KateWVintage

Time traveller and vintage dreamer - Lover of vintage dresses, brooches, scarves and cookbooks

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

Next Saturday, more than twenty of my colleagues will be joining me to walk 50km in 12 hours in support of Charlotte's BAG. With the weather forecast looking very warm, it will certainly be a challenge.

I was recently diagnosed with mild arthritis in my knee, in addition to bursitis, which I've lived with for years without too many problems.

But compared with what Charlotte endured during her battle with brain cancer, it's nothing I can't manage.

Then, four weeks from today, Miles and I will begin an even bigger challenge: walking from Eastbourne to Winchester and back again 200 miles in 12 days.

Ten years ago, we completed the same walk to raise awareness of brain tumours. It was our first major challenge and took us sixteen days. Back then, Charlotte's BAG didn't exist.

This time, we're walking not only to raise awareness but also to help fund the research taking place in Charlotte's Lab at King's College London.

Every mile is for Charlotte.
Every step is for everyone affected by a brain tumour.

As always, Charlotte's BAG is entirely self-funded, meaning 100% of every donation goes directly to brain tumour research.

If you're able to support us, we would be incredibly grateful. If not, a simple RT would mean just as much.

Onwards and upwards.
With thanks
https://t.co/Hq2nSV9njf

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

I’ve just handed over all the paperwork for June to our pro bono accountant, and I’m so pleased to share that we raised £8,179.08 last month. This brings our total to date to £326,775.68 for Charlotte’s BAG, our self-funded charity supporting brain tumour research at Charlotte’s Lab, King’s College Hospital, London.

Every single penny donated goes directly to research. We don’t take salaries. We pay our own admin costs. This charity exists purely to fund hope and progress in Charlotte’s name.

Many supporters told us they’d donate again because they value that 100% of their donation funds research. That trust means the world to us.

Miles and I both work full-time, so it’s not always easy to squeeze in fundraising challenges but this year we’re walking 50km over the Sussex Downs and later the Jurassic Coast Walk to keep Charlotte’s name alive and her legacy growing.

If you’re able to support us by donating, or simply retweeting, it all helps to make sure Charlotte is never forgotten.

https://t.co/UAzH5mnKzm

Thank you so much.
Alex - Charlotte’s Mum

[🇬🇧📺 Classic British TV 📺🇬🇧 @Classicbritcom]

Jean Marsh (1 July 1934 – 13 April 2025) R.I.P

[Talking Pictures TV @TalkingPicsTV]

A true English Rose.

We are so sorry to have to say goodbye to actress and author Jean Marsh OBE. Thank you for entertaining us for so many years.

Rest in peace, upstairs.

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

Firstly, thank you so much for the tremendous amount of support we have received; it means a great deal to Miles and I. This business with Royal Mail has really upset me, knowing that they had not even bothered to look in our PO Box until I launched a complaint.

I have spent some time going through our charity bank statements and I’m pleased to say that I found an entry dated 01.08.2023 for the cheque worth £522.42. A few years ago - Miles remembered it because, as he told me, no one rings the landline anymore - there was a call from a gentleman asking if we had received a cheque from him. As we hadn’t received the cheque, he kindly sent another. At the time, I never thought to query the PO Bo. There were no more entries for the other cheques undelivered by Royal Mail, but I just wanted to update you all. We are still short £540.00 of donations because of Royal Mail’s incompetence

However, as Miles pointed out, it wouldn’t matter if all the cheques had been sent again: it’s a matter of principle. Why should people who have kindly donated be put in the position of having to spend time chasing up whether or not their cheques arrived? They should not have to.

We are a small charity who relies on donations. We would love to arrange more fundraising but we simply don’t have the time. All we can manage is two events per year, usually walking challenges. Our website was updated around two years ago, again this was funded not through donations but at personal expense, with the immense help of an amazing website designer and a PR professional (both of whom are still lending their services pro bono) as we believe that every penny raised should go to research.

I’m going to send another ‘test’ envelope to the PO Box. It would be great if anyone has the time to send one too. If you put your postcode on the back I will be able to see how many actually got delivered and put the postcodes on X. Only an idea, but it might provide more of a picture of what has led to the massive failings on Royal Mail’s part.

