Hi all

We would like to start by wishing you all a very happy and healthy new year. We hope you have spent time with loved ones, enjoyed a break, and have renewed energy for the new year.

We had a bit of a quiet last half of 2016 – primarily due to health issues the Compson family were unable to partake in much direct fundraising, so we have relied on our friends to continue the work on our behalf and even down to people donating in place of sending Christmas cards! We are thankful to you all.

2017 however is a new year, and there is plenty of opportunity to get involved! So please get your ideas to us for any fundraising you wish to do, we really do appreciate any help we can get.

Sarah and Barry had a busy end of 2016 welcoming their first child to the world – Theo is a happy and healthy baby and we are all smitten with him. He has already signed up for his first charity event – he will be walking/being carried around the Marsden March this year fundraising in memory of his wonderful Aunt Katie. A group of us will be once again treading the pavements for 14 miles between the sites of the two Royal Marsden Hospitals. Please do support us!

www.justgiving.com/compsoncrew2017

We really have started to see the results of all the fundraising you have done, and we were thrilled to receive the Royal Marsden progress report which I have shared below. Not only is the database already providing results, but the pain team that have developed the Katie Compson Foundation database are nominated for an award. We will update you when we hear the results!

Much love

Jenny, Peter, Elise, Sarah, Barry….and Theo!

xxx

Hi all

Spring is definitely in the air and we hope you’re all enjoying the longer days and glimpses of sunshine that seem to be appearing! We wanted to update you with the latest fundraising efforts, already overwhelming in determination and results!

In two weeks, we are seriously thrilled to tell you we have a runner in the London Marathon! This is a first for us, and we are very excited!! Tom Rogers has previously walked the Marsden March with

us, which inspired him to put his heart and soul into running the painful 26.2 miles across London. We’d be thrilled if you would get behind him – he’s a dear friend of Katie’s cousins Emma and Annabelle, and we are extremely privileged that he is doing this for us.

Please please sponsor him to complete his first ever marathon. We’d be so appreciative!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TomRogers1345

In March, the Compson Crew got back together for another day of sunshine, G&T, and trying to avoid blisters. 15 of us braved the pavements from the RMH in Fulham, to their main site in Sutton. It was a day full of inspiring stories, wonderful people, and a dogged determination. All of us finished, supported by Peter and Elise at the finish line with a glass of bubbles, and in the process raised over £5,000.

Whilst we were there, we were proud as punch to see that the Katie Compson Foundation has made it onto the list of RMH Affiliates. Up there with some big names, it is clear that the money we are raising really is going on to make a difference.

On Thursday evening, the great and good of Suffolk came together at the wonderful Smeetham Hall Barn for the second dinner in memory of our gorgeous Katie. Catered by Scutchers restaurant 95 people ate the most splendid food and enjoyed an extremely high calibre raffle donated by various local businesses. We were also lucky enough to have an auction with unbelievable donations – and through the kindness of those in attendance we managed to raise nearly £7,000. It is an incredible achievement and we are extremely grateful to all those who donated, helped us out, and attended.

With all of this, we have now smashed the £160,000 mark! Waiting for new numbers to come in so we’ll update you as soon as we can – but thank you thank you thank you! We couldn’t do it without you.

Love

Jenny, Sarah, Barry, Pete & Elise

xxx

Hi all

A new year brings new fundraising and some have got straight in there! Although we need to update you on the events of last year before we start on that!

We had to put some of our fundraising on hold at the end of last year, for what we hope was a very valid reason. Sarah and Barry got married surrounded by friends and family in Essex – it was truly a fabulous day – obviously it was heart wrenching without Katie by her side, but it was a day of pure joy that we all loved and we know she was watching every moment. A bonus donation was the speeches sweepstake won by our dear friend Dobbo – an extra £80 for the foundation!

Whilst the happy couple were sunning themselves on honeymoon, the fundraising continued back in the UK. One of Katie’s best friends, and mother to Katie’s godson Samuel, Katie Hunt along with her sisters, took on a massive challenge in the Great South Run whilst constantly supported by her lovely husband Pete (below). As she said to her friends: “Running 10 miles is nothing for many people. But for someone whose greatest sporting achievement to date is coming third in the 300 metres at Sports Day in 1995, this is going to be a massive challenge for me. And this time I’m going to try and not nosedive across the finish line.”

