Tower Hill Stables

[Aurora]

Well done Fiona

[gertvegan]

From www.towerhillstables.com

17th April - London Marathon

Update by Martin - I am thrilled to report that Fiona ran a brilliant race to come 30th in a time of 2 hours 49 ! Fiona was wearing her "Vegan Runners" top and as she ran alone up the Mall there were thousands of people shouting "Come on Vegan" which was brilliant.

This is an outstanding achievement for someone who has no coach, no athletic entourage, a colossal physical workload with running the Sanctuary 24/7, let alone for someone who has no kneecap & a knee joint replacement ! - What a star !!!

Thank you to all who were there to support Fiona & thank you to all who sponsored her for the animals - around £2000 has been pledged for the Sanctuary on the back of this marathon effort!

[gertvegan]

Marathon piccies now ONLINE.

[gertvegan]

Mmmmmmmm raspberries.

If you haven't read it yet, check out the pigs, raspberries, raspberries, pigs delight story on the website, dated 28/05/05, HERE.

[Realfood Mary]

Fiona is coming to our festival. Yay! And Billy is doing dog biscuits as a fundraiser again. Yay!

Berty and Ginty will be happy creatures as they enjoy the Billy snacks.

[gertvegan]

Hello everyone, since becoming a member of Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary located in Essex I wanted to inform you that they are organising an open day for Members (and their friends) on Sunday 12 June 2005. I am planning to go there to show my support and I was wondering if anyone would like to join me. I will be driving and I can take four people in my car. I am not asking any money for petrol however I would appreciate if you could make a donation to Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary instead (even small would be appreciated) alternatively if you can not make it to the open day you could still log on at: www.towerhillstables.com to make a donation, sponsor an Animal or even make your friends and family aware of Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary and how they could help Fiona and Martin. If we are more than five people going I am sure we could find another car owner in the group. Fiona is doing a fantastic job and she needs our support. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to join me for this great journey for The Animals.

If you wanna take up that lift offer, pm me.

[gertvegan]

Boomer and myself went along to the Tower Hill Stables open day yesterday. It was really lovely to meet all the animals that I did, too many to name a favourite. Good to meet Fiona and Martin to of course. I hope it made a few quid to help out.

Thanks for inviting us along Yaksongs, really glad I came, looking forward to the next one already.

Top chocolate cake was also had.

[Yaksongs]

Hey ! the money came through for the DVD's - my faith in humanity is restored !

only joking... he he he

Anyway Fiona took in a new dog a few weeks ago, we have called hom Horace. He is 16 & virtually blind & a bit deaf. He was bagged up & thrown in a river by his caring owners - some people are great aren't they?

He is doing well, but has already had to have a course of antiboitics as he had an abscess in a tooth ! - there are pics of him on the site.

M

[gertvegan]

Heres Horace. Would you like to be a friend of Horace ??

[Yaksongs]

Vets Bills

Fiona has been hit hard recently with vets bills for Dolly the Shire of £2000 (of which £750 was raised by a website appeal) & £500 for Herbie the miniature Shetland who had to have an operation.

I am trying my hardest to raise money, as with monthly feed bills of £3000 looking after 260 animals that have been thrown out is an expensive business.

My CD has now sold 28 copies & raised about £350 but it is a drop in the ocean - come on guys there must be some prog fans in here somewhere? - read the reviews here http://www.yaksongs.com/Reviews.html If not here then please pass the link onto anyone who might me interested - it is all for the animals afterall.

The vets bills on top of the feed bills are just crippling.

Fiona herself is not only doing the work of looking after the animals but is demonstrating that she can perform as a Vegan athelete at the highest level in the very tough sport of marathon running - her performance in London this year was outstanding - 30th - She has even been selected to represent us in the Commmonwealth Games next year.

Rescuing the animals is one thing, it's looking after them & feeding them for the rest of their lives that costs the money. I am very grateful to Gertvegan for his support & marketing of the Sanctuary, but at the end of the day Fiona needs more regular supporters if she is going to carry on doing what she is doing.