Charlotte’s BAG
PO Box 5439
Brighton BN50 8JR

I emailed the CEO of Royal Mail a few days ago to reiterate my concerns and frustrations. I also posted a recorded 1st class letter to her in case she didn’t read the email. The tracking of the recorded letter show that, despite being 1st class recorded, it has not left Brighton! In this case, I am unsure as to what the justification is for the price of a 1st class stamp.

Today is Mother’s Day. When Charlotte died, we held her funeral on 5th March. The next day was Mother’s Day which was an unbelievably bitter pill to swallow.

Today, I’m thinking especially of four bereaved students. Two lost their mothers when they were 13 (they are now 19 and 18). Another was 3 when she lost her mother (she is now 18) and the last lost her mother only last year when she was 14 (she’s 15 tomorrow). I have texted them all this morning to say I’m thinking of them.

Usually, it’s the child giving flowers to the mother on Mother’s Day. Today I gave flowers to Charlotte, as I do every Sunday.

Miles has been wonderful. Despite me saying not to get me anything, he presented me with a voucher and a card.

Please RT TY

https://t.co/Ox60Th4rfn

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

I had little come through our PO Box so I decided to ‘test’ the system and send myself a first class letter on 18th March 2025. A week later it still hadn’t arrived, so I phoned Royal Mail. The representative said that she would email me as soon as she had spoken to somebody. I never received a reply. Yesterday afternoon, I followed it up with an email and got an immediate ‘do not reply email’ back with a case reference number.

In the evening, I arrived home having had a long day of assessment and bereavement sessions. There was post with mail redirected from the PO Box number to our home address. Upon opening the letters, this was the contents:

· Cheque £522.42 dated 10.7.2023
· Cheque £150.00 dated 4.10.2023
· Cheque £40.00 dated 27.12.2023
· Cheque £350.00 dated 14.4.2024
· Book and Christmas card from an author in America
dated December 2023
· Bank order $50 dated 13.2.2025
· A Christmas card from Dec 2024 from King’s College
Hospital
· My ‘test’ letter 9 days later (sent 1st class)
Total: £1062.42.

PO Box payments are not cheap. Here is the breakdown of what I have paid dated back to 2023:

· March 2023 £378
· March 2024 £396
· March 2025 £424.20

Total £1198.20

These hard-worked-for donations in the form of cheques are now out of date and cannot be cashed owing to Royal Mail’s incompetence.

We are one of the few charities that self-fund, so all the PO Box invoices above were paid personally by me, not the charity.

The cheques that we received we are so grateful for and I am incredibly sorry that I was unable to thank and communicate with those who donated them nearer to the time. I have since updated those kind donors and thanked them for the contribution that we, unfortunately, were unable to use.

Charlotte's BAG is a small charity set up in my late daughter’s name. She died from brain cancer in 2016, aged 19 years 5 days.

We work closely with the medical team at King's College Hospital, London, to provide funding for brain cancer research in Charlotte’s Lab.

I am sure that the team at Kings College Hospital will be dismayed to learn that funds of over £1,000 have been lost.

I phoned customer services who took all the details and gave me a reference number. If I haven’t heard back by next Thursday, I will make urgent enquiries. However, I have today emailed the CEO of @RoyalMail in addition to sending a letter.
Please RT

https://t.co/Ox60Th4Z4V

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

9 Years ago today Charlotte's brain tumour journey raising awareness

18.2.97 - 24.2.2016

Charlotte’s funeral was on 5th March 2016. The chapel was filled to capacity. I was told there wasn’t a dry eye.

I asked for her to be dressed in her beautiful pink dress, the same one she wore when she spoke to the Year 10s about cancer in 2015. Underneath, she wore a Harrods T-shirt she had ordered but never got to wear.

She left this world in the high heels she had chosen for her 19th birthday.

Christmas was always her favorite time, so I placed her stocking beside her, along with Marmalade (Miles' teddy that he gave to Charlotte), a book on cats from Miles, and a small cuddly hedgehog. The hedgehog had been given to her by the school matron when Charlotte was in Year 6 to keep her safe.

A final touch was the Chanel powder compact she bought on our last trip to Brighton the month before.

We chose a simple wicker casket. Miles picked the flowers three single white roses and small posies near the handles. One piece of music played was From the Morning by Nick Drake.

Brain cancer took Charlotte at just 19 years and 5 days; she never stood a chance.

We’re fighting to change that for others.

