On Sunday 20th July, Sharon Fox, one of the team of John Hampden Grammar School cleaners, ran the Wycombe Half Marathon to raise funds for Meningitis Research. She said she was determined to do it for Harry and was delighted with her time of 2hrs 20mins. Her support was particularly poignant as she herself lost her 13 year old son, Daniel, in an accident in 2006
Mike O'Reilly comments:-
The RFU donated a Box at the Guinness Premiership Cup Final to raise funds for Harry. The Box including 10 tickets and a buffet was bought by Paula Weaver of JTM Property Developers based in Lincoln.
Josh is cycling from Big Ben (London) to the Eiffel Tower (Paris), which is about 300 miles and will take 4 days!!! He would be grateful for any supporting sponsors , which will be donated to the MENINGITIS RESEARCH FOUNDATION. The epic journey begins on 24th May and the route is.....
A £25 million Butterfly dome to be built in Hertfordshire and completed in spring 2009 will include a garden in memory of Harry..jpg)
Dan Edwards Director of Sport at John Hampden Grammar school, Harry's Sports Master has raised in excess of £700 for The Child Bereavement Centre and Wellchild Foundation. Dan ran the London Marathon in 4hr 15min wearing a pair of luminous yellow shoes which raised an extra £100 pounds.
Fraser Duncan Marlow 1st Team Captain has supported many events for Harry and he and the team wore Harry's socks during recent 1st Team games. Fraser's Testimonial was held on the 26th April - after 25 years playing rugby at Marlow Fraser is hanging his boots up at the end of the season. A game was held between the Fraser Select XV and the Marlow All Stars XV, with lots of old faces coming back to the club to play one last game with Fraser. Wayne Barnes (the International referee that upset all those Kiwi’s in the World Cup ¼ Final) refereed the game. Heston Blumenthal kicked off the first ball.
Jessica Denton (aged 21 & a family friend) and her fellow stylists at Renaissance Hair Salon in West Street, Marlow have run the Marlow5 for Harry - that's 5 miles and not 5km as Jess originally thought. The team consists of: Len (the Manager), Chris, Jag, Dev, Georgia, Jessica and freind of Jessica's s Zana. None had ever attempted this type of long distance running before. It was a hot day and the going was tough but they did it. They have collected over £2,200 in sponsorship and are still looking to build on this - if you would like to sponsor Jess & the Renaissance Team, please visit the salon in Marlow or click here.
The 36th Annual Mini Rugby Tournament, the largest in the South of England, took place at Marlow RFC on Sunday 30th March. It was at this time last year that Harry played in his last Marlow tournament representing the u12s. It was a beautiful sunny day and over 2000 players from u7s to u12s and from 15 different clubs attended playing in leagues of 6 in both A and B competitions. The organisation was superb, the atmosphere wonderful, and some excellent rugby was played in a great spirit of friendly rivalry.Upon completion of the under 12s finals, guest of honour Phil Vickery, London Wasps star and England Captain, presented the winners, London Irish, with the Harry Mills Memorial Cup. It was a particularly poignant moment for one London Irish player as he himself had had meningitis as a 14 month old toddler. The cup was donated by Marlow Rugby Club as a tribute to Harry and will be played for every year. Richard then presented Phil Vickery with a pair of Harry’s socks which Phil promised to wear the next time he plays in a Barbarians team! Special thanks to Mike Simmonds of Marlow RFC for his involvement in organising the Cup and Phil Vickery as special guest. Thanks too to Rosie & Sophie who collected £191.63 on the day for Meningitis Research and to all the Marlow Minis, players, parents & coaches.
Emma, mother to David, a friend of Harry’s from Spinfield School, is on a sponsored slim and has impressively succeeded in losing 3 stone for Harry and so far raising £1,075. This was a determined effort and Emma says “It's taken a long time, but I'm pleased I've finally reached my target and can start collecting for the Meningitis charity. It means a lot to me to do this in memory of Harry, who I will always remember for his adorable smile and endless enthusiasm which was infectious to everyone around him.I know that David (on the left next to Harry) will always treasure all the memories of his best friend. He still speaks of him every day. If you would like to support Emma, please email her at simon.shep@tiscali.co.uk
In October 2007 at an U13 festival Newbury RUFC donated a sum of money in Harry's memory. It was decided by the coaching team of the u13s to use this to fund replicas of Harry's distinctive socks (black & white hooped) with his initials on the back which the Marlow Merlins would then wear throughout their time at Marlow RUFC in his memory.
Marlow RUFC: Harry’s Socks Presentation
John Watson's Tribute
Good Afternoon everyone.
Firstly, I would like to welcome all of our special guests here today. We have of course Harry’s family, Richard and Judi, George, Jenny and Marie. Also a special welcome to Richard’s Mum and Dad
We also have Mark Foster Youth Director from Newbury Rugby Club. Welcome. More of them later.
I am also delighted that we are joined by Peter trunkfield, Former President of the RFU, our Chairman, Gwyn Stone, our Youth Chairman Debbie Loveday and our Mini’s Chairman Mike Simmonds. Welcome.
We are here today for two purposes, both of course in memory of Harry and both of course to ensure that we continue to remember Harry.
Firstly, we will discuss socks and then we will unveil a photograph of Harry as a lasting memory to him in the Clubhouse.
At the start of this season we ran a small U13s tournament. We ran the tournament in Harry’s memory and invited Clubs that we were friendly with. Newbury came along and of course they won all of the trophies – and these were presented to Newbury by Richard and Judi. Newbury were also very generous. They had collected £400 at their Club and brought it as a donation to Harry’s charities. A very kind and generous donation that touched many of us. Thank you.
At that time, we were also seeking to create a lasting tribute to Harry. Graeme Kempson reminded us that Harry always wore a unique pair of socks – the traditional Black and White hoops. I believe that they were hand-me-downs from George. Seeing these socks always reminded Graeme of Harry. So, with Richard and Judi’s permission, we used the £400 to purchase socks with Harry’s initials on the back and our age group will always wear these socks throughout our time at Marlow, in memory of Harry. The sales of the socks to our age group and to anyone else who wishes to buy a pair, will ensure that Newbury’s initial investment will be paid to Harry’s charities plus a healthy surplus will be added.
Today, we wore Harry’s socks for the first time – and won!. It was a moving moment to pull on these socks. Every time we play a game, as we pull on our socks we will think of Harry. And if anyone asks who’s HM, we can explain that he was the best player in the Under 12’s: he was very fast, had great vision and skills, but most of all was so full of fun to be with and always enjoyed the game.
So, thank you Newbury. Also I would like to thank Graeme Kempson and David and Helen Walker for all their hard work in having the socks made and also making the photograph of Harry for hanging in the Club.
What I would like to do now is ask Richard and Judi to kindly give a pair of socks to to mark Foster from Newbury and then unveil the photograph.
Alan Black (Blackie) of the RFU organised a ‘Talking Rugby’ Dinner in the Great Hall at Bisham Abbey on Friday 1st February with proceeds going to Harry’s charities.
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