I sit & make birthday cards for the supporters we do have as a little thank you. The stamps are donated to us, & the materials I get for free. I sent one out last week to someone who then cancelled their SO (£5) on the basis that if we have money for cards we obviously have too much - you can't b****y win can you? (The sanctuary had 95 supporters - 94 now)

Every penny Fiona gets in donations goes towards the feed costs, no income is taken, no admin charges, no rent

Sorry for the rant, but I don't know what else to do

rant rant rant rant etc

[Yaksongs]

Here's a good one for you:

Fiona mailed the organisers of the Amsterdam Marathon which is on 16th October to see whether she could get an entry based on her past performances. They mailed her back to offer her an "elite" entry (one of 20) an expenses paid trip & accommodation in the same hotel as Haile Gebreselassi - one of the greatest athletes this world has ever seen.

Haile will be attempting a world record at this race & the event will be covered by Eurosport as well as many other forms of media.

So we have a situation here where a Vegan will be lining up with 20 elite runners at a large international marathon - quite a good advert for Vegans you might have thought? - a clear demonstration that a Vegan diet is certainly not prohibitive to performance at international level in one of the hardest endurance events...

& now a short sketch... (the names of the individuals have been omitted to protect the innocent & you'll have to guess the name of the charity too - clue: sounds like an animal that knaws trees down in the US)

ring ring "Hello ****! here"
"Oh hello, it's Fiona Oakes here I am just ringing you to let you know that I have got an elite entry to the Amsterdam Marathon and as a Vegan I thought you might be interested to help on the marketing side as there are not many Vegan athletes who can promote the cause"
"Have you heard of Fiona Oakes?" said the receptionist
"I am Fiona Oakes" said Fiona Oakes
"OK I'll put you through to someone"
clunk, whir, general putting you through type noises - use your imagination
"Hello - Can I take a few note to pass on?"
"Yes - Fiona repeats the line again mentioning that she will be lining up with Haile Gebreselassi and that he will be going for a WR & this means world cameras & her vest will say VEGAN RUNNERS etc"
"Don't bother to say that persons name again as I have absolutely no interest in sport" said the chap at ****!

The conversation went downhill from there & included the classic "Well what do you want us to do about it" line - prize...

Here endeth the sketch.

What do you want us to do about it? - URM... what am I missing here guys?
How many opportunities do we get to sensibly promote Veganism in front of the world's media? Marketing the Vegan message & so ending the misery for millions of animals is what's its all about isn't it?

Perhaps not

[Kevster]

That is pretty poor, has Fiona tried the Vegan Society and Animal Aid? Does anyone have any contacts with the various fitness mags? Who might be interested in doing a piece? Or even Peta perhaps?

I'm a member of both Animal Aid and the Vegan Society and particulalry like reading about articles where people are clearly proving the general perceptions of society wrong, so if you try and don't have any luck with them, let me know.

I'm amazed that this beaver group gave that response, but maybe not too surprised.

[Yaksongs]

So Fiona calls the local paper to see whether they would be interested in the story that a local resident (with a knee replacement) has been selected for the commonwealth games (+ the other angles, Vegan, 260 rescued animals, Fire Service).

Do you know what they said?

"Well, we're not sure there is much of a story here"

Apparently this weeks headline story will be a toss up between:

"Local man receives letter" - or
"Chaos at laundrette as sock goes missing"

[Yaksongs]

http://www.towerhillstables.com/barrow.html

[gertvegan]

Amsterdam Marathon

Please sponsor Fiona - the UK's best Vegan Athlete - in the marathon on 16th October - Fiona is trying to raise funds for the rescued animals at Tower Hill Stables and runs in the "elite" race - see more details at www.towerhillstables.com

Just do it !!

[gertvegan]

Placing an online order with amazon, m & s, john lewis, mfi, sky etc etc, and wanna help out with fundraising for Tower Hill Stables ? Then just click on "New Shop Here" on the homepage, choose the retailer, you're taken to their webpage, shop as usual, and all the animals are laughing. I did it today.

