October is TREAT Month. A month of events and fundraising to raise awareness of TREAT Trust Wales and money. The events include Ladies Night, The GREAT Swansea Bake Off, a art competition, a recipe competition and (hopefully) much more. We are raising money to build a truly state-of-the-art centre for treatment, recovery, exercise and therapy – the first of its kind in Wales, even the UK. Help us build as much awareness as we can during October.

If you are looking to renew or change your car insurance, sign up to Monkey.co.uk and when you purchase an insurance policy they will donate £10 to TREAT Trust Wales on your behalf.

Trick or TREAT?

October is TREAT Month where we will spend time raising awareness, and money, for TREAT Trust Wales to help us reach our target to build a state of the art centre for treatment, recovery, exercise and therapy. A centre that is accessible for all. The first of it's kind in Wales. With the help of some amazing local businesses we have a fun filled month ahead and hope you will help spread the word. Use #TREATMonth where you can in all social media.

18th October 2013: Ladies Night

Dragon Events Presents Ladies Night with Leslie Lush and Special Guests in a luxury Marquee at Pontardulais Cricket Club. Tickets include a Glass of Bubbly on arrival & Buffet, there will be Butlers in the Buff! raffle, games plus more! Tickets cost £10 each all money going to TREAT Trust Wales. Strictly over 18's only!
Contact Pippa at Dragon Events on 07794 317091 for more details and to order your tickets.

26th October 2013: The GREAT Swansea Bake Off

Hosted by The Raspberry Cakery, The GREAT Swansea Bake Off gives you the opportunity to show off your baking skills in a range of categories, with the chance to learn some new skills, win prizes and eat plenty of cake. For more details visit the website: www.swanseabakeoff.co.uk

TREAT October Art Competition

Tickled Kids Hair Salon is hosting the largest art competition South West Wales has ever seen in conjunction with the South Wales Evening Post, 96.4 The Wave, Swansea Art Society and TREAT Trust Wales. To enter pick up an application form from the salon at 217 High Street, Swansea SA1 1PE. Deadline for entries is 26th October 2013.

Entries can be submitted in 3 age categories: 0-4 year olds, 5 to 10 year olds or 11-16 year olds. The winner of each category will get their artwork printed on a large canvas and displayed in Tickled Hair Salon for 3 months before being presented to the winner, plus each winner will receive a £30 gift voucher to use in the salon. The overall winner will be selected by Michael Sheen, actor and TREAT patron.

TREAT October Recipe Competition

Mosaic is hosting a unique Recipe Competition in conjunction with The South Wales Evening Post, 96.4 The Wave and Treat Trust Wales. There are three categories: Starter or Tapas-style dish, a Main Meal, or a dessert.  The winning dish will feature – with your name – on our menu from January-March 2014. You will also win £30 worth of ‘Mosaic Money’ to use at your convenience. The Overall Winner will win a Champagne Brunch for two at Mosaic.

How to enter: Deadline for entries is 26^th October 2013 and the winners will be announced soon after at a gala event!

Your entry should be on A4 size paper, there are no restrictions on the style or ingredients of the recipe. There is a £5 entry fee, 100% of which is going to the charity Treat Trust Wales.

Please select one of the options below to pay:

• www.justgiving.com/TreatOctober  (You must leave your email and name)
• Cheque or Postal order payable to Treat Trust Wales
• Cash dropped into Mosaic with your entry

Raise Money as you Search the Web!

Are you one of the 6.4m people that use a search engine every day? Did you know you can raise money for TREAT Trust Wales while you search?

http://treatwales.easysearch.org.uk combines the results of several search engines such as Yahoo!, Bing and Ask to ensure you can always find what you’re looking for. But the fantastic thing is that EVERY TIME you search, half a penny is raised for TREAT Trust Wales. Search just 15 times a day and you can raise around £25 a year for us.

See what people are saying about easysearch
"easysearch is a great idea and just as good as Google for the results! I’ve recommended it to my friends and I think this site is the best around as it does something for people. Well done!"

"What a fantastic idea! I was using Google anyway but this way I get to raise money for my good cause every time I search…brilliant! I’ve made easysearch my homepage!"

So the next time you need to find something online, please use http://treatwales.easysearch.org.uk and raise money for TREAT Trust Wales with every search you make.

