THE HELPING HARVEY CAMPAIGN The appeal was started in Dec 2016 to raise 25,000.00 so that Harvey who was 8 years old could have a life changing operation and all the specialised after care which could be up to 2 years (The poster explains all of Harvey's medical condition etc, and why he needed this operation) as the NHS would not fund it and all the money would have to be raised by the family. The appeal was started by Harvey's mum & dad. Harvey is my sister's grandson and as I am a pigeon fancier I said to my wife that I am sure pigeon fanciers and firms supplying pigeon requisites would support me in trying to raise funds to support THE HELPING HARVEY APPEAL. I started my campaign with the help of my club mate and very good friend Mr John Angwin in Dec 2016. I sent out e-mails to all the firms supplying pigeon requisites asking for their support with either goods or vouchers that we could sell and raffle at our club room to raise funds for Harvey; the response was excellent, and a lot of these goods I collected from the firms stands at the BRITISH HOMING WORLD SHOW in January 2017. These were raffled and sold in our club room THE PENZANCE PREMIER RACING PIGEON CLUB, at our breeder/buyer sales when we also presented two cheques to Harvey. At the first presentation my wife presented Harvey with a teddy bear called "Trevor"; Harvey was delighted and called it his "Uncle Trevor Bear". He loved that little bear and he took it everywhere with him; in particular, to the Bristol Children's Hospital when he had his operation where he said it helped him through his Physio and that it protected him and looked after him. My next task was about getting birds from top fanciers throughout the UK and selling them on THE ELIMAR AUCTION SITE. I saw Les Parkinson at the Blackpool Show and mentioned to him what I wanted to do to raise money for HELPING HARVEY. Les said contact me when you get home and I will see what I can do. When I contacted Les he went out of his way to help me; Les, Kim, Lizzie and all the Elimar team helped make the appeal a huge success. They provided all of their services FREE OF CHARGE, and every penny raised on Elimar was given to Harvey. Elimar never charged a penny, and we are all so grateful to them to help make our appeal so successful. Another gentleman who was instrumental in the success of this appeal is Mr Gareth Watkins of Wales. Gareth helped me with details of his contacts and his advice helped secure birds from the top men in the country; a lot of them Gareth contacted for me. I will always be so grateful for his help and advice, helping make this appeal a huge success. We had birds donated from all the top studs in the country; throughout the campaign the BHW Editor & Staff printed without charge all the updates on the appeal and Harvey's progress, all the family are so grateful for this very kind gesture. The BICC Officials and Members, The NFC Officials, The BHW Charity Fund Committee all supported THE HELPING HARVEY APPEAL with large donations; such a wonderful gesture. The BICC made the HELPING HARVEY APPEAL their nominated charity for the year and the family thank all the officials and members who raised a fantastic 500.00. On his visit to Cornwall Mr Gareth Watkins representing the BICC presented the cheque to Harvey at The Penzance Premier RPC Prize Presentation where he was Chief Guest. Here I must thank Mr Ian Evans General Manager of the RPRA for his help in presenting Harvey's appeal to the committee of The BHW Show Charity Fund to help secure such a generous amount awarded to HELPING HARVEY. All in all, The HELPING HARVEY APPEAL was a huge success; the final total raised in the twelve months was 13,809.00 which was a truly fantastic sum. Harvey and his mum & dad are so grateful to all you wonderful people for your generosity and support to enable their son to have a better life. Since the operation in April 2017, Harvey does not have to take anymore the medication that he has been on for the last 8 years. He is now pain free, he is able to walk for short periods with the aid of his sticks, he is sleeping much better, his school work is improving, and a lot of his lower
body functions are returning slowly; all in all, a tremendous result made possible with the help of all you wonderful pigeon fanciers and firms. Harvey's mum & dad have said to me on many occasions that had it not been for the pigeon world, Harvey's operation would not have been done so early. You can all feel so proud of your wonderful achievement to give this little boy A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE Trevor Jenkin, Penzance.