Past Events

The Rose Ball was a very well attended and happy occasion held in the really lovely garden and grounds of Poulton Fields Farm. After drinks and canapes in the garden, we sat down to a very tasty dinner. Our chairman introduced the guests to two recipients of Grippers funds. Firstly, he read out a letter of appreciation from Alex who wrote very movingly of her journey of recovery back to free expression of abstract art. One of her striking paintings was later auctioned at the ball and raised £650. Then, James very bravely took the microphone and entertained us with the story of how Grippers paid for a suit so that he could attend an interview. He too paid tribute to the importance of the practical and caring helping hand extended by Grippers.

We would like to thank Rosie Arkwright and her team who inspired and organised the whole evening and raised an astounding £6,500 for Grippers.

Our intrepid fund-raiser, Eric Davis, returned safely from the most arduous trek he has ever done. As December is the middle of the Argentinian summer, the climbers set off in extreme heat, but by the time it came to the day of attempting the summit, Eric woke to minus 26 degrees C inside his tent.

He did not feel any effects of the high altitude, but as he climbed, the extreme cold began to affect his toes and so he had to turn back around 1800 feet below the summit. We are incredibly grateful to Eric for climbing for Grippers. Thank you to everyone who has donated through MyDonate.

Grippers are delighted to be chosen as the Gloucester Symphony Orchestra’s charity this year. The Orchestra gave their first concert of the year in St Barnabas Church, Gloucester. It was an impressive programme of music with Rachmaninov’s “Isle of the Dead” and D’Angelo’s “The Angel of the Flowing Light” both inspired by images.

After the interval, we heard a full-bloodied broadside in the form of Bruckner’s 4th Symphony to leave the audience inspired by a glorious echo from the high vaulted nave of St Barnabas. The warmth of the applause and smiling faces were a great tribute to the fantastic effort put in by conductor Glyn Oxley and every member of this great orchestra.

In the interval, Andrew Sabourin spoke eloquently about psychosis and the important work Grippers does in raising awareness as well as benefiting young Gloucestershire residents recovering from this horrible illness.

The retiring collection raised a spectacular £373.84 which will be boosted to £467.30 as this type of collection qualifies for Gift Aid. We are particularly touched that in addition to the response from the audience, many members of the Orchestra contributed very generously.

March 17th, 2017 – The village hall at Poulton was the perfect venue for this highly successful Murder Mystery evening. The packed audience was treated to the play “Murder in the Atomic Age” by the eight talented players from Purton.

During the interval the teams of sleuths started the process of eliminating people from their enquiries while enjoying an excellent curry supper followed by chocolate brownies. The second act was devoted to each suspect being interrogated and then the teams got down to finalising their answers, all aided by liquid refreshment from the bar.

The winning detectives, ably led by Virginia Mullan, came up on stage to receive their prizes and applause. Finally the Purton Amateur Dramatic Society were thanked warmly for their excellent and entertaining production.

As well as being a lot of fun we are delighted to announce that the evening raised over £1000 for Grippers.

After warming up with drinks and chat, we gathered to hear all about Rob Gardiner’s latest exploit; travelling 3,600 miles across Southern Africa.

Accompanied by some excellent photos, we learned a lot about the different character and culture of the countries en route, from the poverty of Malawi to the relative prosperity of Botswana.

We were also drawn into the philosophy of cycling, particularly the way in which the bicycle brings the traveller so much closer to the local people and the landscape they occupy, while still covering long distances.

Inevitably, things don’t always go to plan such as an early injury to Rob’s companion and too close an encounter with a bull elephant. Over two months in the saddle, cycling fitness led to the ability and ambition to cover increasing distances each day, until the final dawn until dusk dash to be able to dive into the Indian Ocean.

To round the evening off after such a splendid talk, the audience was treated to a lovely meal and in addition, raised almost £800.

Grippers came into being in August 2006 and its fundraising started with a sponsored walk on October 29thvery pleasantly warm sunshine in the glorious rolling countryside around Chedworth.

It was fitting that the group comprised a wide variety of supporters of the Charity; The Rambling Rabbits walking group, NHS staff from the GRIP team, carers and other supporters and a significant number of the people who have donated very generously since the charity was founded. The family atmosphere was rounded off by the presence of young children and some lively dogs. After the walk we enjoyed a lovely roast lunch in the Seven Tuns pub after which we were treated to a presentation of this year’s sponsored outward bound course in Wales.

We saw how 9 service users in the recovery phase of their illness benefited from a wide variety of challenging activities which stretched them from their comfort zones and involved introducing them to new experiences, relying upon each other, teamwork, independence and judging by the smiles, a whole lot of fun.

The Trustees of Grippers thank all our supporters over the past 10 years. We are delighted by the level of continuing interest and financial support the charity attracts and we look forward to the next 10 years of activity.

The Strictly Ball was a sparkling evening – as close as you can get to the real ‘Strictly’! The Centaur Building at Cheltenham Race Course looked splendid with marbled staging. Bill Turnbull, from the BBC ONE BREAKFAST programme, brought professionalism and wit as master of ceremonies.

Professional dancers and adjudicators did not spare the competitors detailed, if fair, criticism. This was after their own wonderful show when they demonstrated just how to dance! Welcome cocktails set the 190 guests off to a good start and dinner was both delicious and relaxing as there were demonstrations of the Jive and the Cha-cha-cha throughout.

Our grateful thanks go to all organisers and participants for their generosity in supporting the following charities: Grippers for psychosis, Home-Start for family support, The Nelson Trust for treatment of addiction, St Michael and All Angel’s, Poulton and Diocese of Gloucester outreach work to foster a sense of community.