Well, battling the fog of gloom that had descended over me recently I made my way to work today. The purpose of my visit was purely pleasure as today was the date of the annual Charlie Bear Christmas Fair. Anyone of a certain age in Newcastle is sure to remember the charity appeal by our local rag, the Evening Chronicle, for a CT scanner to be installed at Newcastle General Hospital. The appeal had been set up a wonderfully eccentric woman called Daisy Clark who was selling teddy bears (Charlie) to raise money for the scanner. Daisy’s husband had recently taken ill and he was unable to get a scan in Newcastle so Daisy decided something needed to be done about it.
The appeal was one of the most successful ever run by the paper and everyone in the Newcastle area could tell you what Charlie Bear was all about. In fact the appeal was so successful that there were tens of thousands of pounds still in the kitty after the scanner had been bought and this was used to fund a radiographer post, a post that I held myself for a while. Several years later, with Daisy’s approval, Charlie Bear was ‘adopted’ as the charity figure-head for the Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment.
The Christmas fair always includes an auction and I always try and bid for at least one lot each year as my contribution to the fund. This year despite being ill I was determined that I was going to attend, so attend I did. My luck was out on the tombola stall run, as every year, by the staff of the local branch of Barclays Bank who kindly double any takings made on the stall. I was luckier with the raffle and won a cuddly toy but asked them to redraw. Truth be told I didn’t fancy making my way back to Wallsend clutching a 4ft tall purple and white puppy dog.
The auction got underway and there were several interesting lots including a days fishing on the Tyne for 2 rods and a Gillie, a telescope and various football paraphernalia. I ended up bidding for and getting a Sunday Lunch for 2 at the Robin Hood Inn on the Military Road. I thought it would be ideal for Gill and her mam to use when I’m in for my surgery.
On the subject of my surgery I enlisted the help of my Directorate Manager to try and speed things up, after all it’s in her best interest to get me back to work as soon as possible. It helps that she is really good friends with her opposite number at Cardiology. Lets hope I get some dates soon then.
The appeal was one of the most successful ever run by the paper and everyone in the Newcastle area could tell you what Charlie Bear was all about. In fact the appeal was so successful that there were tens of thousands of pounds still in the kitty after the scanner had been bought and this was used to fund a radiographer post, a post that I held myself for a while. Several years later, with Daisy’s approval, Charlie Bear was ‘adopted’ as the charity figure-head for the Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment.
The Christmas fair always includes an auction and I always try and bid for at least one lot each year as my contribution to the fund. This year despite being ill I was determined that I was going to attend, so attend I did. My luck was out on the tombola stall run, as every year, by the staff of the local branch of Barclays Bank who kindly double any takings made on the stall. I was luckier with the raffle and won a cuddly toy but asked them to redraw. Truth be told I didn’t fancy making my way back to Wallsend clutching a 4ft tall purple and white puppy dog.
The auction got underway and there were several interesting lots including a days fishing on the Tyne for 2 rods and a Gillie, a telescope and various football paraphernalia. I ended up bidding for and getting a Sunday Lunch for 2 at the Robin Hood Inn on the Military Road. I thought it would be ideal for Gill and her mam to use when I’m in for my surgery.
On the subject of my surgery I enlisted the help of my Directorate Manager to try and speed things up, after all it’s in her best interest to get me back to work as soon as possible. It helps that she is really good friends with her opposite number at Cardiology. Lets hope I get some dates soon then.
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