Ladies night at the Alexandra Pub (Tavistock Grangetown), Sunderland on Wednesday 9th June 2010. £5 ticket includes Cosmopolitan Cocktail, canapés, psychics,demonstrations, music and fun. Don't forget your credit cards so you can shop till you drop!! Call for tickets on 0191 5347788/07818023081 (credit/debit cards taken) or pay at the door.

This year Hope 4 Kidz has been very fortunate to have been selected as SUN FM’s charity of the year. On Thursday 1st July 2010 is SUN FM’s ‘BRING A POUND TO WORK DAY’. All the proceeds from the event are to come to the charity. The most SUN FM has raised from a previous events was £44.000. Please sign up your work place to help beat the previous total. This event is huge for our small charity and will make a tremendous difference to the special needs children who need our help. So please help, no matter whether your staff is small or large every pound counts.. I have attached the poster with the sign up details on. If you are out of the listening area please contact Hope 4 Kidz direct and I will send an information pack out to you.

A Newcastle businessman is embarking on a year-long fundraising campaign on behalf of Hope 4 Kidz, which will climax in an exhausting trek to Mount Kilimanjaro. Ryan Green, Business Development Manager for Tyneside software provider Pebble, is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for the charity by taking part in a series of challenges throughout the next 12 months. The 28-year-old, who is also a serving member of the Royal Marines Reserves, has been a strong supporter of Hope 4 Kidz for many years and is planning a host of activities to help boost funds, starting with a fashion show at Revolution in Newcastle on Wednesday, August 19. The show, entitled Newcastle on the Runway, will showcase a wide range of fashion from retro vintage to glamorous evening wear and feature a charity auction with a wide range of lots, including a pamper package combining Dizzee Rascal tickets and an evening out. Ryan also hopes to host other similar events before undertaking a gruelling 12 day trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, in March 2010. Tickets for Ryan’s Newcastle on the Runway fashion show, priced at £8 each, are available from Revolution at Collingwood Street, Newcastle, Saints Hairdressing also at Collingwood Street or Best Vintage at High Bridge. Admission is also available at the door, priced at £12, and all proceeds will be split between Hope 4 Kidz and Macmillan Cancer Care. For more information call Revolution on 0191 261 8901

A Sunderland youngster with a serious genetic disorder is enjoying a taste of the great outdoors after being given a safe place to play by Hope 4 Kidz. Seven-year-old Annabelle Urch suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as chromosome number two deletion, which means she is missing that particular chromosome from within her DNA. As a direct result of the condition, Annabelle suffers from a wide variety of different illnesses including epilepsy, low muscle tone and a heart murmur, for which she sees 13 specialist consultants, including a paediatrician and physiotherapist. By the time Annabelle was two years old she’d already undergone surgery to implant false muscles into her eyes in an effort to save her deteriorating sight and was forced to endure four additional surgeries between the ages of three and five to aid her hearing. Over the last couple of years Annabelle has defied doctors’ predictions by starting to speak on her own and taking her first unaided steps with the help of a special pair of shoes. In 2008 Annabelle’s parents moved from their long-term home in East Herrington to a bungalow in Seaburn, where Annabelle could enjoy more freedom to walk around. Unfortunately the bungalow was extremely run-down, which was why the family were able to afford it in the first place and the garden of the property was completely unusable. After hearing of the family’s plight Hope 4 Kidz made Annabelle the main beneficiary of one of the charity’s regular fundraising evenings and managed to raise enough funds to give the Urch garden a complete makeover. The centrepiece of the new garden is a two-storey wooden playhouse with a door and window that can be removed and replaced with larger door as Annabelle gets older and grows in height. The playhouse, which can comfortably accommodate Annabelle and up to three of her friends, was erected free of charge by MGT Landscaping of Pallion and sits on top of concrete paving stones which were also supplied for free by the firm. The rest of the garden has been turfed so that Annabelle can run around in safety and not risk hurting herself too badly if she falls over. The turf was purchased by Hope 4 Kidz on a discounted rate from Thompsons Building Centres and was laid by volunteers from Sunderland-based environmental charity CEED - Community Environmental Education Developments.

Matthew Wood, aged four, has been named the overall winner of the colouring competition which was held at the Hope 4 Kidz - Hope Fest event in July. Matthew’s entry of a brightly coloured Power Ranger was picked above dozens of others by competition judge Caroline Bage of Pennywell Business Centre and the High Barnes youngster was awarded a giant rabbit teddy bear and a selection of sweets donated by Nestle. The other entries in the colouring competition were judged by representatives from Sunderland lights supplier PintekD, with a runner-up being chosen in each age category to receive their own selection of Nestle sweets. They are – one year old Quinn Greener from Sunderland , two year old Lucy Shields from Fulwell , five year old Louis Chapman from Pennywell, six year old Ellie Outhwaite from Silksworth , seven year old Mollie Weavers-Hamilton of Percy Main Village, eight year Lucy Garman from Leamside and nine year old Louis Crowe from Spennymoor. Other winners include Spennymoor’s Bradley Crowe who came out top among three and four year olds and Kate Shears from Houghton Le Spring whose entry was deemed best among those in the 10 to 12 age group. The Hope Fest event, which was held at Ashbrooke Sports Ground, was attended by more than 1,000 children and their families from across the North East and helped raised vital funds for Hope 4 Kidz. The weekend-long event offered a host of entertainment including live music, dance performances, martial arts demonstrations and fairground rides, as well as a children’s corner with raffles, games and the colouring competition which Matthew ultimately won.