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Fundraising for Ataxia UK
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My cat, Roy with the 'mouse' "helping" me list items on Ebay!
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AtaxiaUK is the UK’s leading charity for people with ataxia, their families and carers, supporting people affected by ataxia and funding research into causes and potential treatments. PLEASE CLICK ON MY FAVORITE LINKS to find out more.
WHY I DON'T LIST WITH Ebay Charity listings:- Ebay offer FREE listing for sellers if they nominate to give a percentage of selling price to charity but as a seller you MUST open an account with Missionfish to do this, Missionfish pay the charity direct but first they take a percentage of the selling price for themselves, nothing wrong with this, they are a bussiness after all. Any profit made from P&P the seller can keep themselves. I make NO personal profit from my listings, 100% of the price you pay goes directly to Ataxia UK, (minus actual postage and small percentage taken by PayPal)For example; if you buy an item from me for 50p + £2.00P&P, PayPal take 29p, if actual postage costs 71p then £1.50 goes to Ataxia UK. If you pay by postal order the donation increses to £1.79! because PayPal don't take a cut!! EBay charges me for listing the items and they take a small percentage the final sale amount. This amount I have decided to make my donation, as I enjoy EBay and since I have been selling, I have had communications through e-mail, with people all over the world, which is very exciting. And, as I always include a leaflet ‘Ataxia… what’s that?’ in every parcel, I am helping to increase awareness of Ataxia.
In 2006 I held a Garage Sale for AtaxiaUK raising £105, my Ebay sales are an extention of this, most items are second hand but good quality, some are new but unwanted and therefore kindly donated to raise funds.
I want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased anything from me since November 2006. (amount raised to date = £955.07 inc. £105 from garage sale September 2006)
From March to now August 2008, together we have raised £223.14 and I am proud to send a cheque for that amount to Ataxia UK.
I am still selling and, with your help, I hope to have another cheque for them early next year.
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Garage Sale 2006
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I was diagnosed with Spina Cerebellar Ataxia at the age of 29.I accepted a long time ago that my condition would slowly get worse and there was not a lot I could do about it but to be aware and know my limitations.
How I understand it is that, the majority of CA’s are inherited and caused by faulty or defective genes. I have two children, who are very good to me and don’t mind pushing Mom around in the wheelchair and never get embarrassed of me if I slur my words or fall over awkwardly in front of their friends or in the street. Neither of them shows any of the symptoms of SCA and it is unlikely that they will develop the condition, (Thank God!). However, it is more than likely that they are a ‘carrier’ of SCA.
How it was explained to me was; each human cell has 46 chromosomes made up of 23 pairs of genes and each pair of genes is made up of one from the mother and one from the father. In my case, both my parents, who are not afflicted by SCA (although they are ‘affected’ by it because of me), have one correct copy and one faulty copy of the gene, unfortunately they both passed their faulty gene on to me, a 1 in 4 (25%) chance of occurrence. This means that I have two faulty genes, therefore any offspring I produce cannot help but have at least one faulty gene as I only have faulty genes to pass on! My children’s father hasn’t had a genetic test but chances are that he will have passed on a correct copy, making the children carriers rather than being afflicted by the condition.
This is where I turn my attention to future generations. Both of my children have at least one faulty gene, so there is a small chance that they could pass this on to their offspring (my grandchildren). I will strongly encourage my children to seek genetic counselling when they are ready to start a family, and by knowing my SCA number, at least they will know which gene is faulty and where to look for it.I think it is important to be aware of this condition. I would hate my children to go through the same anguish as my parents. They were devastated to watch their once active and independent daughter become unsteady and more dependent.
This is why research is so important and this means raising funds for AtaxiaUK to continue the medical advances.The damage is already done for me, the next generations need to carry the interest into the future and eventually, in the very distant future, it could become possible, with increased medical research and advances, to eradicate the debilitating condition of ataxia.
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Favourite Links
AtaxiaUk
Mels Wheely,Wobbly, Walk
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