim. Richie and the guys on the HMS Trumpeter are going to have a special ladder (!) made for us to easily get in and out - there's even a stretcher we can use if we need it! We also sorted all things dietary and any other little issues we'd been wondering about.
Following this it was back on the roads, heading home to Cornwall for school - we had our first day back today which is why we are writing this now (we = Luce and Em) in our first free period of the Upper Sixth Form! Studying hard already you see.
Will update over the next few days with any news. Also, just a quick thank you to all those people still donating - sponsorship seems to be flooding in at the moment which is amazingly helpful in the build-up to the swim - we are all sooooooooo excited!
Love
Luce and Em on behalf of L.E.N.S. Team xxx
Photos from visit to HMS Trumpeter.
Porstmouth photos- from top: Luce, Sarah, Richie, Em and Nay; the HMS Trumpeter; lunch in the Crew's Mess; up on top; and three photos of us playing with the gadgets!
Photos from the Xen Fundraiser - Well done girls!!!
These are some photos from our meal at Xen on the bank holiday. From top: Drawing the raffle tickets; the 'teacher table'; the chocolates from Trenance Chocolate we served with coffee; the tables.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Off to Portsmouth...
Hey everyone.
Following last night's amazingly successful meal, the 4 of us plus Len and Didge are leaving for Portsmouth (where the ship is currently docked) this afternoon to meet the captain of the HMS Trumpeter and discuss plans for the BIG SWIM. We will be having lunch on the ship and everything... so posh! Will update you all with news of this on our return in 2 days' time!
Love
Em of L.E.N.S. Team xxx
Following last night's amazingly successful meal, the 4 of us plus Len and Didge are leaving for Portsmouth (where the ship is currently docked) this afternoon to meet the captain of the HMS Trumpeter and discuss plans for the BIG SWIM. We will be having lunch on the ship and everything... so posh! Will update you all with news of this on our return in 2 days' time!
Love
Em of L.E.N.S. Team xxx
Xen Meal - 31st August.
Dear Everyone.
Wow! Well- this meal was amazing. It went so well.
After many negotiations with Mr. Chris Lau (owner of Xen) including a battle of him versus our Mums, we had succeeded in getting a table and meals for 85 lucky people. We had to plan the menu, the raffle, tickets...all without breaking apart L.E.N.S team in the process.
The menu was finalised within a week...almost. The first "secret" fight occurred when Nay and Em had a disagreement over whether the Roast Duck had noodles or rice. We settled on rice...much to the despair of Nay who had just printed and cut out 50 menus. Haha. So the invites went out, the cheques came in slowly and focus was shifted towards making the raffle decent.
We ran round Truro one afternoon in the hope of getting some fantastic raffle prizes, and in the end we did. Letters went out to hotels and companies for freebies :)
The second round of battle between L.E.N.S team occurred over the price of the raffle tickets. Everyone had different ideas but thankfully this was during the M&S bag-pack so we weren't able to discuss this all day as we were on our own tills. This was eventually settled and suddenly it was the 31st August and we had to put everything together that evening!!!
Frantic phone calls between Em and Nay broke up the day. Whilst Nay put the final raffle list together, then again and finally got it printed off, the last "disagreement" between Em and Nay over what they should put in the speech came about. Everything was settled, until we entered Xen and complete chaos hit. I don't think anyone could have prepared poor Mr. Lau for what was going to happen haha.
A very generous last-minute raffle prize threw us, but thankfully Roger Borton (father of friend/auctioneer) stepped up and was able to auction this off! Final cancellations kept Nay and Em on their toes, whilst Mr. Lau finally admitted that the reason he panicked over having so many coffee orders was that he only had 30 coffee cups! However, this tantrum did not take away the magic of the evening. The restaurant was packed and after everyone had sat down we realised we had the entire restaurant to ourselves! This made things slightly easier when it came to our speech; legs shaking and with a couple of prompts from each other this went quite well. There was mass cheering for Len and family which we all joined in with willingly.
I think the sale of the raffle tickets was the most impressive point of the night. I managed to go through one book on one table, and within a hour all four of our ticket books had been cleared out! This was fantastic news and with that Em and I were finally able to sit down and enjoy our meal.
The raffle was a huge success- in fact the whole evening was a total success! We all got a bit delirious with it by the end of the evening. With the auction added in, we realised we had raised over £1000!!!
