Open Gardens 21st June 2009

Don't forget to visit the village of Houghton and Wyton on Sunday 21st June when some of the finest gardens in this Cambridgeshire village will be open to visitors in aid of our PANTS project.

The targets set by our charities, The Parkinson's Diesease Society and the Alzheimer's Society, have already been met thanks to our sterling efforts so all money raised at this event go directly to both charities. In the case of PDS all to the local branch. Hope to see you there!

CONGRATULATIONS Alzheimer's Society

Named professional fundraising charity of the year this week!

The fruit of her loins!

Helen's completely obsessed with PANTS, as those who know and love her can testify to. Not content with clearing the market out on a regular basis she's now been cultivating PANTS shape fruit for the village show.

Balls on Fire!

Our charity golf day raised a whopping £930 thanks to the 23 golfers who supported us on 29th May at Abbotsley Golf Club, in Cambridgeshire. Sporting specially provided pants the boys did us proud for a press shot which this week we hope to see in the Hunts Post! The overall winner was Steve Jeffs who walked away with a day at Brands Hatch in September thanks to EACS of Kimbolton who so generously donated the main prize of the day. PANTS branded golf balls were provided by Acushnet of St Ives. Our MC and organiser Anthony is clearly having trouble with his pants!!

Well done Blue Peter

Excited and impressed to watch Helen from Blue Peter run the 24 hr Ultrathon in Namibia. What an achievement and what an inspiration. Delighted to see the Across The Divide team putting on such an impressive event in Africa and feel even more excited about the prospect of going there in October with the ATD team who've been fabulous. Alison (1/4 PANTS). That's probably too many excited's in one paragraph but its all very .... exciting!

Better than a May Ball!

Wow feedback during the week post the Ball has been brilliant. We raised around £2,500 which isn't bad in these recessionary times and of course what was important too was that people had a great time. More photos to follow but here's us PANTS girls doing things with pants - again!

Charity Ball huge success!

We did it! The Charity Ball was a great success on Saturday night and all our hard work paid off. We're waiting to hear what the final sum raised has been but here's us having fun with our tools - getting in shape for the renovations we're going to undertake in Namibia! Thanks to Janey Lee Grace and all our entertainers who helped make the Ball 'better than a May Ball'! Love and thanks from the PANTS girls. Helen, Karen, Fi and Alison

Latest TV ad for Alzheimer's Society says it all!

Anglia Today correspondent confirmed as Ball Auctioneer

Matthew Hudson, a regular news correspondent from Anglia Today, has kindly agreed to support us for the Charity Ball on 18th April, as Auctioneer. The PANTS team are thrilled that he's agreed to support us in this way and feel sure that his experience and professionalism will help that very important part of the evening go extremely well.

As we build up to the Ball on 18th April I thought you’d like to hear more about our celebrity Master of Ceremonies, Janey Lee Grace.

As well as being a regular radio and tv presenter Janey is the author of several books on health and wellbeing incorporating eco friendly issues. Imperfectly Natural Woman (2003 Crown House books) sold in excess of 30K copies and was an instant No 1 Amazon best seller. In March 09 Crown House released Imperfectly Natural Woman – the pocketbook, with adaptations and extracts from the original book in a hardback gift version, which reached No 23 on the Amazon best sellers list on it’s day of release. Janey sends out an ezine every month to over 10K people who have signed up to receive her recommendations and updates on natural /green living.Janey is popular on the speaking and lecture circuit and last year presented at over 100 events around the country.Janey Lee Grace is passionate about all things natural and green. She wants to help people change their lives by introducing them to the concept of easily available natural alternatives and directing them to the products that really work. Janey inspires people to live with fewer toxic chemicals in their lives and to encourage people to feel they can be part of the new 'ethical eco movement' without needing to feel any sense of guilt for the bits they aren't getting right. She sums up this struggle that we all face day to day as 'Imperfectly Natural'. Visit her website http://www.imperfectlynatural.com/ to learn more.

If you’re interested in tickets for the event, where Janey will be also selling some her books please email us at info@charitypants.org.uk and one of us can help you.

Here's what one of our local papers had to say about our promises auction and the whole namibia trip. The interest is building and everyone is as amazed as we are about how much money we raised just on that one night. Look out for Cambridgeshire Journal March issue and other local rags in the coming weeks leading up to the Ball.

Exciting News. Janey Lee Grace has agreed to be our MC for the Charity Ball on April 18th! Famous for regular spots on Steve Wright in the afternoon on Radio Two, Janey is also a passionate campaigner for natural products as well as having a pop-singing past! We're thrilled to have her and feel sure she'll help our evening go with a really big swing.

Charity Ball gets closer!

April 18th is just over one month away and tickets are selling well. Batanai are supporting us with their special blend of authentic African sounds and there's much talk about how the hint of African black tie dress theme will unfold amongst those buying tickets! All very exciting now so don't forget to get in contact if you'd like to join in the fun too. We're nearly up to £13,000 and working hard to hit £20,000 by the time we go to Namibia in October