A ‘Ready Steady Cook’ fundraiser takes place tomorrow (Friday) for a pair of good causes in the town.
Mum Sharon Cowdrey has organised the event, where two teams compete in a cook-off to be judged by visitors, in aid of Charlie’s Children’s Day Unit at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital while also aiding Basingstoke youngster Jonathan Cowdrey ahead of the British Transplant Games.
Eleven-year-old Jonathan, who had a liver transplant shortly after birth, has used the unit frequently throughout this short life and his family are hoping to raise as much as possible to support the cause.
A keen athlete, Jonathan competed in his first transplant games at the age of two and continues to pick up gold medals.
“Charlie’s Day Unit is at Basingstoke Hospital treats more than 7,000 children a year and they are on a mission to raise £400,000 to extend the facilities and make a bigger comprehensive waiting area for young children and a larger area for children with cancer treatments,” Sharon explained.
“Jonathan goes up there every three months and has to go up there and be isolated when he is ill – so they do a lot of his care.
“Because we have spent so much of Jonathans life up there we thought it would be nice to give something back to the hospital for what it has done for Jonathan.
“He loves the Transplant Games, it is something he can participate in and he gets to meet children in the same boat as him, they don’t feel so low and his brother gets to meet other siblings so they have made a load of friends. He is in training to do as well as he can for the games.”
For more information on the British Transplant Games visit www.transplantsport.org.uk
The next games take place in Bath later this year and the fundraiser, with The Pampered Chef, takes place on Friday, May 14 at 7.30pm at Hatch Warren Community Centre.
Two teams, one representing Charlie’s Day Unit and the other representing Jonathan, will demonstrate how to cook up some simple recipes which can be sampled afterwards – it is also hoped a number of Basingstoke Bison players will try their hand in the kitchen.
Sharon concluded: “It will be a fun event and a change to help fundraise for two local causes.”
Tickets cost £3 in advance or £3.50 on the night and for more information contact Sharon on 07985900175.