[Kevster]

What did you get? (Look i'm just getting the question in b4 Cedar)

[twinkle]

It's a shame there isn't a more accessible way to support Fiona - I went to her site and the only way it lists to give money is something to do with a sponsorship form which has to be printed, filled out and sent off with a cheque. People (me included) are lazy, it might be a good idea if she set up an online donation scheme, which I didn't see.

[Kevster]

There is an on-line donation scheme, but some of the money goes to the service provider, you can write a cheque and send it free to the Tower Hill bank. Anyhow, laziness is no excuse.

[twinkle]

... Anyhow, laziness is no excuse.

It's not meant to be an excuse - it's a fact that people used to online communication want everything here and now, that doesn't mean their money won't help the animals, and if it isn't made easy for the goodwilled but lazy, busy or forgetful people to donate the animals will be the ultimate losers.

[twinkle]

Kevster - do you have the link to the online payment scheme to sponsor Fiona Oakes? I still can't find it.

For those who want to send a cheque it should be made payable to 'Tower Hill Stables' and sent to

Tower Hill Stables
Asheldham
Essex
CM0 7DZ

ETA - ah, I just realised there's lots of information on the Tower Hill Stables thread. I'd been on http://www.artforarksake.ukart.com/fiona.html looking for information.

Mod - feel free to delete my posts relating to this. I feel silly now

[Yaksongs]

Thanks for your reply Sophie & Twinkle. (& Kevster too!)

Firstly, as Kevster indicates there is an on-line donation link in the site - if you click the "help me please" button on the main page you arrive at this URL
http://www.towerhillstables.com/donations.html

This tells you ways of getting money to the Sanctuary & the 4th option "donate on line" takes you to a link to Secure Giving which enables a credit card to be used HOWEVER it takes up to 8 weeks to arrive thanks to Banking regulations and as Kevster pointed out the Sanctuary will only recieve 93% as the credit card co takes 4% & Secure Giving takes 3%. BTW I work for a Bank but am sad to report that the "transfer by thought" project is still very much only an "idea" at the moment. I hope to progress it to a "concept" by the end of the year

If you still want to use a credit card & want 100% to get to the sanctuary, just call Gladwells on 01473 730246 & put a credit for any amount on the Sanctuary's account (Gladwells are the main feed merchant) - just say Tower Hill Stables & they will know what account you mean.

From the main site page, just click on the Amsterdam Marathon banner & complete the on-line form to pledge an amount to Fiona - she will follow this up with you after the marathon & you can send a cheque to the Bank Account for free as it is a free post address

The other option for membership involves printing a SO form off (or asking by e mail for one to be sent to you) & then post it to the Sanctuary who will do the rest.

I realise that some of these things take effort, but possibly less that running 26 miles at 5 min 50 second pace as well as seeing to 260 animals 24/7...

As the proverb says, "the only thing achieved in life without effort is failure".

Have a nice day all

Yaksongs

[Kevster]

Maybe this'll be something at the AGM? Maybe there should be a fund for vegans who excel in what they do and could do with financial support to continue their commitment?

Fiona is promoting veganism, and that's what the vegan society does...

From the vegan society:

In addition to this 'web site', the Society promotes veganism through:

* books, videos and other publications
* the quarterly magazine The Vegan
* a trademark to help vegans identify suitable products
* a local contact network
* by providing detailed factual information on a wide range of topics
* through annual promotions on World Vegan Day (1 November) '

There is no mention of specifically supporting vegans in what they do for promoting veganism. Maybe that should change?

Could the vegan society potentially do that? (resources wise?)

[gertvegan]

From www.towerhillstables.com

25th September - Christmas Open Day

The next members open day will be on Sunday 4th December from Noon. I am delighted to say that the catering will once more be provided by the Happy Hamsters of Brentwood! If you are a member or supporter you should have received an e mail by now - although I do get a lot of bounces, so maybe I don't have your latest e mail address - let me know if you didn't get the notification and I will check the records. Don't forget also that if you want to receive emails about offers in the Sanctuary's online shop, just let me know.

