Yogathon fundraiser in East Yorkshire.
On Saturday 21st January 2012, 40 yoga students and two yoga teachers took part in a sponsored Yogathon.  The money raised is to go to Abbie’s fund  (www.abbiesfund.co.uk) which was set up by my friends, Katy and Paul Cowell, last year after their full term, beautiful daughter was stillborn.  They are providing beautiful memory boxes for bereaved families to take home after such a tragic event.  The box contains a teddy, blanket, forget me not seeds, and tools to store hand and foot prints and a lock of the babies hair.  The feedback from other parents is very moving.
When I heard the news I was moved to tears but my friend and colleague, Ann-Marie Mainprize, who had just had a baby at the time, was far more pro-active and had the idea of the Yogathon.
So many people helped us to organise the day, and make it run very smoothly.  We had an amazing amount of donations from our class students towards the raffle and tombola.  We were extremely grateful to OM Magazine who generously donated an OM bag and magazine to each participant, as well as a year’s subscription to the magazine, plus a 3 day Yoga Show pass for the student who raised the most money.  We were totally blown away by that!
We found that the whole process of organising the event, training for it and then participating was a very steep learning curve, one where we all had to dig deep to persevere.  We had Christmas which threw a lot of people off course, my own son was critically injured during the training period, and other people had personal and family illnesses and bereavements to contend with.
But on the day, seeing everyone focus on the breath for that first round of 12 Surya Namaskar, made it all worthwhile.
Then the buzz afterwards as everyone who took part was so elated with what they had achieved.  I teach remedial yoga and many of my students have various medical conditions, injuries and are all over 25!!  But everyone did something that was an achievement for them – from Ann-Marie’s Ashtanga students, to those that worked with a chair modification, and those that worked in a relay.  To see the whole room join in was amazing.
Katy and Paul shared in our delight when the final tally came in – we raised a fantastic £3752.30!!!

If you have been touched by Stillbirth or Neonatal death, you may wish to visit http://www.abbiesfund.co.uk where there is a wealth of support for you.
Namaste
Lesley Wadforth and Ann-Marie Mainprize.

Download a sponsor form – sponsor form.pdf

Download a yogathon poster – yogathon poster.pdf

Download yogathon guide pack – Guide Pack.pdf

Yogathon raffle prizes – raffle prizes.pdf