GEMS Charity – Summer News and Fundraising, September 2026
We have had some wonderful things happening at GEMS Charity over the summer.
New furniture and a special family keepsake
In July we worked with Jemma and her family from a great local company, Midlands Cane and Garden Furniture, to replace the outdoor furniture with new teak tables, chairs, and benches on a balcony at the chemotherapy suite at the LRI at a cost of £7,649. Jemma helped us select the most suitable furniture for both the patients and the area, which was really helpful. After this Jemma, Darren and the team certainly went above and beyond this, so let me tell you an amazing story about one of the benches that was there…
One of the teak benches had been there for 26 years, dedicated to Audrey Chivers. The weather had taken its toll on it over the years, so we decided to replace it with a new teak bench. Not to lose the memory for the family we asked for it to include the engraving shown on the original bench.
Darren of Midlands Cane and Garden Furniture couldn’t see the original engraving go to waste, so carefully removed the engraved section, sanded it back and restored the teak, preserving it as a keepsake for the family. This was such a lovely way to make sure the memory of Audrey wasn’t lost by replacing her bench with the new one.
So! The search for Audrey’s family began! A long shot we thought, but we were hopeful the power of social media would deliver. One week after our post to find the family, we had the absolute pleasure to reunite the restored engraving with Moira, one of Audrey’s five children, who was over the moon with it and so thankful that Darren had taken so much time, effort and kindness to do this wonderful gesture. She was so excited to go and tell/show the rest of her siblings Maureen, Paul, David and Lorraine. To make it even more special, the bench was delivered on 31 July, unknowingly the anniversary of Audrey’s passing… she must have been giving her approval. What an absolutely wonderful ending to the story of Audrey’s bench! Thank you to Jemma and family for their part, especially her dad, Darren, who took the time to lovingly restore the engraving and start this story. The words on Audrey’s bench are so true: FAMILY, LOVE, FAITH, STRENGTH, COURAGE… Some pieces of furniture carry more than just the people who sit upon them.
Summer fundraising
There has been some great fundraising happening too:
The first Summer Shindig at The Kings Head was such a great, busy day of fun, with a brilliant line-up of music: C to the G – a four-piece vocal harmony band, with a twist of jazz and bags of sass, with Whatever it Takes – a four-piece band playing a mix of songs from the 60s to the present day, which made for a brilliant afternoon of music with a plant sale, tombola, play your cards right and a BBQ sponsored by Bridge 67 and The Kings Head raising a fantastic £2,040 – a big thank you to everyone.
Our annual GEMS Golf Day at Market Harborough Golf Club was a great success, the golfers enjoyed the sunshine and the golf, with amazing food and hospitality from the team at Market Harborough Golf Club.
We would like to thank everyone involved this year for the sponsorship, donation of raffle prizes, organisation and playing the golf helping us raise a fabulous £2,389.
The Kings Head charity classic and vintage car rally was a roaring success in August, with some fabulous examples of cars from all ages looking great in the sun as the participants met to set off on the route around the surrounding villages, raising £325. Many thanks to everyone involved in the organising, hosting and driving the cars, it was such a pleasure to see.
A 13,000-foot charity skydive
Two daredevil ladies, Clare Middleton and Rachel Pordham, completed a 13,000-foot skydive! They very kindly completed it in aid of GEMS. Ensuring they raised as much money as they could, they even wore GEMS t-shirts on the day. They were so excited about this magnificent feat, Clare kept a wise eye on the weather and brought the date forward to ensure the weather was kind to them, which indeed it was. They completed the skydive with a smile on their faces, free-falling to begin with then parachuting safely down to the ground saying, “it was absolutely fantastic, loved every minute, just the best thing and they would do it again in a heartbeat”. Maybe this can become an annual event – ‘The GEMS Charity Skydive’ ☺ Thank you both for completing this and raising an extraordinary £3,237 which is absolutely amazing.
If you would like to see the photos and show your support to Clare and Rachel, visit their skydive fundraising page.
Some dates for your diary
Bingo at The Kings Head will be on Saturday 19 September, 8 pm start, £10 per person for six rounds of bingo and other games, plus chicken wings with your entry. It gets very busy, so booking is required, please call Edd and Andrew at The Kings Head on 0116 279 2676 to book.
Charity Indian Meal on Monday 2 November at the award-winning Cuisine of India in Wigston, £20 per person to eat as much as you like from a three-course buffet. This is a great event, great food, great fun, great raffle and auction prizes to be had, it is already getting full. If you would like to join us please contact Sally on 07801 855 860 or email gemscharity@gmail.com as soon as you can so you don’t miss out.
Please have a look at our website to find out more and where all the help and donations have been spent: www.gemscharity.com. We look forward to seeing you at one or more of the events.
Sally Anderson (GEMS)
The Alpha Course at The Well, Kibworth