We were so thrilled to see how much she had raised for Katie, and we were equally thrilled to see her smiling all the way to the finish line! Thank you gorgeous!!

Our dear friends Susie and Paul approached us when they got engaged last year, telling us that when they got married in January 2016 they wanted to do something to incorporate Katie into their wedding. It blew our minds when they announced that their wedding list was purely equal donations to both Great Ormond Street hospital, and to the Katie Compson Foundation. Susie and Katie were great friends for years going through their 20’s in London; and whilst enjoying a similar career, various holidays and many catch ups over the obligatory bottle of wine, she, along with all of her friends, were devastated when Katie passed away. Susie and Sarah, as well as their husbands are still great friends, and Sarah and Barry sat proudly watching Susie and Paul tie the knot in The Cotswolds a few weeks ago, all the while grinning in the knowledge that with the £2,500 that they had raised selflessly for Katie – it had taken the Foundation over the £150,000 mark. It was the icing on the cake of such a wonderful day and we cannot thank them enough for their generosity and wish them all the love in the world for their marriage.

So, whilst we wait for actual numbers from the Royal Marsden, (we promise to update the total to your right as soon as we have them) please start thinking of whether you can all help us out with some fundraising this year. Every penny helps and we know the money you are raising is going to such a wonderful cause and already helping cancer patients in the UK.

With much love as ever

Sarah, Barry, Jenny, Pete & Elise

xxxx

This weekend has started a few months of crazy fundraising for Katie, we are so proud and thrilled that we have such support for the Foundation, ultimately leading to more money towards Katie’s pioneering database that will help so many people going through cancer treatment.

On Saturday the Reid family were en masse, showing London that Triathlons are not only for the elite, but for those with dogged determination and a stubborn love for a great cause. Claire, Helen, Sophie and Will ran the Vitality Sprint Triathlon in London’s Hyde Park. A grand total of a 750m swim, 22.5km bike ride followed by a lovely 5km run they completed it and I believe are still smiling and hopefully still celebrating their success.

Please do help them reach their target!

https://www.justgiving.com/ReidsTriathlon4Katie/

Also this weekend, Sam Sharrock has once again taken things to the Sharrock extreme! Their lovely family have always been amazing supporters of us, and having crossed Iceland in 2013, Sam, along with his Dad, are taking on an ultra-marathon crossing the Gobi desert starting this weekend.

He will tackle 250 kilometers of terrain in eastern Xinjiang Province of China over 7 days. An attempt that seems unfathomable to a lot of us!

Please help him to reach his fundraising target!

https://www.justgiving.com/gobimarch2015/

Chris, also known as Irvs, is a Yorkshire man on a mission. For a long time he has taken part in various Ironman competitions and triathlons – his fitness levels are enviable. But he has always done these as his own personal challenges. This time, he has decided that he is going to do one for charity and we are so lucky that he has chosen the KCF to support.

Please dig deep and donate!

https://www.justgiving.com/chris-irving1

Thank you all. It means so much to us all that you continue to support us in what we do and Katie would adore the various crazy challenges that you all come up with!

You will also be happy to see our updated total of over £140,000. It is truly amazing and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

With love,

Sarah, Jenny, Pete & Elise

xxx

Hi all

What a lovely start to fundraising this year! The Marsden March once again allowed us the opportunity to join friends and family to walk between the Fulham and Sutton hospitals that we grew to know so much when Katie was being so wonderfully treated there.

30 of us walked for the Compson Crew this year, in cold but beautiful sunshine early on Sunday morning. It is always a humbling walk, seeing how many others have been treated there, lost loved ones, or those going through treatment but still putting one foot in front of the other. The courage everyone has to do this walk is incredible.

If you would like to sponsor the team – please do! www.justgiving.com/compsoncrew2015

Katie was close to our hearts as ever on this walk, but even more so as we’d just had an update from John Williams on the progress of the Katie Compson pain database. The boards and ethics committees have all approved what we’re trying to achieve, and we are pleased to advise on the following updates:

The Royal Marsden have constructed a new in-house database for all patients with pain at the Marsden. It is now up and running and patients pain levels are being tracked using this. The database is already providing useful information about pain control that will help with the next stages of the database/registry project.