See you's there.

[gertvegan]

From www.veganvillage.co.uk

Amsterdam Marathon

Please sponsor Fiona - the UK's best Vegan Athlete - in the marathon on 16th October - Fiona is trying to raise funds for the rescued animals at Tower Hill Stables and runs in the "elite" race - see more details at www.towerhillstables.com

[gertvegan]

From www.animalaid.org.uk

Marathon girl

Vegan Fiona Oakes cares for more than 260 rescued animals at her sanctuary in Essex, including hens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, cats, dogs and rabbits. This eternally energetic and tirelessly dedicated lady is also a part-time fire fighter and, as if that wasn't enough, a marathon runner.

Fiona - despite having a knee replacement - trains by running more than 80 miles a week and represented the UK at the Barcelona Olympics in '92 and recently switched to marathon running - coming 30th in the 2005 London Marathon in an incredible 2 hours 49 minutes. On Sunday 16th October, she will be taking part in the Amsterdam marathon. Fiona has been invited to compete as one of only 20 to 30 'Elite' runners, lining up alongside Haile Gebreselassi, one of the greatest athletes in the world today. What an achievement!

'Because I was in the Elite start of the London race I was running alone for most of it,' says Fiona. 'When I turned into The Mall it was music to my ears to hear a man on a tannoy shouting "come on the vegan runner!" to over 500,000 people. All the pain of the hundreds of miles of training seemed worth it. If I'm out there winning races it is a great way of getting the message across that the vegan diet is the healthiest of all!'

Fiona is a vegan dynamo, and we'll be cheering her all the way on October 16th.

Please visit www.towerhillstables.com, where you will see pictures of all the rescued animals living out their days in spacious accommodation and contentment. Donations to the sanctuary would be very gratefully received.

Go Fiona!

[gertvegan]

Fiona ( www.towerhillstables.com ) came 9th. Good on you's Fiona. More info will follow.

[gertvegan]

From the www.towerhillstables.com website. Remarkable vegan.

Well, I am back from Amsterdam, what an experience – some good times, some very bad!

As most of my members will know, I was invited to run in Amsterdam and so this meant an expenses paid trip, which was great as I couldn’t have afforded to go otherwise!

We (my Mum and I) arrived early on Friday morning and from that time onwards it seemed as if my feet did not have time to touch the ground. There was a reception at the hotel for the Elite athletes and from the moment I attended that I realised this was going to be an experience unlike anything I was used to. To be honest, it scared me a bit as it made me realise just how pampered the athletes I would be competing against are. I don’t think there was anyone else there who did not have a manager and a coach with them – which came as a bit of a shock to me as I have neither!

On the day before the race I was invited on a coach trip of the course with the other Elite athletes (including Haile). Security was very tight and there was a full police escort for the whole 26.2 miles. The other athletes’ took their entourages with them and the whole thing was taken very seriously indeed. I was so nervous at being in such illustrious company I hardly dare look at out of the window as the prospect of running the next day was becoming very daunting indeed! That evening there was a Technical Meeting for the athletes where all the final details could be ironed out – such as pacemakers, special drinks and food requirements, massages etc. It was all totally alien to me as I never have anything, I just go out running when I am not needed by the animals. I have no spare money for fancy drinks and food, I just have to eat what is available at the time. I suppose I felt daunted by the fact that all the other runners in the field do is eat, rest and train when I all do is work, train and worry!

I was pleased when the morning of the race arrived but a little sceptical as the weather was very windy. The sun was also very hot when it was out but the wind chill made it cold out of the sun, quite difficult weather to cater for. The coach arrived to take the Elite athletes the 20 minutes drive to the start and I was honoured enough to sit opposite the great man himself, Haile Gebresalasie. As we approached the stadium spectators realised this was the bus with the Elite athletes on and began to get very excited, cheering, waving and taking photographs etc. When we disembarked Haile and I walked into the Olympic Stadium side by side which, I have to confess, was a great thrill for me. A good few people rushed over to take photographs of this great man, so they will be taking home photographs of Haile and a Vegan Runner too! As the time of the start approached things really did get very serious. The other runners all seemed to have last minute preparations and rituals to perform, complex stretching routines (often involving their coaches) to go through whilst I just sat quietly with my Mum – playing hangman, proudly sporting my Vegan Runners vest thinking of the animals I might help by running well.

