brainstrust

A COUPLE who founded a charity after nearly losing their daughter to brain cancer have moved its base to the Isle of Wight.

Helen and Peter Bulbeck founded the charity, Brainstrust, when their daughter, Meg Jones, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour in 2004, when she was just 19.
From its base in Cowes, the charity now supports more than 100 families who are battling brain cancer .

Trust director Helen, 46, from Castle Road said: "We were saddened and surprised to find the treatment of brain tumours in the UK is not a highly funded or understood area.
"When Meg was taken ill, she was diagnosed as untreatable and her life span could have been very short.

"I couldn't accept what I had been told so researched the treatment of brain tumours worldwide and found that there was a surgical option in the USA that could help. The problem was that it would cost £50,000."

Undeterred, Helen and Peter set up Brainstrust to raise the funds. Meg was successfully treated in Boston, in 2006, and has recently graduated, become engaged and is working full time for a publisher in London.

In the process of fundraising for Meg's operation, Helen gathered so much information she wanted to pass it on to others and through Brainstrust now supports other families battling the condition. She added:

"If anyone needs any help and advice because they or someone they love is coping with a brain tumour we are here to help. We always welcome new supporters and donations are very much needed to help improve services in the UK."

Read the full article in Isle of Wight County Press »

Stroud School is delighted to announce that it has adopted brainstrust as its annual charity. It is looking forward to supporting our proactive young charity and is starting off as it means to go on, by holding a Charity Concert in aid of brainstrust. This will be held in the Andrew Sanger Davies Hall, on Monday 15 December.

Stroud School is a successful independent school, sited just outside Romsey.

Fifteen of Brahm's best took to their bikes out for a long ride this weekend. Brahm is a leading marketing agency based in Leeds. Their friendly trip statitician has thrown up some interesting facts about their achievements, which all came in 6s:

• They covered 60 miles (about 90% of which were off road)
• Ian Rossin burnt 6000 calories
• They climbed just shy of 6000 feet
• The group consumed 60 000 pints of brown booze on the Saturday night
• Paul McGuigan got lost for 60 mins
• Mike Cooper swan dived into a 16 inch deep puddle (alright, that's a tenuous '6')

But thanks to all their wonderfully supportive colleagues, friends and family and with the help of the Dolphin Inn they went the distance and raised a brilliant £1,245 of sponsorship for brainstrust. A big thank you to Will Jones for encouraging Brahm to support us this year.

You can still sponsor the Big Brahm Bike Ride '08 on their Justgiving page:

Our intrepid founders Helen and Peter decided they wanted to be closer to the sea and sailed with their home and dogs in tow to West Cowes last week.

For all of you that rely on brainstrust for advice and support please update your address books. Although don't worry all your post and phone calls will be forwarded to the new brainstrust HQ on the Isle of Wight to smooth the transition.

Please update your address books

brainstrust HQ
4 Yvery Court
Castle Road
Cowes
PO31 7QG

01983 292 405

NB: their email addresses have not changed and are still This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We wish Helen and Peter the very best for their new home on the island. It's good to know the Red Jet ferry to Southampton only takes 20 minutes so they're not far away!

Our director and co-founder Helen Bulbeck has been nominated for the Wessex Chief Executive of the Year! She is still bemused and startled by this, but is delighted for the nomination as it reflects the success of brainstrust. Helen says:

I'm hoping that others from brainstrust may also be nominated for their role in developing our young charity. So many people have given generously of their time and skills, working tirelessly on our behalf. The ethos of brainstrust is one of collaboration – so everyone deserves to be nominated!

Helen Bulbeck, Director

Fingers crossed for Helen, we hope she wins the praise she deserves for all her hard work and determination setting up our wonderful young charity. You can follow the awards on the Wessex Charity Awards website.