Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres is providing a fantastic opportunity to have fun for a good cause. Spanning Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, the Great Maggie’s 3 Counties Dinner aims to encourage as many people as possible to host a dinner party on the same night – Saturday 19 September 2009.

This event should see Maggie's Cotswolds closing in on the all-important £2 million target needed to start building the centre at Cheltenham General Hospital.  A further £1 million is required to cover the first two years of the running costs once the centre is built. In the Cotswolds each year, around 4,000 people are diagnosed with cancer, and 35,000 are living with the disease. The centre will be there for everyone affected by cancer in the three counties area of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire; a population in excess of 1,100,000. Maggie's Cotswolds is the next centre scheduled to be built in England following the phenomenal success of Maggie's London. The charity is on course to break ground on Maggie's Cotswolds this year if fundraising continues as planned.

Maggie’s Centres provide emotional support, stress reducing strategies and advice for people affected by cancer in a relaxed and caring environment. Support is tailored to the needs of each individual, and in every case is completely free of charge. This support is also offered to family and friends. As a registered charity which receives no statutory funding, the generosity of the general public is essential. The planned Cotswolds centre will be the seventh centre to open in the UK and will be built on the grounds of Cheltenham General Hospital and hopes to open its doors to visitors by the end of 2010.

By hosting a Great Maggie’s 3 Counties Dinner, you will be raising vital funds to benefit those living with, through and beyond cancer in the Cotswolds, and getting involved couldn’t be simpler. Contact Cynthia Clarry, event organiser, on 01242 890513 or clarry@riss.demon.co.uk, for an application form. When you apply, you’ll receive a welcome pack with all the information you need to create a charitable evening to remember. 

Then it’s time to start planning! As the host, you have complete control. You can have a dinner party for as many guests as you like and the dinner can be as formal or informal as you like. We do ask that your guests make a minimum suggested donation of £50 to our Great Maggie's Dinner JustGiving page.

Concerned about the cost? It’s likely to be less than you think. In acknowledgement of the current need to tighten belts and stimulate our home economy, many local traders have agreed to provide ingredients at vastly reduced prices – many wholesale! Those participating include local suppliers of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, bread, cheese and wine, and full details will be listed in your welcome documents.

Just to make things even more interesting, Maggie’s will have a live auction on the night. Auctioneers from the website Buy Once, Give Twice will be hosting a real time auction. You and your guests will be able to bid online for a tremendous variety of unusual and exciting auction lots – up to thirty in total, including:
1.    10 day holiday in a 3 bed house for up to 6 people in Lombok (comes fully staffed with cook and maids)
2.    A day with landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, Chelsea Best in show 2008
3.    A week in a stone mill house in Provence

Cynthia explained why this event is so important: "I hope lots of people take part in what is set to be a wonderful evening.  It is a great excuse to spend an enjoyable evening with friends and family, and all for a good cause!  We are so close to reaching our target to start building Maggie's Cotswolds, so now is a great time to get involved and help give us the final push we need to bring a Maggie's Centre to this region. People affected by cancer across the Cotswolds deserve access to the emotional and practical support that only a Maggie's Centre can offer."