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Here we are on the eve of the jolly man with the white beard and red suit coming down the chimney meaning of course that the New Year is just around the corner. However even with the Christmas and New Year holiday festivities upon us there is no let up with the fantastic support that continues to be shown by families, supporters and businesses for Action Duchene.

As 2011 draws to a close Grandparents Frank & Sandra Kelly together with parents Dawn & Graham Dick will be again packing bags at the Tesco store in Greenock on Friday 30th December. With a previous 2 successful bag packs already under their belt this year, each helping to raise over £500, they are hoping the season of good will we again see another successful event.

Boxing Day will see Dundee FC support our Score4Duchenne appeal as they take on Morton FC on their home grounds. The club will be highlighting Action Duchenne in their programme on the day while board members will be wearing Action Duchenne badges. Details in the programme and on the tannoy system at half time will be asking for people to pledge donations by way of text message (ACTION S4DD to 70003) to help raise funds. On the day I will be presented with a signed top and football from the club and they will also have Arryn as the club mascot for the day. There is word that the Dragoon Guards will help carry Arryn in his wheelchair onto the pitch to ensure he can do the coin toss to start the game. A fantastic article highlighting their support can be seen here: http://www.dee4life.com/homepage/2011/12/23/this-weeks-guests-action-duchenne-arryn-widd.html

New Years Day will see parent Barry Hawes together with friends and family clear any celebratory cobwebs by braving the cold Scottish waters and jumping from the Broughty Ferry in Dundee. His wife Dorothy will be ensuring Barry and their dozen friends taking part return to shore with welcomed blankets and cups of tea. Please support the efforts of Barry and his friends by texting ACTION DOOK to 70003 to pledge a kind £3 donation and good luck to you all!

This past month has again seen great support from families, supporters and companies. To name a few we have seen companies Arqiva and Pneutrol Ireland Ltd, both based in Northern Ireland, pledge kind donations of £1,000 each to Action Duchenne. The companies decided to pledge the donations to Action Duchenne as an alternative to sending Christmas Cards to their customers. Octopus Sportswear Charity Trust also pledged a £1,000 donation when attending a fundraising evening held by parent Deborah O’Doherty which saw the evening raise over £2,000 on the night.

Anne Marie McShane recently held a dress down and coffee morning at her place of employment, AIB Card Services in Northern Ireland, which raised over €700. Parent Clare McShane Harper recently picked up a donation for £500 after her work, Allstate Northern Ireland, held a sponsored football match to help raise funds. Clare will also be picking up a donation of £320 over the holiday period after a successful Strabane Unplugged music evening held at a local pub. Friends of parent Gail Hearn recently gave a donation of over £1,000 after taking part in the Dublin Marathon at the end of October while The West of Scotland Housing Association recently pledged a kind donation of £373 after supporting our Dress Down 4 Duchenne Day. The Forces Appeal which was helped arranged by Gemma Hanna from Hartlepool was a great success, thanks to everyone who donated and sent a shoe box to the troops.

Of course there are more kind pledges that have been made along with the support of people buying our Christmas Cards, selling reindeer food, supporting our national raffle prize draw, downloading the recent Santa iPhone Application, etc. I just wanted to finish the year off with thanking everyone for all your support, hard work and determination in helping to make a difference. We are all aware that research is continuing to move forward and all of your support is helping to make this happen.

Merry Christmas everybody, I look forward to seeing and working with you in 2012 and again thank you!