Hello to all you Clann An Drumma fans.
We managed to meet up with the band on Saturday evening in Dunfermline. And what a laugh it was. Mainly due to the fact they arrived from Hampden park with 4 minutes of the Scotland v France football left. Sorry to say they did not play Hampden due to heavy rain prior to the match and Joe is also recovering from a chest infection. But hey were there in Spirit at Hampden.
So as I said there was four minutes left. Well Christine was laughing at Brian the piper and Craig one of the drummers sitting in the van. shouting at the radio for the referee to blow the final whistle. it was great fun watching them. Then when the final whistle went you should have heard the roar that they let out. I am sure Elly heard them in Aussie.
The band members then came over shocked to see us at this event. And then they spotted that we had Andrew in the back seat so they all made a fuss over him.
Then the Anthony Nolan trust Event organisers arrived in the car park and introduced themselfs to the band.
Yes this venue was the Anthony Nolan Trust Beer Festival. The Anthony nolan trust is a very well supported charity.
But for any one not sure how the trust started I shall give you a brief description of how it all started.
The Anthony Nolan Trust owes its existence to the incredible vision and determination of one woman – Shirley Nolan.
When Anthony was born, in 1971, with the extremely rare Wiscott Aldrich Syndrome, the only known cure was a bone marrow transplant from a compatible donor. The question – how to find that donor?
In 1971, there was no such thing as a bone marrow register.
There were no mechanisms or processes to analyse or record the variations in each person’s cell tissue which determine whether he or she could be a match.
In other words, finding a donor for Anthony was like looking for a needle in a haystack – but far worse. The haystack was spread all over the world – and there was no simple way to recognise the needle.
Shirley was shocked that a cure for Anthony could literally be in the house next door – but she, we, the medical profession, all of us – had no way of knowing.
So Shirley directed her energy towards establishing a register. She started working to create a system – a system which would analyse a person’s tissue type, record it in accessible form - and keep the details of each person, one by one, who declared themselves willing to donate bone marrow tissue in the event of a match.
Sadly, Anthony died in 1979 without a donor being found. Shirley passed away in 2002.
Shirley created the first register of bone marrow donors in the world.
Thanks to her vision, the Anthony Nolan Trust now operates one of the largest register of donors in the world.
As a direct result of that same vision, the World Marrow Donors Association now offers access to 9.2 million donors worldwide.
And the trust plans for the future and as follows.
The Anthony Nolan Trust enjoyed major success in 2005. For the first time, taking into account both the donors sourced from the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register and those provided through the charity from overseas registers for UK patients, we helped over 500 children and adults worldwide to receive the chance of a lifesaving transplant.
We plan to build on this wonderful achievement in a number of ways in 2006:
Developing specific internet-based communication links with overseas registers will lead to improved donor search possibilities, for both UK and overseas patients
We are committed to increasing the ethnic diversity of our bone marrow register. With this in mind, we have set a donor recruitment target of some 25,000 in 2006
One volunteer recruitment focus is young people, particularly young men aged 18 to 30. We intend to appoint a donor recruitment manager with responsibility for working with student groups throughout Britain
The Anthony Nolan has been considering developing the UK’s first charity umbilical cord blood bank, which could add much needed bone marrow for patients. The Directors have given approval to proceed with this very exciting project, which will see an initial 3,000 cords being collected and integrated into our adult donor register
Quite rightly, the issue of haemopoietic stem cell provision is the subject of new legislation within the UK (The Human Tissue Act). We are keen to comply with all such legislation and best current practice with regard to every aspect of bone marrow registry activity
The Anthony Nolan Research Institute marks its 10th Anniversary in 2006; a timely opportunity to review the achievements of the Charity’s research initiatives so far and to consider how they should be progressed
The Anthony Nolan Trust will require additional funding for all the above developments. We are developing new income streams to build on the success of our major accomplishments this year, which include Charity of the Year status at easyJet and Robert Dyas, and Official Charity of the Year, Flora London Marathon 2006.
Anthony Nolan's success is down to a number of key factors: the generosity of the public, both in volunteering and financial assistance; financial contributions and other support from corporates and charitable trusts; good relationships with the medical and nursing professions; the support and goodwill of patients, their friends and families and, not least, the dedication and professionalism of all our staff and Directors.
There is no doubt that the field of bone marrow transplantation is entering an exciting but challenging time. We intend to remain at the forefront of these new developments. They will make a real difference to the lives of current and future patients.
Christine and Andrew took care of the Clann An Drumma stall while I was in charge of taking the website photos for the band.
Clann An Drumma had the great job of opening the evenings entertainment. So they were the first band of the evening.
Mags helping Wayne to get his drum kit set up and not not being helped by Brian playing the Bongos
Brian getting lessons on how to play the bongos.
Brian says if I can play the Bongos tonight then who is going to play the Pipes.
Tu-bardh and Criag showing how to play the drums
Mags and Wayne
Joe
Joe taking time to thank the Anthony Nolan Supports for turning up at the venue and to remind them that Scotland beat france .
Wayne
Tu - Bardh getting in the swing of things while playing the Bass Drum.
Criag the latest drummer to the band.
Close up of Tu - Bardh
The next two photos will show you just a small amount of the supporters at this this venue.
I am sorry that these photos are not as good as I would have liked. But I was restricted on the Angle I could take these due to the supporters at this event. Plus the type of lighting in use was making it hard for me.
But may I take this chance to thank Clann An Drumma for taking the time to attend this Anthony Nolan trust event.
And my I also thank the Anthony Nolan trust Venue Organisers for allowing me to take these photos for the website forums
After Clann An Drumma were finished playing at this event they were travelling over to Drymen close to Balloch Loch Lomond for the final venue of the day as they were due on stage at 10.30pm.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Neil