Vic Talks The Walk Goes Public

I have now given the talk to several organisations, such as Probus Clubs. But this week I deliver it to the first public meeting.

You can be there. The event will be at Freckleton Public Library on Thursday 29th October at 7 pm. Refreshments will be served from 6.30 pm.

See you there.

Two Fundraising Methods

Here Lies A Highwayman (accompanied by his mother)

Another successful fundraising day for Pancreatic Cancer UK​ today. We went to Upholland Probus Club. The talk seemed to go down very well, and the speaker's fee, together with the sale of several copies of my books, duly signed by the author, totalled £135, which has been immediately dispatched to @Pancreatic Cancer UK via my page at JustGiving.

Apparently Upholland was called Holland in the Doomsday Book. They must have changed the name when they realised it was on a hill and was therefore not flat enough.

The last English highwayman, George Lyon, is buried there. He was executed at Lancaster because in those days highwaymen did not enjoy the romantic image they have today. My way of raising funds is much more pleasant.

The picture is of the grave occupied by George and his mother. It is nice that she remained faithful to him in those circumstances.

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At the age of 70 I walked from the French Pyrenees to Blackpool.

I then wrote a book about the walk.

I wrote another book, about the 8 years Gay and I lived in Cyprus.

I give talks about the walk project.

All of this to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. ALL proceeds of my books also go to PCUK.

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Contact me for a signed copy of either book or to arrange a talk for your club or any other gathering.

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

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Get an e-version of either book from Amazon Kindle or iBookstore, Kobo or any of the main e-book websites.

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Make a donation:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

First 2016 Fundraising Gig for Pancreatic Cancer UK

St Annes on the Sea

I have been booked for my first 2016 fundraising gig. It will be at the St Annes Probus Club. I could walk there, which would be rather appropriate, except for the little matter of the projector and my other equipment.

I am now rather recklessly hoping that I will, including Gift Aid, have raised £2000 of my £8000 target for Pancreatic Cancer UK by the end of this year and that I will be well into the third thousand by 3rd March, when the St Annes talk takes place.

At the age of 70 I walked from the French Pyrenees to Blackpool.

I then wrote a book about the walk.

I wrote another book, about the 8 years Gay and I lived in Cyprus.

I give talks about the walk project.

All of this to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. ALL proceeds of my books also go to PCUK.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact me for a signed copy of either book or to arrange a talk for your club or any other gathering.

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Get an e-version of either book from Amazon Kindle or iBookstore, Kobo or any of the main e-book websites.

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Make a donation:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

I borrowed the excellent photograph fromhttp://www.stannesbeachhuts.co.uk/

What I Need Now Are Women

Gay and I are off to Malta tomorrow. It is a long-held objective of ours to follow a visit to Rhodes (we were there last week) with a visit to Malta (never been there). You probably know that when the Turks sieged the Knights out of Rhodes, they went to Malta to start again. After a while the Turks came to Malta to have another go at the Knights, who drove them off. We want to see the similarities or otherwise.

Soon after we return I have a talk scheduled at another Probus club. Each one of these seems to lead to another, which is a natural process, I suppose. It's called networking, isn't it?

I want something similar to happen with WI branches. There are 208,000 members in 7,000 WIs. All the branches have regular speakers and I am sure many of them will find my talk interesting.

So my main objective in the next few months is to get my first "date" with the ladies of the WI. You could help me if you are a member or if you have the right contacts. I have summarised again below, what my talks and fundraising are all about.

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At the age of 70 I walked from the French Pyrenees to Blackpool.

I then wrote a book about the walk.

I wrote another book, about the 8 years Gay and I lived in Cyprus.

I give talks about the walk project.

All of this to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. ALL proceeds of my books also go to PCUK.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact me for a signed copy of either book or to arrange a talk for your club or any other gathering.

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Get an e-version of either book from Amazon Kindle or iBookstore, Kobo or any of the main e-book websites.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Make a donation:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

Vic Talks The Walk - What's All That About, Then?

Logo designed by Labrow Marketing

Time to summarise and re-state the objectives of Vic Talks The Walk

At the age of 70 I walked from the French Pyrenees to Blackpool.

I then wrote a book about the walk.

I wrote another book, about the 8 years Gay and I lived in Cyprus.

I give talks about the walk project.

All of this to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. ALL proceeds of my books also go to PCUK.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact me for a signed copy of either book or to arrange a talk for your club or any other gathering.

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Get an e-version of either book from Amazon Kindle or iBookstore, Kobo or any of the main e-book websites.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Make a donation:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

Big Tone And The Birds

Big Tone's Goldfinch

There I was, walking along minding my own business, when the phone pinged in my pocket. The message said "Someone has donated on your JustGiving page".