The next stage will be to construct a Pain Control Registry. This will aim to capture more detailed information about patients with pain – with the aim to be used throughout the NHS.

We are still so thrilled that we have moved so far in just 6 months.

Katie would be so proud – thank you for continuing to support us.

With all our love as always,

Sarah, Jenny, Peter & Elise

xxxx

Dear All

In October 2014 the Mayfair Hotel in London and Passionate Pink hosted the most amazing evening in memory of Katie. 178 people joined us at Katie’s Gala Ball where we ate beautiful food, enjoyed some incredible music, and thanks to the generosity of every single person there we raised an amazing amount of money.

Passionate Pink and the Little Wish Foundation, along with Deb and her team helped put together a fantastic night, organised fantastic goody bags, and introduced us to the amazing talents of Phoebe Rose – a 14yr old extremely talented singer who silenced the room with her voice.

Sarah was delighted to announce during the evening that due to the huge amount of money that has been raised by everyone, we can now launch the Katie Compson Pain Database; a database that will track, measure and ultimately help to treat the pain that cancer patients endure. Our hope as a family is that this will eventually be shared nationwide, allowing doctors, nurses and researchers access to the correct pain medicine for those going through cancer.

Our special guest of the evening was Dr John Williams – a consultant anaesthetist, and Head of Pain Services at The Royal Marsden since 1996. He is supporting us in our efforts and leading the team through various ethics committees and board of the Royal Marsden to start recording pain data from early January.

Through the selfless generosity of friends, businesses, and family everyone had the opportunity to win some incredible prizes. The first was to buy a rose for Katie, whereby beautiful cream and pink roses were purchased with the opportunity to win a stunning diamond necklace, donated by Mr Michael Wainwright, MD of Boodles jewellers. The necklace was won by a very special person. Ten year old Chloe Thompson had been granted a wish through the Little Wish Foundation – her wish being to be a princess for the night. Dressed up as the perfect princess, Chloe helped prepare the room for the evening and absolutely deserved to win this special prize.

We had hundreds of raffle prizes donated for the event, throughout the night there was ample chance for guests to buy raffle tickets, and people were thrilled to go home with such fantastic prizes.

Our auctioneer, Katie’s proud father Peter, gave a sterling performance auctioning off 12 incredible Lots. From a holiday in Tobago to a diamond ring, with cases of wine and signed Formula One prints in between, we were so fortunate that everyone was so generous with their money and it was a constant stream of hands in the air.

Through all of this generosity, we made over £24,000 on the evening taking our total up to over £123,000. We cannot thank you all enough for your generosity.

Wishing you all a very happy new year

All our love

Sarah, Jenny, Pete & Elise xxxx

We are delighted to announce the next fabulous fundraising event in memory of our gorgeous Katie. Katie’s Gala Ball is proudly supported by our dear friends Passionate Pink, and will be held at the Mayfair Hotel on 10th October. We are so excited about this, and look forward to welcoming you all there!

Hi all

We’ve been a bit quiet recently, but do not fret, we have still been busy! Before we say more, we wanted to say a big thank you to a couple of superstars.

Sarah’s best friend Alice and her gorgeous groom Mahesh got married in September 2013 in a fantastic London venue surrounded by friends and family. Prior to them even arranging the date, venue and more importantly the dress, they took the decision that instead of wedding favours, their guests would receive a Katie band, and they would make a donation to the Katie Compson Foundation. They are beyond generous and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. We wish them a beautiful, healthy and happy life together.

In March this year, we were delighted to welcome some sunshine to the Marsden March! 30 of our lovely friends and family joined us and walked the 14 miles between the two Royal Marsden Hospitals. It is such a humbling experience and each year we are so thrilled that we are joined by so many to do this fabulous fundraiser. With everyone’s generosity we nearly raised £7000 – an incredible addition to the current funds so thank you to all walkers, and everyone who donated! Pictures can be found in the gallery.

