Welcome to our August blog! This month, we’d like to tell you all about the Jessica Hope Foundation – a wonderful charity which is very close to our hearts here at Instaprint printers in Nottingham.
Jessica Hope Gauntley was born and raised in Long Eaton, Nottingham. Jess loved to hang out with friends, sing and listen to music, and go to concerts; she loved many sports including netball, skiing and surfing. Jess was a normal bright girl with all the usual teenage preoccupations of homework, friendships, boys and everything to do with her appearance, but she also had great hopes and dreams for her future: completing her education, following a career, falling in love, marrying and having children of her own.
But tragically, all those dreams came to an end in April 2012 when, after suddenly falling ill, a large tumour was discovered deep in her brain. An emergency operation managed to remove some of the tumour but its progress could not be halted, and after a spirited fight over the next ten months Jess lost her battle with brain cancer in February this year, aged just sixteen years old.
Jessica was the niece of Instaprint’s Managing Director, Peter Gauntley.
Following her death, her Mum and Dad launched the Jessica Hope Foundation in celebration of Jessica’s life, with the aim of raising awareness of brain cancer in children, and most importantly, to raise much needed funds to help research and fight this dreadful disease. The funds raised go towards supporting HeadSmart (the Brain Tumour Charity’s awareness campaign), the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre based at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, the Rainbows Hospice and the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit planned for the Queen’s Medical Centre.
All the team here at Instaprint have been delighted to help support the Foundation in many ways, including providing a wide range of print services, sponsoring fundraising activities by Jess’s family and friends, and undertaking fundraising challenges ourselves.
Helen one of our talented graphic designers is doing a half marathon in October in the Mablethorpe Marathon Event and Peter, the MD, a London to Paris cycle ride in September 2014.
Please click here if you would like to sponsor Helen.
We are committed to providing all the on-going support we can to the Foundation, and already we have produced Banner Stands and Posters, Self-Adhesive Vinyl Stickers for collection tins, Canvas Prints and Frames, Promotional Leaflets and Flyers, and Raffle Tickets. We’ve even printed a Paperback Book written by Jess’s Dad, John Gauntley, about his family’s personal experience of living and coping with Brain Cancer.
We must thank our very own in-house designers, particularly Helen, who has done such a terrific job with the artwork for all of these projects.
In addition to providing all the printing support we can, Instaprint have also sponsored Jessica’s Mum and her best friend in their challenge to complete the London to Paris Bike Ride which takes place in September. Good luck to you both, and we know you’ll make it!
And Peter Gauntley, our Managing Director, has entered the race himself in 2014. So if you see Peter out on one of his training rides sometime soon, please give him a wave of encouragement!
Recently, we’ve also been delighted to have been instrumental in persuading our own business bankers, Santander, to donate an amazing £5000 to the Foundation via their Santander Community Fund; and our heartfelt thanks go to Santander for this wonderful support.
You can keep up to date with everything that’s going on at the Jessica Hope Foundation by ‘liking’ the Facebook page – just click here and you can see all about the many fundraising activities which are going on, and even join in the fun of posting pictures of the blue ‘JessBands’ being worn in amazing places all around the world!
Instaprint are honoured to be able to support the Jessica Hope Foundation in a wide variety of ways. If you’d also like to help others suffering now and in the future with this terrible condition, then please click here for details of how you can make a donation or get involved in fundraising.