Fundraising Success at Charity Quiz Night!

🌟MIND BODY EDS CHARITY QUIZ NIGHT🌟

We’d like to say a BIG thank you to all those who came and supported @mindbodyeds Charity Quiz Night on Saturday 8th February 2020! An evening full of brain-boggling questions, laughter, delicious Sri Lankan Curry, and an incredible selection of Raffle and Silent Auction Prizes! The charity event was a HUGE success and raised the equivalent of funding at least 10 individual private consultations for a diagnosis of EDS!

Thank you to all volunteers, Tilford Village Shop Sri Lankan Curry and all donations towards helping our charity make an impressionable difference to the lives who suffer from Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.

We are most grateful to the following sponsors who kindly donated prizes: @chelseafc @thejockeyclub @steamdreamsrailco @silentpoolgin @lauramercier @jessicakohnmakeup @jomalonelondon @saskiaamor @nandosuk @gigglingsquid @sohowhiskyclub @knightsofmiddleengland @frankgreen_official @thefoodmedic @davidlloydfarnham @oliverbonas @starbucksuk @ebbflowyoga @sweatybetty @b_ndstore @livias @emshelx @thesculpturepark @colourenergyworks @aromatherapy.works @orvis_farnham @waitroseandpartners The Haslemere Clinic

Mind Body EDS spreads awareness in Edinburgh!

Wow! what a response at The Ehlers Danlos Society’s Psychological & Emotional Health Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland on Saturday 2nd November 2019.

The day was full with over 200 people attending including EDS specialists, doctors, charities, patients and families. It was fascinating to learn the links with mental health conditions and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, all potentially linked to Orthostatic Intolernace. It will be interesting to see how this biological link evolves...

Thrilled to see such a successful turnout for an important aspect of co-morbid mental health conditions among the chronic illness community. Doubly thrilled to meet and leave an impression on more fellow EDS zebras in the UK and spreading awareness of our charity’s mission!

Rochelle (Volunteer) and Laura Sylvester (Founder) with Mind Body EDS conference stand

Welcoming presentation by Lara Bloom (CEO of The Ehlers Danlos Society) commenting on Mind Body EDS #myedsdiagnosis campaign

Laura Sylvester (Founder) with Tania Tirraoro, Founder of Special Needs Jungle charity

Mind Body EDS attends and sponsors its first Ehlers-Danlos Society Global Learning Conference in Nashville, TN

What an incredible opportunity Mind Body EDS had to participate and sponsor in this years Ehlers-Danlos Society Global Learning Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, USA!

We had two representatives go on behalf of our charity (our Founder and a Volunteer) to raise awareness of our charity’s mission, network with worldwide specialists and patients, as well as be educated with the most up-to-date findings of the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. Mind Body EDS were the only UK registered charity who supported the event.

As a charity, we are very proud to have been able to support the The Ehlers-Danlos Society whilst being the only UK EDS charity in attendance. We learnt such an extensive amount of education in EDS, and participated in two different research studies looking into the genetic type for hEDS, and the affects of local anaesthesia on EDS patients.

We’d like to thank our volunteers, patients and specialists we connected with at the conference and hope to see y’all next year in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

#ehlersdanlossyndrome #eds#hypermobilitysyndrome #hsd #heds#veds #chronicillness #charity#donate #edsawareness #spoonie

Founder and Volunteer at Mind Body EDS sponsor stand

Lara Bloom (CEO of The Ehlers-Danlos Society) with Laura Sylvester (Founder of Mind Body EDS)

Our Founder and Volunteer pictured with EDS Neurosurgeon, Dr Henderson

Our Founder with her blood samples for the HEDGE genetic research study

Our Founder with fellow EDS patients

Our Founder with Anthea, an EDS patient from Australia

Our Founder, Volunteer, and EDS patient Bonnie, contributing towards the second research study of local anesthesia affects on EDS patients

Congratulations Alex for cycling from London to Amsterdam for Mind Body EDS!

On Sunday 22nd June 2019, Alexander McCormac arrived in Amsterdam completing his cycling journey from London riding over 604km over four days.

Alex said, “We did it! Amazing, exhausting experience but well worth it, and wrapped up with a beer on an Amsterdam canal before dinner with the team. Unforgettable.”

Thank you so much Alex for supporting our charity and thank you to everyone who showed their support on social media, by cheering him on and by donating! To date, he has raised £1,555 which is 77% of his fundraising goal! For anyone who still wants to donate and help us get to 100%, the link is here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlexanderNororiMcCormac

Congratulations George for running the Vitality 10k for Mind Body EDS!

On bank holiday Monday, 27th May 2019, George Dodson completed the Vitality London 10k in 59 mins 9 seconds! Thank you so much to for running to support Mind Body EDS and to everyone who cheered on, donated, and supported George and our charity. We have raised 98% of the fundraising goal and would love to make it to 100% so for anyone who would like to donate and help us reach that goal, please donate here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GeorgeDodson

#MindBodyEDS #AGatewayofHope #Vitality10k

John helps fundraise over £20,000 by running the London Marathon 2019!