Barry and Sarah did the next challenge, a walk that tested them both in some early British summer weather. They came out with smiles, sunburn, and some serious blisters but it was definitely worth it raising £500. The South Downs Trek covers 27.9 miles across the various hills (Sarah decided they were more mountains) and with stunning views of the south coast it took 9hrs 25mins – but the gin and tonic at the end of the day was a perfect reward.

If anyone would like to do some fundraising please do get in touch, we would love to support you in your efforts, and remember that Katie would be so chuffed to see how much we want to raise in her memory.

With love,

Sarah, Jenny, Pete & Elise xxxx

Hi all, and Happy New Year!

Apologies for the delay in updates – we’ve had a busy start to the year and are already planning the latest fundraising efforts for this year. However we wanted to share with you the fabulous news that you all helped make happen. On December 19th 2013 the Compsons were invited to attend the Passionate Pink Christmas Ball – an awards ceremony for various charities supported by the fabulous Debs Little and the Passionate Pink team.

Both Elise and Sarah had been nominated for awards, alongside some amazing people who work in various charities constantly raising money for worthy causes. At the end of the night we were all astounded to learn that not only had Sarah been nominated for the Ultimate Heart Award – but she had won it – the award of the night! We were all proud as punch, but found it amusing as many of you who know her will find it hard to believe – she was speechless!

It is down to every single one of our friends that the Compsons won this award – your support is so vital and cherished so thank you. Thank you for remembering our amazing girl and working to ensure others do not have to go through what she did.

We love you all

Jenny, Pete, Elise & Sarah! xxx

Hi all

We thought we’d give you an update on the KCF and the fantastic things people have done in the past 6 months. We are, very nearly, at £75,000. This is a phenomenal achievement and we’d like to thank everyone for their efforts – it is extremely humbling to know we are so supported in what we are doing.

The final numbers are in from the first Katie Compson Foundation dinner! We raised an incredible £11,029 on the night through auction prizes, raffles, and ticket sales. Thank you all for your attendance and generosity. We would also like to thank those who couldn’t attend but gave generous donations – you are too kind. You’ll all be pleased to know that we’re starting to plan the next dinner, it will be in London and will be in May/June next year. Prepare yourselves for an awesome night!

Jaki Amos completed her amazing 31 mile run in October, raising nearly £5000. It was a wonderful day, where we were able to fundraise on the way round thanks to the generosity of the general public, whilst encouraging and trying to keep up with Jaki as she passed through every tube station on the Jubilee Line. Thank you to Darryl, Chops and Barry for such amazing efforts as support crew, and a massive thank you to Jaki for being mad enough to go through with it!!

Emma Sharrock has continued her fundraising efforts in Hong Kong. She and another great friend Charlie Barton managed to combine a good party with raising money for us. They had a final “junk trip” to coincide with Charlie’s birthday and Halloween – and asked for donations as part of the ticket sales. These girls are going far! We had another £300 from this party alone….and we hope their hangovers are starting to now subside!

Do not forget to sign up to the Marsden March next year if you would like to join the Compson Crew – it is a fabulous day and we’d love as many of you to join us as possible.

We are very privileged to also have been nominated for an award! Passionate Pink was set up by our lovely friend Deb Little supporting charities as well as raising funds for the Little Wish Foundation. Sarah and Elise have both been lucky enough to be nominated for an award, and all the Compsons are going to Blenhelm Palace in December for the Passionate Hearts Awards Ceremony. We will be sure to update you with the events of the night!

We are soon to have a meeting with the team at the Royal Marsden to discuss where this money will be going. They are very aware of what Katie wanted the money raised to go towards, and they are aiming to introduce us to doctors and researchers who are in desperate need of money to carry out research projects into curing cancer, as well as providing improved pain management nationally. We are really excited about what we can achieve.

So, as we approach the second anniversary of losing our gorgeous girl, we are so proud to be doing something that she would love to have been a part of. We hold our heads high, and know that she would be telling us to get on and raise more – it is such a good cause and in memory of an amazing lady. Please get in touch if you would like to do some fundraising for us, we would be delighted to support you in your efforts in any way we can.

With love,

Sarah, Jenny, Pete & Elise xxxx