We were called to the start and, after the great press frenzy for photographs, we were off. I soon settled into my rhythm and it felt like I was flying, pb’s (personal best) through 10K and 16K. All was going well until we hit the very windy part of the course which was when I began to realise what pacemakers are really for - not to set the pace, but to shield the other runner from the wind and difficult parts of the course. I continued to carry on at a pb pace into the wind and felt very strong, even though I was running alone. I was above my scheduled pace when we hit half Marathon (21.1K) and at 25K. Then, I am sorry to say, disaster struck. My knee gave way on me and became partially dislocated. I will explain at this point, for those of you who may not know, that I have a knee replacement and no knee cap on my right side due to having a tumour when I was younger. It is a great disability and disadvantage to me when running. Indeed, when I had the operation done the initial plan was to straighten my leg at the knee instead of putting a replacement join in someone so young. I don’t actually think it is the joint which causes me my problems, it is actually not having a knee cap to attach the tendons to which causes me problems as it makes my knee prone to dislocating as it is quite unstable.

At this point I was not sure what to do but I desperately wanted to try and carry on, even though the pain was quite awful. I decided to see if I could continue on but alter my cadence to throw most of the pressure onto my left leg. I managed to adapt some sort of strange style which allowed me to run/limp along but it slowed me down terribly. The unfortunate thing was I still had 12K to the finish.

Eventually I got there but was so glad to see the Olympic Stadium – and finishing line – again I can hardly explain. I hobbled onto the track and across the finish line where I collapsed in pain. Indeed, one of the officials said you could see the bone sticking out to the side of my leg when I was running.

In the end I was 9th overall in a time almost two minutes under my personal best. However, I have to confess I am disappointed as I know I could have done so much better without the injury to my knee. It is so frustrating as I was running so well up to that point. I have seen a physio and doctor since the race and am due to see another specialist next week. In the meantime I will continue to try and get the swelling down and keep the pain under control.

On reflection I know I should not be too hard on myself as I have run my best time ever. Whilst I was in Amsterdam I had a taste of how ‘real’ athletes live and it made me realise that for someone who has what is classed as a disability, cares for 260 animals and makes themselves available 24/7 in the Fire Service – I don’t do too bad!

There were 16 other Elite ladies there, all full time runners, I beat 7 of those runners and the whole of the rest of the field, and I did not do it for myself, I did it to raise awareness of an animal cruelty free lifestyle and to try and raise funds for the animals at the Sanctuary. On the evening of the race, I was with the physio in the hotel as Haile came in for a massage. He asked how I had done and explained what had happened. Shocked when he saw the state of my leg and the bruising on the ball of my left foot where I had been forced to put so much pressure, he said it was a strange state of affairs that whilst we had both run a personal best time, we were both disappointed. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here.

Thank you to all who sponsored me

Fiona & the gang

[gertvegan]

If you haven't been keeping up to date with whats happening down at Tower Hill Stables, click on the animated cat. Have a good old look around the site, theres a lot to read up on the many different animals that are cared for.

Do have a read of events on November 2nd ......... ouchie! Good to see no sense of humour loss though.

Why not make a donation whilst you're there. www.towerhillstables.com

[gertvegan]

Tower Hill Stables Gym is now open for business !

You can apply to join for yourself, for family membership or as a gift for a friend.

Click here for more info.

But sad news about Bess.

www.towerhillstables.com

[gertvegan]

Lifescape Magazine have asked Fiona Oakes to write an article in each of the next 4 monthly issues. See Nov 27th HERE.

