In June, Notts/Derby local group coordinator Bridget O’Connor organised a stand at a Local Enterprise Organisation Event at Mansfield Town football club. The team is known locally as ‘The Stags’. Donations from the sale of Bridget’s book, Hisham’s Envelope, and proceeds of a raffle held the preceding week, amounted to £52.50 each for BTF and HPTH UK.

Bridget also got together with a friend, Annette Terry, who organised a Western themed night in her garden, complete with bucking bronco and barbecue. £375

Janet Smith and Dot Jelbert raise money for a different charity each year by selling cakes, preserves and bric-a-brac on a stall at Knaresborough market. Janet had hyperthyroidism several years ago and so this year they decided to support the BTF. Knaresborough is just a few miles from the BTF office so they called in to present us with the cheque in person. £266.60

Knaresborough market day charity stalls can be obtained free of charge through Harrogate Borough Council. If anyone local is interested please contact us at BTF HQ for further details!

Mrs Jacqueline Hughes offered head massages at her local primary school’s ‘Ladies Pamper Evening’. £27

Mrs June Linford - Happy 80th Birthday! Many thanks for your kind donation raised during your 80th birthday party lunch at Saltram House, Devon. £236

Jane Betts and her friends, Emma and Melanie raised £195 at a joint 40th birthday party, and Jane’s employer - Cargill plc - who matched the amount raised, bringing the total to £390.

Pat and Joe Wolsoncroft – Congratulations on your diamond wedding anniversary and many thanks for the donation. £150

Right: the Wolsoncroft wedding day and left: the Wolsoncrofts sixty years on.

Mrs Mary Longfellow – We hope you had a wonderful 70th birthday and thank you for the kind donation in lieu of birthday presents. £130

Professor John Lazarus, BTF Trustee, who donated his stipend received from MIDIRS Midwifery Digest for the publication of an article entitled ‘Risks of thyroid disorder and pregnancy’. £75

Sports journalist and presenter Clare Balding nominated the British Thyroid Foundation as her chosen charity to receive a donation from the bookmakers William Hill. £5000

Michael Smout, who has an underactive thyroid, decided he wanted to climb a few (more) of the Munros - Scottish mountains that are over 3000 ft - to raise funds for BTF and to get to the halfway point in his mission. There are 284 such mounts; Michael has already climbed 139 of them and wanted to make it to 142, ie to get halfway round. Michael says: Unfortunately my thyroid has decided to stop working but the doctors don’t know why. Tablets help but more research needs to be done so I`ve decided to raise some money for the BTF.

Michael says: I had a great day out on 27 June and climbed Ben Wyvis with my twin brother, Richard, who is a fellow sufferer. The weather was typically Scottish - very hot at one point, followed by a heavy downpour, but thankfully no midges. I was based in Ullapool for the rest of the week and managed to climb some more Munros, so my tally now stands at 145. I'm very pleased to have reached my target amount. £855

David Worrall and his wife Nicola visited the British Thyroid Foundation’s Harrogate headquarters recently to present the charity with a cheque for £4,777.27 raised during David’s year as Captain of the Poulton-le-Fylde Golf Club.

When David, an IT architect working for CSC and a keen golfer, named the British Thyroid Foundation as his chosen charity, his initial fundraising target was £1,000. In fact he was so successful that he had to raise the target several times and had raised more than four times the original target by the time his year as Captain ended on 30 March. The final total broke all previous records for the club’s annual Captain’s Charity.

The events included a Junior Golfathon (72 holes in one day) that raised £430, and two presentation evenings with raffle prizes donated by local businesses. David also raffled off his year of free golf that raised over £600, and his Captain’s parking space.

The final event was a race night with one of the races being designated as the charity race. A bottle of bubbly was kindly donated as a prize and the horses were auctioned off to the highest bidders. This raised over £240.

David’s wife Nicola contributed significantly to the result too. Nicola took part in the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride in July 2009 and raised over £650, a fantastic result. The ride is 76 miles and although it stayed dry, Nicola had to contend with a very strong wind that made it a tough and gruelling ride. Nicola, whose mother had a serious thyroid condition, is a health education practitioner at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Val Ellison, former BTF Trustee and local coordinator, has nominated BTF as her chosen charity during her year as Lady Captain of the Abergele Golf club. £70 and counting!

Bridget O’Connor who is a telephone contact for both BTF and HPTH UK organised a Hoedown in April. Bridget writes: ‘The Hoedown was held at my local community centre where I work. I invited family, friends and colleagues; there were adults and children. We had country type food; it was such FUN! My sister did the calling for the dancing and my nephew did the music. We had a demonstration from a Miley Cyrus wannabe doing the Hoedown Throwdown song! We had a raffle and a quiz with a prize for the highest scoring table, and a colouring competition for the children. Fancy dress was optional but most turned up in costume and one lovely friend wore his 30-year-old cowboy boots he’d got out of the loft!' £100

Dr Michael Tunbridge and Dr Mark Vanderpump for once again donating royalties form Thyroid Disease: The Facts 4th Edition. £165.24

Mrs A Cowan organised a Burns Ceilidh (left) at Dunnikeir Park Homes estate. £562

Debby Benjamin organised her second ‘Singing for the Terrified’ event for the BTF Children’s Project. £160

Julie Brown (right) and her fiancé ran the Paris Marathon in 5hr 13min. Julie’s daughter has just been diagnosed with Graves’ disease. “We both had a fab time at our first marathon. We thought it was a great course for a first timer being mostly flat. The weather and atmosphere was great, and the French crowds were brilliant with their encouragement.” £1000+

Elaine Viles The Challenge: Swim the equivalent distance of the English Channel (22 miles) in 28 days!

