Tne end in sight

On 1 October, two months after setting off for the rain soaked mountains of Iceland, three final donations brought my total up to the £3100 target I'd set out to reach a year ago.

Two big events, sponsorship from countless generous friends, relatives and colleagues, a beauty sale and a gruelling 100km slog through Iceland; it's been a brilliant experience, particularly reaching that final goal and realising just how well Macmillan would spend that money.

I can say no more than a huge, huge thank you to everyone who sponsored me, came to an event or bothered to read about my Icecapades.

A little help from the beautiful ones

With only £600 to the final total I was contemplating lots of ways to raise the remaining funds, a cake sale, rattling a tin on the street, selling a day's holiday at work. But combined with a ridiculous work schedule as we set about relaunching the Macmillan website, the goal to reach £3100 before the end of September seemed just out of reach.

Recalling the wise words of those fundraisers who've come before me, I figured a little networking and reliance on old colleagues and friends couldn't hurt, and I managed to convince my flatmate (and ex-colleague) to hold a beauty sale at her office in aid of Macmillan. Now the fact that I used to work at one of the most glamorous publishing houses in the country certainly paid off, as the lovely girls at Conde Nast managed to buy up £545 worth of beauty products, all in the name of charity, bringing me just £34 off my target!

The moral of the story: go through your contact book and ask everyone you know to help if they can, you'll be amazed at what you might find and just how amazingly fabulous old friends and colleagues can be- thanks girls!

Macmillan Music hits The Queen's Head

So I admit... I've been bad with writing the rest of my blog- after the excitement of Iceland and my final big event, I lost the momentum slightly. It's been a long stretch, but the sense of achievement is worth it in the end. One word of advice to anyone thinking of doing this sort of thing- it's easier to fundraise before you go away rather than afterwards.
But back to the gig that I held in August. With £1000 left to raise I was hoping this event would break the back of it all, and thanks to the help of lots of fabulous people it certainly helped, raising over £440.

Firstly huge thanks to:

Jack J, Ana, Sharon, Eva, Pete, Folu, the bands and DJs on the night- Andrew Balkwill, Super Tennis, Zoo for You and Phoebe and Anna-Marie, the guys at the venue and lastly all those fantastic people who came along on the night. The room was packed out and the petty cash box overflowing.

In the few moments before the gig began I don't think I've ever felt so nervous, which wasn't exactly alleviated by the fact that the event (and unphotogenic old me)were being filmed for Leapanywhere.com (if you fancy a giggle you can see my attempts at stardom here: http://www.leapanywhere.com/media/show/1333).

But soon enough the room filled up and Andrew and his band took to the stage, wooing the crowd with simple jazz melodies and catchy riffs. Next came crowd pleasers Zoo for You, an eight piece afro-funk band with punchy brass section and at least two encores. The final live act was indie three piece, Super Tennis, already tipped for the top by NME magazine. Finally Phoebe and Anna-Marie rounded the evening off on the decks, with crowd-pleasing retro tunes.

A massively fun, if daunting night, a little part of me was pretty proud of what we'd all accomplished - so a huge thank you to everyone that helped out before and during the event.

Macmillan Music Jam -25th August

So the date's set, all the bands are in and the poster's have been fabulously designed by one talented Ana Nicolau... now all that's left is for you lovely people to attend.

Details are:

With live performances from:

Super Tennis

Pamflet DJs

Zoo for You

Andrew Balkwill

Doors open:

7pm-midnight

Address:

The Old Queen's Head, 44, Essex Rd, N1 8LN Angel tube station

£5 Buy tickets in advance at www.justgiving.com/jenthorley

All proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support

You can find out more and see the map to the venue here:

http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php?success=1#/event.php?eid=132229782552

Back from the land of fire and ice

So it's been a week since my return from Iceland and I think I'm just about beginning to recover. Well I'm on the fourth load of washing, just about able to look in a mirror again and my walking boots are still hanging outside my bedroom window as the smell has not subsided, but all in all I feel like I'm back in the real world.

Iceland was like nothing else, the hardest but also most fulfilling and challenging thing I have ever done, and I could bore you for hours with a day by day account of what I did thought and ate (actually that wouldn't take long - we ate bread), but I reckon I'll keep it short(ish).

Day one:

Since I was going on my own, rocking up to the airport, rucksack on the back was a nerve wracking enough experience, but the sea of green Macmillan t-shirts and friendly faces put me at ease. As nervous introductions and those awkward, tentative jokes began we headed for the plane (stopping en route at Duty Free for a little tipple, to keep us warm at night of course).

My first impressions of Iceland were beautiful - an eery landscape, almost moonlike in quality, with white fishing huts dotted around the hills. Heading into Rekyjavik we did spot a few Taco Bells, Subways and of course Ikea, but the city still maintained a quaint, old fashioned air. After meeting our new room/tent mates for the week (hello Lizzie B!) and a briefing we headed off for our final sleep in a decent bed.

Day Two:

The first of many early starts to come and we headed off to the hills for our first walk up an active volcano, Hekla. In the first five minutes was a ridiculously steep vertical climb and I think everyone started to think, oh god, what have we done? but after a while, with the sun shining and a lot of chatter with everyone on route, it started to get rather pleasant- this was going to be easy! Ah false sense of security, within 5 minutes of reaching the campsite (and if you ever want to see disappointment in its purest form, watch the faces of Icelandic families seeking solitude in the wilderness when they see a team of 60 people with 30 tents turn up to ruin the peace at their campsite) the heavens opened... and didn't really close again for the next week.

Yes, as I'm sure you've all heard from me by now, the defining point of this trip was the weather... pelting rain, 45mph winds and a cold dampness that invaded every bone. The beautiful sun of the first few days was replaced by these delights until we were forced down from the mountain on the fourth day because of storms.