Of course I followed this up to find that there was a £30 donation, out of the blue, from Big Tone, the Birdman of Congleton. Big Tone knows all there is to know about birds. A mere glimpse of a rose-coloured mandible will have him waxing about first year juveniles and all sorts of technicalities.

Of course you know that my current fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK majors on giving talks about my Big Walk from SW France to NW England, and selling autographed copies of my books, including the book of the walk.

But Big Tone's donation reminds me to remind you that straightforward donations will not be spurned. Indeed, I crave them. So don't be shy about putting me out of my misery by making a donation yourself. No sum is too small or too large. Just click HERE and follow the obvious instructions. Or go to the page by clicking this link:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

Thanks, Big Tone, for the donation, the reminder, and the stolen photograph.

Here is the link to Big Tone's Bird Blog.

http://congletonbirds.blogspot.co.uk/

He asks me to point out that the photograph was actually taken by his old mate Brian Steel.

Dogged By Ups And Downs

Donor Dog Bobby

Interesting day yesterday, with some ups and downs, mainly ups.

I had two donations out of the blue. One was from an old friend. The other was from a dog. Bobby - that's him pictured above. Bobby lives in Switzerland. He kindly included his pets in the accreditation - that's Karen and Kenny. Karen is my first-born and Laird Kenny Grant MacMillan is her husband. They are all due a visit from us, which will take place in June.

There should have been another donation, but that one somehow went astray. There had been some discussion about my antics and my books on a Facebook page called Purple Hope, which supports sufferers from pancreatic cancer. Some people on there immediately downloaded digital copies of Vic's Big Walk. One lady said she would like paperback copies of both my books. I told her that if she made a donation I would send autographed copies of the books to her. She later told me that she had made a donation and could I send the books. She may have made a donation but not on my JustGiving page, as I requested. Nevertheless, in the interests of goodwill, I said I would send her the books but I still await her address. I think she is in USA.

Another down was that Peter at JPs cafe in Lytham told me that they may have to cancel the talk I am due to give on Thursday evening. I gave a talk there in January and two local walking groups bewailed the fact that they did not get tickets before they were sold out. This week's extra talk is purely for their benefit but they are not answering their email. This is more than a bit annoying because JPs and I could have made more effort in marketing if we had not believed the tickets were spoken for. I could guarantee to go out and take enough bookings, within a week, to fill the place, but it's a bit late now..

But to counter that with an up, I received a phone call, while I was walking from St Annes to Lytham, asking me to do a talk to 30-40 people at yet another Probus Club, this time in Upholland, near Wigan. They wanted me for May but on the date they gave, I hope to be in Rhodes, so the talk is now fixed for July.

Did I mention that I now have two enquiries about talks in which I will be expected to address 200 or more people at a time? The more the merrier, says I.

£120, £1100,£1300, 200 ...

Gentlemen?

At least two of these gentlemen were present on Thursday at the Orrell Genlemen's Club, where I talked about Vic's Big Walk from SW France to NW England and the book of that name.

It was a very successful day. I raised £120 for Pancreatic Cancer UK. This tok my total raised in this new phase of fundraising, to approaching £1100. If you add in the Gift Aid element, the total is approaching £1300.

Also, I was approached to give the talk to another Probus Club, and to a U3A meeting at which the audience will be over 200 people.

Things are looking good.

To contact me for a talk to your club or meeting, email me on victalksthewalk@gmail.com

Pirates Plunder Pancreatic Cancer Donations

Every now and again, I receive a Google Alert to tell me that my books have been pirated and are being sold on sneaky little websites.

I suppose all authors are subject to this sort of theft., but in my case all the proceeds from my books go direct to Pancreatic Cancer UK to assist the search for a cure and to alleviate the suffering of those afflicted with this dreadful illness. Every time a pirate copy is sold, the money goes into someone's pocket - someone who did not walk for 14,500 kms and then spend months writing the book - someone who is definitely not giving the money to any charity. Someone who is stealing, not only from me, but from the sick and dying. That is pretty despicable.

If you buy a copy of any of my books, you should buy electronic versions only from bona fide sources such as Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, et cetera. If in doubt, email me and I will tell you whether the supplier is kosher or not.

Paperback copies can be obtained only from me, either at one of my events or by contacting me direct. You will receive a personally dedicated copy, signed by the author. Every penny of the proceeds will be sent to Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Contact me at

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

Where Are Hovercraft When You Need Them?

Ribble Delta From Lytham Seafront

The Ribble Delta this morning. On the other side is Southport, 7 miles but a 75 minute drive. We were there on Wednesday to Talk The Walk in a Masonic Lodge.

