10 Year Anniversary Fundraising

Thank you so much.  With your amazing generosity, we've reached the £10,000 target in just two weeks. 

It's ten years since I launched my email bulletins. The very first bulletin, on 20th April 1999, recorded the outlawing of gender discrimination. A month later, in May 1999, the unfair dismissal qualifying period dropped from two years to one year. And a month after that, in June 1999, the Public Interest Disclosure Act was passed, providing the first ever protection for whistleblowers.

Now, 1,037 bulletins later, the emails are received by over 23,000 subscribers from right across the employment law spectrum, including judges, solicitors, HR professionals, barristers, journalists, academics and trade union officials.

By last night, the total stood at more than £11,000, all of which is going to Starlight Childrens' Foundation, a charity which brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children by granting their wishes. Your donations will:
  • fly nine-year-old William, from Milton Keynes, to Florida where his wish to be a SeaWorld zookeeper for the day will be granted. William, who has cancer, will be heading to Orlando with his family in October. Cost of his wish: £4,000.
  • send Hadiza, five, from London, and seven-year-old Oliver, from Cheltenham, to Disneyland Paris with their families. Hadiza has sickle cell anaemia, and Oliver has a congenital disease. For both, their dearest wish is to meet their favourite Disney characters. Cost of their wishes: £4,000
Others to benefit include:
  • two girls who have Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma - Stephanie, 14, from Wiltshire, whose wish is to have her own digital SLR camera, and Freya, 18, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, whose dream is to begin driving lessons. Both wishes will be granted in the next few weeks.
  • Sophie, 17, from Devon, who has neurofibromatosis, loves football and dreams of meeting her favourite Chelsea players. Her wish will be granted with a VIP visit to Stamford Bridge on 17 May for the Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers.
  • Kieron, 14, from Sunderland, who has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. He will be riding the London Eye and having a tour of the capital on an open-top bus early next month.

From the outset, this has been a free service. So I decided to celebrate the 10 year anniversary by asking people to donate to Starlight Childrens' Foundation.  I was hoping to raise £10,000 (£1,000 for each of the ten years) - but your generosity has meant we've shot past it.  If you haven't donated yet, and would like to do so, please do consider donating - whether £1, £5 or even £10. It will really make a difference.

--> click here to donate

Daniel Barnett
21st April 2009