"I choose to give…"

"I Choose to Give…"

Laura started us off, donating her birthday to Charlotte when Charlotte’s doctors had let it be known that she probably couldn’t wait for her own. Charlotte’s friends chose to give their birthdays generously too; marked their birth dates in the calendar and chose to give them to Charlotte to celebrate for and with them. Collectively, we have loved sharing these special birthday greetings; we have smiled along with other smiling faces (some of them extremely famous!), “awed” over dogs being cute (you know how Charlotte loved them!), enjoyed the songs, the streamers, the placards and the marching bands, the sparklers and the hats and the noisy blowers; we have drooled over some fabulous looking cakes (some of the dogs have had to be held back from doing the same!) and enjoyed the whole wonderful, unique party.

So as 13 July dawns, a special date in the calendar because it was Charlotte’s very own birthday, we are choosing this day to ask that, if you would have wanted to mark it with her - with a card, or a gift, or a greeting or a remembrance - to do so with us, in Charlotte’s name, via Charlotte’s Helix, and in celebration of Charlotte’s life.

We are launching “Choosing to Give…” for this special day, and ask that you might step on board and “choose to give” to Charlotte’s Helix for Charlotte’s birthday. The twin arms of the Helix embrace both the primary donations that we need to make this project a success: funds for the expenses of drawing and obtaining DNA; and DNA samples for the Kings College biobank (to be processed and donated in turn to the AN25K Challenge). We need 1,000 DNA samples, and we are a quarter of the way to this target, and every sample costs £100 for KCL to process.

“I choose to give… “ is where we start the ball rolling. Fill in the dots as seems most appropriate to you: “my DNA”; “my blood”; “my time”; “an hour’s wage”; “the contents of my purse”; “the cost of processing a sample”; “my voice”, … you get the idea! Follow our lead or make it unique to you. Take a picture with your choice of gift written on a board or a piece of paper, and share your pledge with everyone here - don’t forget our #AN25K and to share it on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, or here on our website, although, of course, you can be more anonymous if you prefer.

We love to share, we love to see faces and names and pledges, and to celebrate our community: choose to give DNA, choose to give money via F.E.A.S.T. or via Beat, but giving is personal, please choose to give exactly as you see fit and as you feel most comfortable, just like Charlotte always did!