It went down well, we raised some funds, sold some books (which also raises funds). On to the next one, next week, to a Gentlemen's Club.

Once upon a time there was a hovercraft service from Lytham to Southport. That would have saved us some driving

Lives To Save

At Souhport Probus Club on Wednesday

We are one week back from the USA and already plunging back into the fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

On Wednesday I shall be Talking The Walk to Southport Probus Club at the Masonic Lodge.

The fee for my talk will be paid directly into my JustGiving page, which is:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2/

Personally signed copies of my books, including Vic's Big Walk, will be available to the audience and al the proceeds from the book sales will also be paid into the JustGiving page by me.

I can do this for your club or group. What are you waiting for? We have lives to save here. No progress has been made in the past 40 years in finding a cure for pancreatic cancer. A breakthrough will come one day. Your donation or book purchase could be the one to fund that.

Snow Disaster In Boston

He's cleared the drive but still he can't get his car out!

We are taking a break from the fundraising speechifying. Back into it soon after we return to the UK from Boston, which is where I took these pictures this morning.

Boston has a couple more inches of snow to go (and more is forecast for Thursday) before it equals the previous record for snow in a whole winter - but most of this winter's crop fell in February, and is still on the ground. Herculean efforts have cleared the roads, but the sidewalks are still under several feet of snow, and many properties and cars are still severely affected. Samantha says that some of her friends in England, having seen the pictures, say "how pretty!", but actually it is a disaster.

Not advisable to stand under these.

That's not a wall - it's snow!

The cost of clearing the roads is 3 or 4 times the budget for that purpose. The number of work days lost is huge. There have been many days when people could not get out of the house, let alone get to work. Hourly paid people have lost a lot of wages.  And when the thaw comes, if temperatures rise too rapidly, there will be floods and much damage to property. 

Samantha's apartment is somewhere behind this iceberg.

Pretty, but ...

Second Gig Of The Week, Passed 10% of My Fundraising Target Already

Jonathan Introduces Me To His Group

Where Shall I Start?

Getting Into My Stride, So To Speak

It's All In The Book, Folks!

The second gig this week was at the Holistic Centre for Cancer Patients at James Cook Hospital in Middlesborough. 

Jonathan Taylor had invited me to speak. Jonathan is currently in remission from a particularly severe type of lymphoma. This has stopped him working as a builder but he has not been idle. He has formed a support group for lymphoma sufferers in the area and it was this group to which I was speaking. I was very impressed by the positive outlook and refusal to be sidelined which they all exhibited. 

I got a real feeling that they all enjoyed my talk, and Jonathan sent me this message after the meeting -
 "Just catching up with things today. Can I say a massive thank you to you and Gay for your fantastic talk last night, I've had some great feedback today from the people there say how good it was and what an inspiration you are to everyone, which you are. I really enjoyed it thank you, and I'm looking forward to reading your books ;-)

It was great to meet you in person finally, please stay in-touch and next time your in Darlington we'll meet up for coffee or lunch my friend."

As I mentioned, Jonathan's illness has stopped him working, but he has taken the opportunity to fulfil one of his ambitions by writing a science fiction book - The Forgotten Mission - The Return (1) -  which is doing very well.  You can find the Kindle or paperback  versions here on Amazon. 

My First Probus Talk -Good Proceeds to Pancreatic Cancer UK

I had never heard of Probus clubs 3 months ago. When Basil Strickland heard I was going to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK by speaking to clubs and groups, he told me about Probus and suggested I should make contact with them.

I did, only to find out that, although there are lots of branches of Probus (for retired business and professional people) and although they have regular speakers at their meetings, they tend to book their speakers up a year or more in advance.

I made it clear that mine is a long-term project and I would be very happy to speak to any club in a year's time but that I could step in at short notice to replace any speakers who fell by the wayside through accident, injury or illness, or for any other reason.

This paid off and today I spoke to my first Probus Club, in Sandbach, at a week's notice. It was a pleasure to meet them all and I raised well over £100 including sales of autographed copies of my books and the speaker's fee, which at my request they paid direct into my fundraising page, which is, by the way:

https://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney2

I know you have suggestions for talk or signing venues. No matter how crazy, let me know. I will talk to anybody. Or, if you want a signed copy of one of my books in return for a donation, or to contact me for any other reason, email me on:

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

Don't be shy. No venue is too small or too large. We have a disease to beat here.

If all other ideas fail you, why, you could just go to the "Donate" button on this page and send your money to the cause.