Elaine says: 'I felt it was time to give something back for all the excellent care that I received whilst being treated for thyroid cancer during 2008. It was a pleasure to raise this money - really! Thanks to Mr Pracy & his team at the QE Hospital, Birmingham, to Dr. Dudley, Annette and all at Cotmore Surgery, Birmingham, to my colleagues at The Arthur Terry School, Birmingham and by no means least my special family & dear friends - I appreciate every bit of support offered!'

'This is the 'end of challenge' picture! Complete with my special shells. I collected these shells whilst recovering from my treatment in Scotland. They are so meaningful to me. They served as my 'counters' whilst counting off the lengths. 80 lengths = 1 mile. The counting was more challenging than the swim!' £700

Christian Hill ran the London Marathon. “Foolishly, I applied for the London marathon for a 2nd time & got in. I must be a glutton for punishment. Anyway my partner asked me to run for a Thyroid charity as she has hypothyroidism to which I replied I would.” £1316

Rebecca Woods (BTF member), Polly Dawes, Satu Nieminen, and Wendy Wrigglesworth knitted up a storm in September then sold the knitted items at an annual sale. £433

Stephen Hedley ran the Great North Run in September. “I managed to finish in 2 hours and 30 minutes, not an amazing time but one that I was/am very proud of! I’d like to thank everyone who sponsored me and who helped me". £118.38

Steve McMullan and Dave Heeks (right) ran the Wetherby 10K Fun Run in September. £282

Philippa Williamson took part in the London Mazda Triathlon on 1 August. "This year I decided to take on the challenge of the London Triathlon again to improve my time, to take on a few family members who had signed up and - most importantly - to raise money for a very valuable charity and support the research that goes into helping people with this disorder and help make their lives better. Several people I know suffer from thyroid disease and it affects their lives hugely. It was a brilliant day and the sun was out which made it all worthwhile and I improved my time from last year by 16 minutes and 23 seconds so the training paid off.” £395

Elizabeth Barber (left) completed the ASICS British 10K London Run event in 49 minutes. £300 Photograph reproduced with permission of www.marathonphotos.com

Lucy Szkornik (right) ran the Flora London Marathon in April. “I decided to raise money for the BTF as I have an underactive thyroid myself and underwent surgery when I was 18 to remove part of my thyroid. I hope the money I have raised will go a little way to helping research into thyroid conditions.” £243

David Pendlebury took part in the 2009 Bath half-marathon event. “The main source of pride is having raised some cash for the BTF in the process [of running the event]". £300

Irene Baillie thyroid cancer survivor, organised a sell out event the Tron Theatre in 2007 and followed this in 2009 with a concert at the Glasgow City Halls and a fundraising night at the Motherwell and Wishaw Miners Social Club. £3175

Joanne Kay skydived for her 40th birthday. “I’d decided that I’d donate all the sponsorship money to BTF as one of my best friends had thyroid cancer in her early 20s. Anne is always ready with a smile and a shoulder to lean on despite everything’s she’s been through and is still going through herself. This was my way of trying to help her.” £300

Stephanie and Gerry Tovell held a Barn Dance to celebrate their Ruby Wedding Anniversary and requested donations in lieu of gifts. Congratulations to Stephanie and Gerry. £255

St. Albans Concert Cavalier Hall of St. Stephen’s church organised by BTF member Elizabeth Barber featuring piano duettists Harvey Dagul and Isabel Beyer who donated their time and talent. £638.50

Aileen Collins (left) completed this year’s Great North Run in 1hr 58mins (a personal best). £500

Eastlands Homes Community Safety Team, Emmet Hynes and Manchester Radio On-Line (right) stayed overnight in a ‘haunted’ building. Thanks also to Manchester Radio On-Line for making BTF their charity of the month. £504

Coral Peters and the ladies of Dartford Golf Club (right) held a Christmas Golf competition in fancy dress. £140

Julie Long (left) held a party in celebration of her 40th birthday and requested donations to BTF in lieu of gifts. £608

Elizabeth Barber ran the London Marathon in 4hr 33min 40sec. “The record for ladies over sixty was never in much danger from me at this year’s race! The trouble was a knee problem…. but I was determined to take up the challenge. I am so grateful to all who supported me.” £964

Keith Munn undertook a charity trek in Peru as part of an organised group of 35 people. The trek lasted four gruelling days and covered the classic Inca trail to Machu Picchu. “I feel very lucky and privileged to have taken part in the trek and to have seen the Inca ruins and Machu Picchu. To find out that I raised nearly £4000 through the generosity of my sponsors makes it that bit more special.” £4000

Jane Sattentau, Kimberly Romaine and Elizabeth Barber ran the London Marathon. Jane Sattentau was diagnosed with Graves’ disease during her second year at university. Jane began her training just four months before running the marathon. “The feeling when I crossed the finish line was worth all the pain of getting there. I am really happy to be giving my sponsorship money to a cause close to my heart.”

Kimberley Romaine was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1998 when she was 20 years old. “I wanted to run the London Marathon for the BTF. It is so important to get the word out. I thoroughly enjoyed the run although my time was officially my worst – my legs gave out!”

Elizabeth Barber ran her second London Marathon for BTF in 2006. “What an atmosphere… and what a thrill to pound my way under the finish banner and to know that this ex-Graves’disease sufferer had scored a substantial ‘personal best’ for the distance” (official time: 3hr 48min 30secs). £3000

...And our first London Marathon runner was Jane Simber in 2002