WOW (Mecca magazine) #35 | Page 12

Rank Cares Rank Cares Tartan team’s terrific total Western wonders Mecca Paisley went west for its 24/7 fundraisers, with line dancing among the fun for a special Independence Day Country and Western night. Team members and customers were in real yee-ha mood in what everyone declared was a fantastic event. Pictured are (l-r) Susan Forbes, Margaret Bracken and Craig Berry (back) and Lorna Speedie (front). erful, wacky! Weird, wond C 12  WOW! Issue 35 • August 2014 Ascending the heights lubs all over the country have been taking part in some weird, wonderful and wacky events during the national Rank Cares 24/7 campaign. Some ran events during the first 24 days of July, while others made July 24 their focus but all were raising money and awareness for unpaid carers, many of whom provide that care for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Impressive feats – cover story Mecca Ashford packed July with 24/7 activities and raised £922 for Carers Trust. The impressive list of events included: n cycling 240 miles on an exercise bike n a contest to eat 24 hot dogs in 2.47 minutes n charity clairvoyant n selling 24 cakes n  and buy sale bring n guess the name of the teddy and number of sweets in a jar n hamper raffle n cabaret and funny show n  stall book n  charity flyer games 10 n sponsored silence n  hoop marathon hula n auction for a doll’s house. If that wasn’t enough, general manager Lisa Gray booked herself in Scotland is setting the pace for Rank Cares, with £35,585.94 already raised, smashing through its target for the whole year to head the Mecca leaderboard. A big chunk of that money came from the KiltWalk, when team members from all 13 Scottish clubs – plus a contingent from Mecca Thanet – took part in the big charity hike when thousands of tartanclad walkers set off on the 23-mile route from Glasgow that took in the beautiful scenery of Loch Lomond. Together, the 60 Mecca marchers raised well over £20,000, of which £15,000 will go to Carers Trust and the rest to the Kiltwalk children’s charity partners. £163.897 82.48%* Eye of the tiger! Mecca Hyde Road team member Jim Claridge ‘roared’ into action at a car boot sale during the club’s 24/7 activities! He had his face painted by a fellow stallholder to attract even more attention to the Mecca cause. Hyde Road also completed a 247k static bike ride and ran a name the teddy competition, raising a total of £734.58. The North West and North Midlands clubs went to great heights, getting together to climb Mount Snowdon. The original plan was that 24 climbers would set out with the aim of raising £7,000, but they did even better. On the day, more than 40 people took part, together raising over £10,000. Teams from Mecca Bolton, Mecca Roch dale, Mecca Hyde Road, Mecca Breightmet, Mecca Chester, Mec ca Oldham, Mecca Wednesbury Cross, Mecca Beeston, Mecca Crewe, Mecca Stoke, Mecca Ellesmere Port, Mecca Sale and Mecca Kingstand ing were joined by area manager Champ io Mike Sime. Pictured at the summit is the cau ning the Rochdale contingent. se – se page 14 e Paddle power to climb Mount Snowdon at the end of the month! Pictured on the cover, trying to tempt team leader Scott Luers with a hot dog while he does his bit on the 240-mile cycle ride are (l-r) Lisa Gray, caller Elaine Henshaw-Smith and team leader Maryann Lewington. A crew from Knotty Ash took to the wild waters of Wales for the ride of their life. Amy Clare, David Harris and Jason Hunt (back to front, left), David Railton, Sue Green and Ashley Hale (back to front, right) battled the rapids of the National UK White Water Rafting Centre on the River Tryweryn in the heart of Snowdonia and raised £663. The club also held a Murder Mystery night, adding a further £106 to the 24/7 pot. A professional ‘whodunnit’ company challenged customers to guess the real murderer by following clues dotted around all areas of the club. It was such a big hit that Knotty Ash is thinking of doing it again, this time with team members as the suspects. Scotland £35,585.20 110.00%* North East and North Yorkshire £32,239.41 90.24%* North West and North Midlands £27,307.21 67.05%* FHD, South West, Midlands and Wales £25,252.39 75.