Parkinson. L.J.

I am going to go back to a story I wrote 12yrs ago so that you are fully aware of what the article is all about and to show that things we do in the sport do come good. “When it comes to charity events Carl & Caroline Turner are never too far away as they are always willing to help out in one way or another. Their latest trip was over on the other side of the country when they gave a helping hand to raise further funds, this is what they had to say.

"Recently as you are all probably aware a sale was organised mainly by Tony & Anne Mardon of Tranquillity Lofts, but with good assistance from local club members in their village of South Lincolnshire. As soon as Caroline and myself heard of Harvey's unfortunate problems caused by meningitis we were straight on the phone to offer our services for the sale, as we have been close friends with Anne and Tony for years now. Anne requested we stay with them for the weekend at "Blithefield" their beautiful home and we gratefully accepted. We arrived on the Friday evening to be welcomed by Anne and Tony and a fabulous 3 course meal cooked by Anne, "that pudding was fantastic Anne" mind you it was all superb. We were spoilt over the whole of the weekend actually and felt we had to return their favours. On the Saturday and early Sunday morning we assisted Ann and Tony in cleaning out their immaculate stock lofts with them. The birds that are all housed there are still superb specimens mainly of the Staf Van Reets and Tony's recent introductions of Karel Boeckx birds.

Anyone who purchases youngsters from these stock birds will not be disappointed that's a guarantee, l have seen and handled most of them.

On Sunday (day of sale) we were up early, 7am birds cleaned out, cooked breakfast speedily polished of and commenced loading up the trailer with pens, boxes, etc, etc for the sale. On arrival at "My father’s Moustache pub" in Louth we were greeted by several local lads all-giving up there day to help "Harvey". Pens were erected and off back to Tony's to collect all the birds for the sale, we never stopped! Altogether Reg Renwick auctioned 110 lots and through the raffle, Many thanks to Jimmy Bennett, George Price and Johnny Clarke for their kind donations. The sale went very well, and everyone dipped very deep in their pockets which was very much appreciated. The four birds that l entered fetched a good total of £570 for the appeal. Anne's daughter Caroline and my wife Caroline both went around with the raffle tickets and made about £600 in total - a fantastic effort by them.

All in all, with other donations etc the proceeds should touch £20.000, which will be a great start in life for Harvey. Harvey's parents attempted to make a thank you speech after the sale but were overcome with emotion due to the efforts of all the people involved in raising these funds. After the sale we called back at Tony's where Anne made some sandwiches and a brew before we left and hit the road for our return journeys. Whilst driving back through the lanes near Louth heading for the M18 there were still several harvesters working away in the dark as it is very available in Lincolnshire, as we drove past there were several barn owls gliding round about 6ft off the floor - a truly natural sight. Anyway, we carried on and arrived home some three hours later very tired. We would just like to thank Tony and Anne for their kind hospitality shown to us yet again, a genuine pigeon home run by a lovely couple who live for their birds. Enclosed are two photos of our weekend. One photo is of us outside Tony &Anne's house in the village of Yarburgh. Anne, myself, Caroline & Tony pictured the other photos is my wife Caroline cuddling little Harvey outside the venue of the sale.

Despite his unfortunate problems he still seems a little bundle of joy and I am sure his parents are very proud indeed. God bless and best wishes for the future Harvey from Carl & Caroline Turner at Crewe"

That was the story 12yrs ago and now I hear that last year we had news that will please many who have not yet seen how good their donations did to help Harvey Phillips achieve his dream. In pigeon racing we do a lot of good and only recently we were discussing the amount of money raised by Elimar for charitable events and it has reached in the region of £100,000, mind you we have been doing charity events since the early 80’s. I must add that this event was not one organised by Elimar and all credit must go to those who did take part and raised some good money for Harvey. With that in mind just think how much the sport has raised over the years, unfortunately I don’t think the sport in general gets the credit it deserves for what they do for a wide range of charities. However, it is all worthwhile at the end of the day even though keeping pigeons is knocked back by so many.

Getting back to Harvey the article reads, “Champion para-swimmer Harvey Phillips was in blistering form as he set a massive 18 second personal best on his way to landing three National Titles” Well done to Harvey from Louth, who is now 13yrs and he also added 2 silver medals in the National junior para swimming Championships held in Sunderland. This will no doubt lead to Harvey representing Britain in the senior Para Olympics in the not too distance future. When it comes to the charitable events we don’t see enough of the success stories so even though a little late it is still worth coverage. Perhaps the sport could do with a forward-thinking fancier to highlight what the sport does for so many good causes. We also try to raise funds for our own needs within the sport where pigeon fanciers gain something from all the efforts done within pigeon racing. Perhaps we should do more and perhaps have more on offer to those competing in the specialist clubs. I wonder if it is possible for the RPRA to work on the Belgium system when it comes to sales this would raise funds to go back into the sport. On second thought that’s probably going too far in where the organising body gets their money from. As you know we helped out with our own Harvey down in the South West and the last I heard he is coming on in leaps and bounds so let’s hope this trend continues and he is back to freely walking. I have to say we do get a lot of pleasure out of helping others and that includes within pigeon racing where possible.

Well Done Harvey!

Les. J Parkinson.

11 Rushton Drive,

Middlewich,

Cheshire,

CW10 0NJ.

Tel:01606836036    Mobile 07871701585.

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Web site www.elimarpigeons.com