Previous Events 2009
 

Southern Water nominates AAIR 
Saturday 3 October 2009
AAIR was one of the seven charities chosen by Southern Water staff to benefit from the Super Irish Raceday at Fontwell Park racecourse which took place on Saturday 3 October.
With other attractions, such as the band the Levellers, this event once again saw record crowds to Fontwell making this not just a great family day out but a wonderful fund-raising success.
Kevin Buck explained AAIR was close to the heart of Southern Water as employee Nigel Foss had launched the AWAAIRE Bear campaign in aid of AAIR following the loss of his daughter Vikki to asthma last year. “We are very keen to support as many worthy causes as possible but the link with AAIR through Nigel and his work with AWAAIRE BEAR made this he ideal charity for our race to support,” he said.
Each charity will receive £10,000 thanks to this event.

In association with



VIP Reception

Click here for quotes from the evening.
 

AAIR’S QUESTION OF SPORT SUPPER

Event sponsor:

Amazing Celebrity Guests, a fabulous MC and some priceless auction prizes helped ensure our 5th Question of Sport Supper was a huge success.
The Royal Southampton Yacht Club provided a nautical venue for the event which was sponsored by Wessex Regional Care Ltd and Lashmars Tax Accountants and staged in association with Hampshire Society Magazine.
With lots of banter and a combination of impressive sporting knowledge and some inspired guess work the two celebrity teams tackled several rounds of sports questions to help raise just over £6,000 for asthma and allergy research.
MC for the evening Will Cope said: “This was a wonderful evening at a stunning venue which was brilliantly organised. Everyone had a lot of fun in a very relaxed atmosphere and the money raised is a tribute to not only everyone there who was generous to give but also to the charitable spirit that people in the south have at moment.”
The eventual winners were former basketball Olympian Paul Phelp and Hampshire cricketer Billy Taylor captained by inspirational sailor Geoff Holt. Which meant the gallant losers this year were ex England cricketer Norman Cowan and world record breaking sailor Brian Thompson captained by Saints legend Lawrie McMememy.
There were many highlight including the ‘money-can’t-buy prize’ of a ‘Day Sailing with world record breaking sailor Brian Thompson’ which MC and auctioneer Will Cope eventually sold with a fantastic winning bid of £2,200
Fundraising Director Caroline Pope said: “Once again this evening was a great success thanks to all those who helped and attended particularly Reg Aardvark Productions for compiling the quiz, Will Cope, all our celebrity guests and sponsors everyone who donated prizes.”

Fun Day at Staff BBQ

Thanks to everyone from The IIR department at Southampton General Hospital for being great sports and joining in with the Fun Day at the staff BBQ. Who'd have thought such simple delights as; an egg and spoon race, three-legged dash and Tug of War could raise £238.50. As the money was in aid of The Test Valley Mayor's charity appeal it will be doubled to £477 by Barclays Bank and divided between AAIR, and three other local charities. We are also grateful to those who donated raffle prizes, made a cake and organised the 'Pin The Mousache on The Boss' game.

See more photographs here.

See our photographs here.

 
Asics British 10k London Run - Thank you to The AAIR Team!
SUNDAY JULY 12th 2009
Kindly sponsored by Denis Bundy Marketing Ltd

Once again the ASICS British 10K London Run has been a great success, with over 27,000 runners gathering in the summer heat in Central London.
We are proud of the 11 runners who made up The AAIR Team (see below) all of whom finished in very respectable times and raised an estimated £1,000 for asthma and allergy research.
AAIR fundraising director Caroline Pope said: "What a spectacle! I've never seen such a huge sea of people. Our team were an inspiration. I've just decided to get in training so I can do it myself next year."
The winner of this year's race was Cyrus N'dereba, in a time of 30 minutes 19 seconds.

Our Runners
Carl Davenport, Damian McLaughlin, Gerry Goss, Conor Dean, Des Day, Mark Barratt, Sophia Halder, Katy Pike, Funso Fagbohunka, Sam Turvey, Will Cope

Picture courtesy of Daily Echo

World Asthma Day
Winchester launch of AWAAIRE BEAR Project 
Tuesday May 5th

More school children throughout Winchester will soon be asthma-aware thanks to the AWAAIRE Bear Project which was launched in the city on World Asthma Day.
The Mayor of Winchester Cllr Mike Read presented 6 junior schools in the area with the bears at a ceremony in Winchester University on May 5th. 
The AWAAIRE Bear was created in memory Victoria Foss, a former graduate from Winchester University, after she suffered a fatal asthma attack last year when she was just 22 years-old. Before she died Vikki, a trainee teacher, bought a large teddy bear which she planned to take into her new classroom to encourage children to 'Go and give the bear a hug' whenever they wanted a cuddle. 
This simple idea inspired Vikki’s father, Nigel, to launch The AWAAIRE BEAR Project, with money raised from the sponsorship of each bear going to AAIR. Nigel said: “Vikki was an effervescent 22-year-who had a passion for children and their well-being. The AWAAIRE BEAR was indirectly her idea as she wanted a bear in her classroom to be able comfort young children when she became a teacher. When she died of asthma we wanted to support AAIR in their research work and therefore arrived at the AWAAIRE BEAR to help us pay tribute to Vikki's love of children together with raising awareness of the dangers of asthma.”
Also at the launch was DR Peter Howarth from AAIR who said: “This is an emotional day but we are thankful that something very positive is coming out of such a tragedy. Asthma is very common - we might expect 5 children in every classroom to have the condition. It should not be a bar from participating in all sorts of events but it is very important to manage the condition carefully. Unfortunately even managed asthma can change and react with different allergens, which is why it is very import to carry out the research as we do at the hospital. The AAIR charity has been fundamental in supporting our research and purchasing equipment all of which has helped us find better treatments for asthma. The funds raised from The AAAIRE Bear project will be vital in helping to ensure we stay at the forefront of this research.”
Any school can request an AWAAIRE BEAR just go to www.awaairebear.com for full details. 
The 6 Winchester Schools which received the bears were: Sunhill Infants School, King Sombourne C of E School, Rotherley Day Nursery, Netley Abbey Jnr. School, Fair Oak Jnr. School and St Bede's.