Day three-

After a first night in the tents (a stint

at Glastonbury this year did little to prepare me for the freezing cold night and a less than adequate sleeping bag... reminder to pay far more attention to the kit list in the future) we set off for a 7 hour trek through some beautiful mountains, past vast lakes and with the sun breaking through for much of the day. Although challenging, the hike was really fun, and everyone had the chance to chat and get to know each other along the way.

With aching feet we approached our second campsite, where, -in rain again- we pitched tents and soaked our sore muscles in the natural hot springs until the wee small hours.

Day four-

The longest day of the trek was also by far the hardest, with ten grueling hours of hiking/scrambling 1100 metres up on mountain ridges, complete with snow, sleet, 45mph winds and a severe lack of waterproofs (again, note to self, obey the kit list.)

Now perhaps the day is over I can look back on it more fondly, and I can say that it was the hardest day of my life physically with the cold, mud and wet, but the sense of getting through it, of helping others clamber up the rocks and of finally completing the day, actually made it worth it. After all, we weren't in Iceland for a holiday - it was meant to be a challenge. The team were incredible, running up and down the hills to help people get through and keeping everyone's spirits up. That night, camping on sodden mossy ground in wet tents and wet clothes, I think everyone felt that we were really earning that sponsorship money.

Day five and six-

As the rain and winds hadn't subsided and storm warnings were being sent out across the mountain range the decision was wisely made by the team to leave the area and find a safer place to trek. As luck would have it Tiny managed to find a ski hut in the Blue Mountains that had dorm rooms to stay out of the rain and dry our clothes for the first time in four days... still no shower but I can tell you that feeling warm and sleeping on a mattress (even with 30 snoring people around you) was utter bliss. Everyone was able to relax a little and enjoy a drink and dinner together.

Unfortunately the weather thwarted our attempts to trek the next day too... with thick fog making it impossible to see our hand in front of our faces (honestly the weather is normally beautiful in Iceland at this time, we were just unlucky!) so we visited the Blue Lagoon instead, and prepared ourselves for a final day of trekking the next day.

Day 7-

The final day of trekking saw us heading up a volcano in that ever present rain and wind again in what was perhaps the hardest climb of the trip. In my usual clumsy way I managed to fall at least five times and rip my new waterproof trousers (purchased a little too late for the earlier part of the trip) but it was great to finish on a hike and a high. With warm soup in our bellies and stinky trekking boots firmly encased in plastic sacks to be disposed of, we headed back to Reykjavik fora celebratory dinner (puffin and shark anyone?)

The meal itself was rather poignant actually, as we all realised that the trek was almost over and much of the talk focused on what we had been through and why we were taking part. When Tiny handed out T-shirts and we all clapped and cheered the amazing crew I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the house. After that it was on to celebrate even harder, hitting the incredible bars that Reykjavik has to offer until the sun came up.

Day 8-

Our final day in Reykjavik was spent snooping around the city (Gay Pride happened to be on, which made it all the more colourful and vibrant) and lots of souvenirs were bought before crawling out of bed at 4am the next morning for the flight home.

My trip to Iceland may have been one of the toughest challenges I've put myself through (anyone who's seen me glare at colleagues for daring to open the window on a cool day will know how cold I get from just the slightest breeze), so gale force winds and drenched clothes were never going to be easy. But I can honestly say it was also incredibly moving, uplifting and actually really, really fun! The people that I met out there pulled you through the bad days, the scenery and walking were breath-taking and the totals that were raised (currently £124,000 for Macmillan) have made it all totally worth it.

You can see lots more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/iceland2009

Going giggin'

Went to visit the gig venue for the first time today. I'm hosting my night at The Old Queen's Head in Angel, a brilliant little pub stuffed full of squashy armchairs and decked out with faux antiques and a great sound system. Liam, the event organiser there, showed me the top floor, where my three bands and the DJs will take to the stage. It's a great venue and can hold 150 people, so hopefully we'll be able to fill the place for Macmillan on 25 August. Well be publicising it soon, so look out for the posters soon.

One last bit of news, the third band has been confirmed- Zoo for You http://www.myspace.com/zooforyou - some local lads from my hometown - cheers guys and a big thanks to Jack Joslin, their manager and all round fab guy who's been helping me out with all this gig stuff.

1 week to go

The passport has finally arrived, my ridiculously pricey travel insurance is booked and my lovely parents have sent the last of my trekking stuff from home so it looks as though I'm good to go a week tomorrow. There's the small matter of a huge lack of training, but I'm bound to get a few good walks in this weekend and the boots are as worn in as they will ever be. I have bought Superdrug out of blister plasters.  I'm starting to get very nervous; about the walking, lack of showers and most of all 6 nights in a tent with a stranger, but it's a excited nervous.

When it comes to fundraising, things are also moving along nicely. I took my friend Ana, a fabulous graphic designer, for coffee today to discuss the posters and leaflets that she has generously offered to make up for my music gig. The date is set - 25 August 2009 and I am just finalising the details with the venue before I head off to Iceland. I'll pop the poster on here as soon as it's done so you can take a look. Lots to do, lots to do. 

PS: Just a quick thank you to everyone that's helped me raise almost £2000 already... it's an amazing amount and amazingly generous of you all. I know I work at Macmillan so you might thing there's a tiny bit of bias, but working there really does give me an opportunity to see everything that they do and they really are a fantastic charity, that are doing amazing work to support the two million people living with cancer in the UK  and their families. So, if you've actually managed to keep reading this blog for this long and haven't died of boredom yet, and you're feeling like doing your annual charitable goodness, the sponsorship link is on the right!