[Spiral]

Why not make a donation whilst you're there. www.towerhillstables.com

Christmas is coming so why not sponsor an animal as a christmas gift for a relative or friend? Much better than a pair of socks

[gertvegan]

Fiona was today chased whilst out on a 20 mile training run by two 'Hunt people' on horseback for about half a mile.

Read more here under 7th January.

[gertvegan]

From http://www.towerhillstables.com on 28th Jan.

Charlie Farley arrives

Poor Charley Farley the hound has had a rough time of it. He is the worst abuse case I have taken in here. He has been kept in a small cage for six years and suffered horrific abuse which I cannot publish the details of.

Click the link to read yet another heart warming update, from Tower Hill Stables, that needs supporting.

[gertvegan]

Do have a read of the Near Disaster for Dolly news, on 23rd Feb, with tissues on standby. This place could well do with your support.

[Yaksongs]

Please consider sponsoring Fiona in the London Marathon - the on-line pledge form is here http://www.towerhillstables.com/london05.html

All being well Fiona will be running on April 23rd in the women's elite race sporting her green & black Vegan Runners top. Fiona is the best Vegan female marathon runner in the world. Help her spread the Vegan message through sponsorship

Thanks

[gertvegan]

Will do.

Go for it Fiona.

[Yaksongs]

Thanks Paul - much appreciated

There is still time to sponsor Fiona who - all being well - will be competing in the womens elite race on Sunday which starts at 9 am. All funds raised will go towards the feeding costs of the rescued animals at Fiona's Sanctuary.

http://www.towerhillstables.com/london05.html

Regards

M

[Tiggerwoo]

Done!

[Yaksongs]

Thanks Tiggerwoo - much appreciated !

M

[cedarblue]

i'm pleased to support fiona again this year as last.

way to go fiona - i'll be looking out for that vegan vest! - from the comfort of my armchair

[Yaksongs]

Thanks cedarblue ! Do you know I have never seen Fiona run ! - as one of us has to be here all the time !! I shall set the video...

M

[gertvegan]

Just a reminder.

London Marathon on BBC1

Sun 23 Apr, 8:30 am

Sue Barker introduces live coverage of the 26th running of the world's most famous road race, the Flora London Marathon.

Look out for Fiona.

[gertvegan]

Though Fiona would have finished by now, you can still contact the BBC to wish her all the best, and hopefully your message will appear along the bottom of the screen.

You can text 81111. There is an email address but I didn't catch it.

Be sure to mention vegan, Fiona Oakes, and Tower Hill Stables animal sanctuary.

[Tiggerwoo]

Does anyone know how Fiona did?

[gertvegan]

I'm sure Yaksongs wll let us know more, but from the marathon website, it looks like 22nd in 2 hours 51 mins. Superb.

www.towerhillstables.com may have some info as well.

[Yaksongs]

Yes you're right Paul - 22nd place is an excellent result for Fiona, although with the recent losses of Simon & Pan, Fiona was really too upset and stressed out to do the kind of time she is capable of - but having said that any time under 3 hours is what good club runners aspire to - & that's the men !

2 hours 51 odd is brill.

I don't if you were watching the womens race coverage, but someone sent in a question right at the start saying were there any veggies or even vegans running? the commentators didn't have a clue & Tracy Morris made some comment about needing protein from meat for strength - what a load of claptrap. I must have sent them a dozen text messages - but they were ignored ! quell suprise..

Typical - what a great opportunity to show that you don't need to eat meat to compete at this level on national TV - particulaly when you have a knee replacement to contend with too...

I mean you'd think the elite female race comentators would at least have a list of the UK female athletes & their club names wouldn't you - just for reference & a bit of interest for their commentary... obviously not

M

[Tiggerwoo]

That is amazing, well done to Fiona from me, and let me know what you want me to do about her sponsor money.

[Yaksongs]

Thanks Tiggerwoo!

All sponsorship cheques paable to:

"Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary" and sent to:

Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary
Asheldham]
Essex
CM0 7DZ

or if you have paypal - pm me for the details

Thanks

M

[Tiggerwoo]

Will do!