If you can donate, we would be so grateful. But even a simple RT helps more than you know. We are a self funding charity so 100% goes to brain tumour research at Charlotte's LAB KCH. Thank you.

https://t.co/Ox60Th4Z4V

https://t.co/1Glfm9fdDd

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

Thank you so much to new followers who helped me get over 16,000. It means so much. Miles & I are running our first 10k a week Sunday. If you can donate that would be amazing but if you can't a RT would be really appreciated.
https://t.co/3vLUb30Izo

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

I was Charlotte. I was born in Brighton on 18th Feb 1997. I loved handbags and fashion. I was looking forward to having a career. I was looking forward to getting married and having children. I was looking forward to a long and happy retirement. But none of that happened.

That’s why I write in the past tense.
I died when I was 19 years and 5 days old, on 24.2.2016.

Since I passed my mother and Miles, my older brother,
Have been raising awareness of brain tumours,
especially Glioblastoma.
That’s the one that took me.
It was a grade four and inoperable.
It was on the brain stem.
I had standard NHS treatment: 6 weeks radiotherapy to my brain and spine.
I also had chemotherapy.
Treatment abroad was too expensive.
It's the exception, not the norm. My mother tries to tweet daily about my journey, and now she is forced to tweet about her's.
I documented my journey on my YouTube channel.
https://t.co/AdhfiOjmvN

When I, Alex, Charlotte's mother, was diagnosed with grade two breast cancer earlier this year,
I was so, so glad that I went for my routine mammogram. Miles and Charlotte would never have forgiven me if I'd missed a free NHS breast screening appointment. Fortunately, it was caught early and I have had a lumpectomy and five days of preventative radiotherapy.
One day I will join Charlotte, but I want to be with Miles for as long as possible. Unlike Charlotte, I am able to fight my cancer because it was caught early. For Charlotte, that made no difference.

Fortunately, a lot of money is donated to breast cancer research, which is wonderful, as, hopefully, I will be able to live a long life. However, Charlotte was not so lucky, as brain cancer research receives virtually no funding.

If you would like to donate to a charity, please think of
https://t.co/Ox60Th4Z4V

A follow or/and a RT would help so much to raise awareness of two different types of cancer Brain & Breast.

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

I was told today that I was an inspiration. I replied, "I'm not." I was dealt a card that I cannot change, so I must make the most of it or lose it. All I do now is raise awareness in honour of my daughter and her bravery. Charlotte has gone forever but glioblastoma hasn't. Thinking of all those past/present and, unfortunately, future. One RT for knowing what glioblastoma is would give me an indication of how many people have heard of it. I have an awful feeling there may be quite a few.
https://t.co/Ox60Th4rfn

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

Charlotte’s BAG (Battle against Glioblastoma) is named after my late daughter, Charlotte, who died seven years ago, aged 19. Charlotte died of a grade four brain tumour, Glioblastoma. After this, my son and I decided to start a charity. We self-fund and take no expenses, so 100% goes to research at Charlotte’s Laboratory, in King’s college Hospital, London. We don’t sell merchandise, advertise or have any quirky slogans. Our accountant is pro bono, as is our website designer. We have no PR team (I wish we did), but we can’t afford to pay anyone. I do what I can, in addition to working full time. We have a meeting with the Charlotte’s BAG team at Kings on the 19th December. We will discuss the exciting projects on which so many kind donations will be spent. On the team is one consultant oncologist, four consultant neurosurgeons, one consultant neuropathologist, and one professor. We have two amazing patrons, the author @ellygriffiths Griffiths & TV & radio presenter, @Matthew_Wright Wright. Charlotte has a fellowship named after her at King’s. At Charlotte’s BAG, we are open about how donations are spent. Every donation received is always thanked personally, £1 or £100. When Charlotte was alive, she documented her painful cancer journey with no help from anyone. She left a legacy with her channel: https://t.co/hYJuYZbADz
If you are thinking of donating to a charity this Christmas, do think of us:
https://t.co/iC5BHESuIi
A RT would be amazing to help spread the word pro bono! TY

[I❤️Nostalgia '𝕏' @Ilovenostalgia]

Admit you’re old. Retweet if you know what this is…

[🇬��📺 Classic British TV 📺🇬🇧 @Classicbritcom]

Remembering the late Actor, Richard Burton (10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984)

[M&S Archive @MandSHeritage]

Need a moment of mindfulness? Zoom in and explore the womenswear department of Slough store in 1959. Let us know if anything takes your fancy...
#1950s #retailhistory #slough #vintagefashion #cardigans