Melanie's story

Since I was a little girl, I have always loved fancy dress! Throughout my life I have hosted many parties and events, both personally and for fundraising and they are always certain to be accompanied by a theme. Whether it be the Wild West, Pirates, Hawaiian or Halloween – it wouldn’t be a party of mine without some fancy dress.

My fundraising journey started after a personal bout of illness. The year after my 40^th birthday, a tumour was discovered on my ovary – resulting in major surgery to have a full hysterectomy. Luckily, after undergoing tests the tumour was benign and this was the happiest news. I had already decided prior to knowing the results that if they were positive, a celebration party was in order with all of my family and friends.

From this event onwards, I had a fundraising bug. I hosted a few parties in aid of other charities, then seven years ago decided that I was going to raise funds for Dove House. It is based in the area where I live and people are always keen to help and donate to a charity that feels close to home, so it felt right to continue my fundraising journey with the hospice.

Over the years, the parties have been in full swing with themes of 80s, Dancing Through the Decades, Around the World and many more. It seems to me that lots of the attendees also enjoy the preparation process. They have so much fun planning their costumes and when the time comes, they let their hair down and be almost childlike on the dancefloor, but I may just be speaking for myself there.  Everyone always has a great time, dancing the night away. There is always a fabulous raffle too that is full of very generous prizes that are donated by local businesses, family and friends.  
On the contrary, I have also hosted some more lowkey events in aid of Dove House as I know not everyone is excited to dance around in fancy dress as I am. These have included a couple of coffee mornings in the village hall of the where I used to live. My mum and dad kindly help me with this and have also allowed me to use their garden for two afternoon tea parties as well.
This year was the most I have ever raised for the hospice, £1540. I was overjoyed that the figure brought my fundraising total to over £10,000 for Dove House alone.

But it is not only in personal time that I have fundraised for the hospice, it has made its way into my work life too. In daily life I work at Graham & Rosen Solicitors and as a company, we do quite a few things in connection with Dove House. I have taken part in the It’s a Knockout challenge four times with work and it is always such great fun to be involved in. Unfortunately, a work colleague of mine fell ill and sadly died at the hospice – this spurred on my fundraising even more.

A few years ago I was invited to an event at the hospice, it gave fundraisers the opportunity to have a look around at all of the facilities onsite. It truly is such a lovely, peaceful place and it is for that reason that all of my fundraising efforts seem  worth it.