We owe a huge debt of thanks to Xen in Truro for putting up with us and all our coffee orders! For such fantastic raffle prizes we'd like to thank Budock Vean Hotel and St. Micheal's Hotel and Spa. To Martin Wilson for his two amazing prizes, Rodda's, Trenance Chocolate, Seasalt, Lush, Westcountry Watersports, Merlin Golf Club, The Beauty Room and Freeriders. Also to Roger Borton for being a wonderful auctioneer - thanks for a hilarious end to an amazing evening. But I think our final word of thanks should go out to everyone who attended our meal, it was such a success and I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed their evening...I know we did.
So, on behalf of L.E.N.S team thank you and....1 1/2 WEEKS TO GO!!!
Love
Nay xxxx
Wow! Well- this meal was amazing. It went so well.
After many negotiations with Mr. Chris Lau (owner of Xen) including a battle of him versus our Mums, we had succeeded in getting a table and meals for 85 lucky people. We had to plan the menu, the raffle, tickets...all without breaking apart L.E.N.S team in the process.
The menu was finalised within a week...almost. The first "secret" fight occurred when Nay and Em had a disagreement over whether the Roast Duck had noodles or rice. We settled on rice...much to the despair of Nay who had just printed and cut out 50 menus. Haha. So the invites went out, the cheques came in slowly and focus was shifted towards making the raffle decent.
We ran round Truro one afternoon in the hope of getting some fantastic raffle prizes, and in the end we did. Letters went out to hotels and companies for freebies :)
The second round of battle between L.E.N.S team occurred over the price of the raffle tickets. Everyone had different ideas but thankfully this was during the M&S bag-pack so we weren't able to discuss this all day as we were on our own tills. This was eventually settled and suddenly it was the 31st August and we had to put everything together that evening!!!
Frantic phone calls between Em and Nay broke up the day. Whilst Nay put the final raffle list together, then again and finally got it printed off, the last "disagreement" between Em and Nay over what they should put in the speech came about. Everything was settled, until we entered Xen and complete chaos hit. I don't think anyone could have prepared poor Mr. Lau for what was going to happen haha.
A very generous last-minute raffle prize threw us, but thankfully Roger Borton (father of friend/auctioneer) stepped up and was able to auction this off! Final cancellations kept Nay and Em on their toes, whilst Mr. Lau finally admitted that the reason he panicked over having so many coffee orders was that he only had 30 coffee cups! However, this tantrum did not take away the magic of the evening. The restaurant was packed and after everyone had sat down we realised we had the entire restaurant to ourselves! This made things slightly easier when it came to our speech; legs shaking and with a couple of prompts from each other this went quite well. There was mass cheering for Len and family which we all joined in with willingly.
I think the sale of the raffle tickets was the most impressive point of the night. I managed to go through one book on one table, and within a hour all four of our ticket books had been cleared out! This was fantastic news and with that Em and I were finally able to sit down and enjoy our meal.
The raffle was a huge success- in fact the whole evening was a total success! We all got a bit delirious with it by the end of the evening. With the auction added in, we realised we had raised over £1000!!!
We owe a huge debt of thanks to Xen in Truro for putting up with us and all our coffee orders! For such fantastic raffle prizes we'd like to thank Budock Vean Hotel and St. Micheal's Hotel and Spa. To Martin Wilson for his two amazing prizes, Rodda's, Trenance Chocolate, Seasalt, Lush, Westcountry Watersports, Merlin Golf Club, The Beauty Room and Freeriders. Also to Roger Borton for being a wonderful auctioneer - thanks for a hilarious end to an amazing evening. But I think our final word of thanks should go out to everyone who attended our meal, it was such a success and I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed their evening...I know we did.
So, on behalf of L.E.N.S team thank you and....1 1/2 WEEKS TO GO!!!
Love
Nay xxxx
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Bag packing at M&S!!! Saturday 29th August
Hiya!
We've just got back from our 5 hours bag packing for Precious Lives at Truro M&S and here's a little post to announce that the grand total for the day's fundraising is £480.10!!! Awesome amount and very happy with that since we never expected that much.
Lots of thanks to all the people who shop at M&S, and of course M&S for letting us take over their tills. Haha. Also special mention to Gordon and Charlie H who helped the 4 of us for the afternoon!
Em xxx
We've just got back from our 5 hours bag packing for Precious Lives at Truro M&S and here's a little post to announce that the grand total for the day's fundraising is £480.10!!! Awesome amount and very happy with that since we never expected that much.
Lots of thanks to all the people who shop at M&S, and of course M&S for letting us take over their tills. Haha. Also special mention to Gordon and Charlie H who helped the 4 of us for the afternoon!
Em xxx
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