John Thompson running past Tower Bridge Cheer Point. Photographer @agbwalker

Huge congratulations to our incredible London Marathon Charity Ballot runner, John Thompson for completing his first Virgin Giving Money London Marathon!

Being our first year apart of the London Marathon, we are so proud of him and his efforts and to date has fundraised over £20,000 for Mind Body EDS!

John was 2 minutes ahead of his goal time (3hr35) until he hit 32km. John suffered from excruciating spinal pain causing him to stop running. Luckily this was at our Limehouse Cheer Point where our strong 10 Mind Body EDS volunteers helped hydrate and provided support by giving him a pep talk to cheer him on. Eventually he got back into his stride, the searing pain alleviated and John finished in 4:04:35!

We are so grateful to our cheer point volunteers throughout the course helping spread awareness of our charity and most importantly, provide the moral support John needed to get him over the finish line.

Our Virgin Giving Money page is still active and we are continuing to receive donatioMns. If you’d like to show your support and make a real difference to EDS patients lives, please donate here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/john-thompson-MindBodyEDS

Our warm-heart thanks to our sponsors (JHI Associates, Apex, and Peachey & Co LLP) , donors, cheer point volunteers, and volunteer photographers @agbwalker and Frankii Lock in helping make our first London Marathon an incredible success!

#MindBodyEDS #AGatewayofHope #ThanksaBillion #LondonMarathon2019

Southampton University Medics raise almost £1000 for Mind Body EDS

Thank you to Southampton University Medic Societies for helping fundraise for Mind Body EDS. We are so grateful as a charity for your continued support in helping us fulfill our mission of being a ‘gateway of hope’ for Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.

The Bluetits Southampton Medics Netball Club held a charity fancy dress netball match and raised a total of £212!

The MedSoc Monty held their annual dance show in April and Founder, Rochelle Sylvester, says:

It has been an absolute pleasure helping to fundraise for so many charities over the last few years, especially Mind Body EDS. I am so proud that we have managed to successfully promote body confidence whilst raising over £750 for Mind Body EDS.

If you would like to hold a fundraising event or partake in a fundraising race etc. please get in touch with our charity by emailing info@mindbodyeds.org.uk

Mind Body EDS Advocate at the 2019 National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition

Mind Body EDS were invited to attend the 2019 National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition at Southampton University on 23rd February 2019.

Our Founder, Laura Sylvester, presented Mind Body EDS Advocacy talk about our charity and spreading awareness of Ehlers-Danlos syndromes to over 250 medical students, professors and medical professionals from across the UK.

Many thanks for having us and helping us pursue our mission by helping to educate and advocate to medical students, the future doctors of our tomorrow.

USA champion running for Mind Body EDS in London Marathon 2019

Every year, over 35,000 runners take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience and we are excited to announce that Mind Body EDS secured a Charity Ballot place for the Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 - we know these are like gold dust! This year, London Marathon will be celebrating #ThanksaBillion breaking a fundraising record of £1 billion since it began in 1981!

John Thompson, 55, who is a Grand Slam gold medal champion at the Run Houston Race Series (winning all five races in record times), and winner of USATF Gulf Coast Region Grand Prix Series, will be running and fundraising for the charity this year. UK-born and with a PhD in Physics from Sussex University, he is now resident in the USA and works in the Oil & Gas industry. Out of office hours he has led an exceptionally energetic outdoor lifestyle and recently started running trail, track and road races from 5km to 24-hour endurance events. Always setting new targets for himself, at the 2019 London Marathon his goal is to be in the top-three USA-based runners in his age group. At the same time he is “delighted to be able to help raise the profile of Laura’s extraordinary new charity, which has immediately hit the ground running in helping those like her who are suffering with this hugely-debilitating illness.”

There are so many ways you can contribute to helping John cross the finishing lines - whether that’s through sponsoring/donating or why not help us by organising a fundraising event?

So please support Mind Body EDS on our Marathon journey by visiting our Virgin Money Giving page (https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/john-thompson-MindBodyEDS), certain in the knowledge that your generous donation will change the lives of those suffering from this crippling and potentially fatal condition.

Follow John’s training for the London Marathon by visiting his Facebook page where he will be posting regular updates: @JohnThompsonLondonMarathon2019MBEDS

If you have a place in the London Marathon this year, why not give yourself a stronger purpose to run whilst making a real positive impression on the lives of those suffering with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes by choosing to fundraise for Mind Body EDS. We are welcoming all those with London Marathon 2019 ballot places to run for us, so please get in touch with us here.

#MindBodyEDS #AGatewayofHope #LondonMarathon #ThanksaBillion

GIVING SOMETHING BACK: Mind Body EDS in Farnham Waitrose Community Matters

Mind Body EDS has successfully been accepted to be apart of Waitrose Community Matters in the Farnham branch for December 2018. At the end of your shop in the Farnham branch, you’ll receive a token to place in a box of the good cause you’d most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive. Every month, this branch donates £1000 to be shared by three local causes. So spread the word and donate your green tokens to Mind Body EDS!