You can also raise funds for the TREAT Trust Wales by shopping online with easyfundraising. Find out more on our easyfundraising page.

Shop Online and Raise Money!

Have you heard about easyfundraising yet? It’s the easiest way to help raise money for TREAT Trust Wales! If you already shop online with retailers such as Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, Comet, iTunes, eBay or HMV, then we need you to sign up for free to raise money while you shop!

So how does it work?
You shop directly with the retailer as you would normally, but if you sign up to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/treatwales for free and use the links on the easyfundraising site to take you to the retailer, then a percentage of whatever you spend comes directly to us at no extra cost to yourself. 

How much can you raise?
Spend £100 with M&S online and you raise £2.50 for us. £100 spent with Amazon raises £2.50, £100 with WH Smith puts £2.00 in our pocket and so on.  There's over 2,000 retailers on their site, and some of the donations can be as much as 15% of your purchase.

Save money too!
easyfundraising is FREE to use plus you'll get access to hundreds of exclusive discounts and voucher codes, so not only will you be helping us, you’ll be saving money yourself.

Raise funds for FREE
You can even raise funds without spending a penny by signing up to receive newsletters or catalogues.

Sign up at http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/treatwales and start making a difference…simply by shopping.

Thanks!

You can also raise funds for the TREAT Trust Wales by searching online with easysearch. Find out more on our easysearch page.

Buy the Book

Never Say Die is the true story of Melanie Davies, the founder of TREAT Trust Wales, and all proceeds of the book are being donated to the trust.

On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye and walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life.

Never Say Die is the true story of what followed.

Since the motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down, Melanie’s life has been one of extremes. She endured months of despair and indignity in rehabilitation, was in another serious car crash, and was diagnosed with breast cancer. On the plus side, she’s won medals in athletics for Wales, dabbled with the film world and set up her own rehabilitation charity.

She has also, against all the odds, found lasting happiness, having fallen in love with and married the surgeon who 25 years earlier told her she would never walk again. This is Melanie’s story.

Featured on ITV’s ‘This Morning’. Buy ‘Never Say Die’ on Amazon

Book Reviews

“An extraordinary story of an extraordinary life. A most inspiring read.” Michael Sheen OBE

“A fairy-tale ending to rival any Mills & Boon romance.” Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE

“Why do we have to talk of disability? Call it inconvenience!” Dr Richard Pimentel USA

“Do buy the book – not just because it is a great read that will have you moved and crying with laughter many times. It also helps raise money for Treat Trust as Mel is giving her share of the royalties to Treat Trust.” Paul Potts, TREAT Trust Patron

Taken from the review on Paul Potts’ Blog

The following reviews have been submitted via the Amazon Vine programme.

“This book is a must-buy! It’s amazing to think that I’m helping to write the next chapter in Mel’s lifetime adventure buy simply buying her book and knowing that the money spent will go towards building her dream rehabilitation centre.
The story is amazing. I couldn’t put the book down – it’s so well-written and putting humour into a serious topic.
What a wonderful book and an amazing person.
Good luck with the rehab unit Mel!” bargainhunter [View on Amazon]

“Never say Die is a must read for anybody. Melanie Davies spares us no details in her battle following a motorcycle accident when she was 16 in may 1980. Her story is inspiring and full of positivity and humour particularly when discussing her ‘grumpy surgeon’, who now happens to be her husband.” Mr P. J. Cooper [View on Amazon]

“Such a brilliant read, had me in tears one minute and laughter the next, this woman is amazing, how she coped with the many trauma’s faced I do not know, but she smiled her way through it, she deserves all the happiness she has found in her marriage, good luck to them both.a must read.”  W. Hughes [View on Amazon]

“Gripping from the beginning, this really is a book you can’t put down (well I did over night but couldn’t get it out of my mind). I have laughed a little, cried a lot and hrumphed a fair amount throughout reading this so it’s probably best read at home rather than on the bus or in the staff room (unless you want everyone to think you’re a loony).

“The synopsis tells you all you need to know about the content of this book (her relationship with her husband is only touched on at the end) but doesn’t tell you how engaging Melanie is a writer writing in the first person & referring to the reader as ‘you’.

“Yes I recommend this wholeheartedly.” Mad Saint Uden [View on Amazon]