Kelli on Noel's HQ

One of our junior ambassadors, Kelli Gallacher from Dunbartonshire, gets a special surprise this Saturday on Noel's HQ. The programme starts at 7.30pm. Check out the link below for some more info about the show http://sky1.sky.com/show/noels-hq

Pet Corner

One of the CF Trust’s top regional staff members, Ollie the dog, is out of action with a bad back. Poor Ollie, who lives with Senior Fundraising Manager Nikki Samsa, has a slipped disc. Get well soon Ollie xx

GI Geoff

Well done to Geoff Lake who raised over £500 for us when took part in the British Military Fitness London 5k in October. A fundraising event not for the faint-hearted it involved a 3k run, a 2k assault course and lots of mud.

Geoff is married to Emma who works as one of our Expert Patient Advisers and was cheering him on from the sidelines.

Record number sign up to organ donor register

You've probably seen in the news today that the number of people on the organ donor register in the UK has hit a record 16 million, meeting a government target of doubling 2001's numbers a year early.

We think it's fantastic that so many people are now thinking and talking about organ donation, and time will tell whether this will have an impact on the current rate of transplantation in the UK. We believe that more people will get their life-saving transplant when the recommendations of the Organ Donation Taskforce to increase the number of donor coordinators who work with bereaved families and the number of specialists who retrieve organs, begin to take effect.

If you're not on the organ donation list you can sign up here

Did you know that you are more likely to need a transplant than become a donor?

It's not too late to get your flu jab!

If you have CF and haven't had your flu jab yet this winter it's not too late! With lots of nasty strains of flu doing the rounds at the moment it's important for you to protect yourself as much as possible.



For more info contact your GP practice, visit the NHS website or call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

Katie takes on Tresco!

Never let it be said that we don't practice what we preach here at the CF Trust. Our Events Manager, Katie Burr (pictured above), is putting her money where her mouth is this April when she takes on the 2009 Tresco Marathon with 130 other runners to raise money for the CF Trust.

The event takes place on Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly on the same day as the London Marathon. The island is stunning with gorgeous beaches and the hospitality of the islanders is legendary - they all get involved with organising the event and making sure the runners are well looked after.

Katie says "I had such a good time when I worked at the event last year that I was determined to go back this year - so I took the rather drastic measure of signing up to run! This is my first marathon, which will be quite a challenge given the four hills on each of the 7 1/2 laps of the island!"

Katie is aiming to run the marathon in under 4 hours - we'll let you know how she gets on!


To sponsor Katie www.justgiving.com/katieburrtresco

For more info on the Tresco Marathon visit http://www.cftrust.org.uk/help/events/tresco

If you live in Edinburgh read on....

Wanted – Edinburgh family to take part in BBC programme
Hi everyone

The BBC are looking for a family with a CF link in Edinburgh to take part in the new series of Trash for Cash. It will be an opportunity to educate their viewers about CF, whilst clearing your house out and making some money for yourself and the CF Trust at the same time.

The idea is that you have a team of experts show you how to turn your junk into something useful.

They are looking for a family who have a cluttered house full of useless bits and bobs. Their team of experts will help you recycle, refurbish and repair your clutter, and then sell some of it on to raise some cash to share between your family and the CF Trust.

They would like to speak to potential families on 19th January and will be filming on 30th January.

If you would be interested please contact me gfoy@cftrust.org.uk

Thanks!

Gemma
Press Officer
Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Your magazine needs you!

Later this year, we will be relaunching CF Today with a fresh, new look. Before we do this, we want to get lots of feedback from the CF community to find out what you would like to see in see in your magazine. We really need your help to produce a fantastic magazine that will both inform and inspire its readers. What do you like and dislike about the current CF Today (we can send you some back copies if you need to refresh your memory – or have a look online), what kind of articles would you like to see more of, what do you think of the design and layout? If you’d like to take part in our readership survey, please contact Jacqueline Ali -jali@cftrust.org.uk. You can either fill in a survey online or if you’d prefer we can phone you up for an informal chat. The survey will run until the end of March, so please get in touch as soon as possible and give us your views!

Brrr it's cold outside

It's a bit chilly isn't it? Here at CF Trust head office we were all sat typing away in our coats and gloves yesterday but thankfully it's warmed up a bit today.

On the subject of cold weather we are doing a bit of research at the moment to find out if people with CF are managing to keep their homes warm and pay their heating bills.

Please do fill in our survey at

http://www.cftrust.org.uk/aboutus/what_we_do/campaigns/winterfuel


Thanks all!

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog of the CF Trust - we hope you enjoy reading it.