Follow me on Twitter:
@VicTalksTheWalk
Or on Facebook:
Vic Talks The Walk for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Gig At Short Notice? Vic's Your Man

Sandbach

I have spent a lot of time in the past couple of months marketing this concept - that I go to a club or other gathering and do an illustrated talk about Vic's Big Walk, then ideally sell autographed copies of my book about the walk, or indeed any other of my books, to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. One of the problems is that most of the clubs which take regular speakers plan and book more than a year in advance.

But all that hard work is paying off now. For instance, I know that one of Sturday evening's audience at JPs Coffee House in Lytham has been back into JPs to get my contact details for a local club.

And this morning, while we were in the car coming back from St Annes, I had a call from Sandbach Probus Club, asking me to stand in at short notice, next Tuesday, for their planned speaker who has had an accident. Of course I accepted and it will be back to Cheshire for the day, only a few miles from Middlewich, where I lived for a while.

Success In First Two UK Fundraising Gigs

Just had a great first weekend of UK gigs to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

First a 4-hour book signing at the Lytham Methodist Church table-top sale. That was Saturday morning. The same evening, a talk, followed by book signing, at JPs cafe in Lytham.

Total raised was over £200. With promised online donations, that could rise to £300. With a donation of €100 earlier in the week, we could be talking £400 for the week. Not a bad haul and, as I frequently tell people, their contribution could be the final push which funds the long-awaited breakthrough for a pancreatic cancer cure.

Also, I now have another gig booked, in April, at the same JPs cafe.

I also received approaches about presenting my talk to 3 more organisations.

I am indebted to Peter Labrow of Labrow Marketing for finding time in his busy schedule to design the above logo for me. You can find Peter here:

labrow.com

I know you have suggestions for talk or signing venues. No matter how crazy, let me know. I will talk to anybody. Or, if you want a signed copy of one of my books in return for a donation, or to contact me for any other reason, email me on:

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

Don't be shy. No venue is too small or too large. We have a disease to beat here.

If all other ideas fail you, why, you could just go to the "Donate" button on this page and send your money to the cause.

Follow me on Twitter:
@VicTalksTheWalk
Or on Facebook:
Vic Talks The Walk for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Probus Coming Good

I have to admit that,I had never heard of Probus until recently. Not until my good friend Basil Strickland pointed me in the right direction and told me they would be a good target for my fund-raising talks about Vic's Big Walk.

Probus clubs are for retired or semi-retired business or professional people who, in retirement, appreciate and value opportunities to meet others in similar circumstances and with similar interests.

I am such a retired business person so I am surprised that I did not know of them before. It seems they started in 1965 so maybe I can blame the fact that I have lived overseas for much of that period.

Anyway, as soon as Basil told me about Probus, I included them in my marketing program. I found that they have regular meetings, once or twice a month, and that they frequently have a guest speaker at the meetings. So far, so good. Then I discovered that the Probus clubs I was contacting, like the WI, frequently have their speaker program mapped out for more than a year in advance. 

This was a little disheartening, but I plugged on. Not only is mine a  long-term project, having set my fundraising targets for my 80th birthday in 2020, but I began to emphasise that I can do my talk at the drop of a hat. As we all know, stuff happens, and speakers can fall by the wayside or be unavailable at equally short notice. 

On that basis I have had a good response from some of the clubs and made a bit of a breakthrough this week. One of the clubs I approached now wants to talk to me in detail about my talk, And another Probus club, which I had not even contacted, rang me and arranged a talk on the spot, for March. 

I know you have suggestions for talk or signing venues. No matter how crazy, let me know. I will talk to anybody. Or, if you want a signed copy of one of my books in return for a donation, or to contact me for any other reason, email me on:

victalksthewalk@gmail.com

Don't be shy. No venue is too small or too large. We have a disease to beat here.

If all other ideas fail you, why, you could just go to the "Donate" button on this page and send your money to the cause.

Follow me on Twitter:
@VicTalksTheWalk

I Write Books To Save Lives

Wanted - Vic Heaney

And his books

I feel like a bandit in the Old West, confronted by wanted posters wherever he turned. But in my case it is nice to feel wanted.

There are more than 20 of these posters in the Lytham St Annes Area and those pictured are just those advertising my book signing stint at the Methodist Church Table-Top Sale on January 31st (0900 to 1300). There are also posters advertising my evening gig on the same day at JPs cafe in Lytham, at which I will be talking about my Big Walk project and the book about that.

I will be emphasising at these and subsequent events that the reason for my activities, and for writing the books, is to raise funds which will hopefully help to find a breakthrough in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and also to raise awareness of what a scourge it is. It is one of the biggest cancer killers, but a very poor relation when it comes to receiving public funds.

And why is the survival rate just 4% in Britain when it is 6% in USA and Australia?

Giving It Up For January? Think of those who will not be alive when you open your first bottle on February 1st

You could save other lives beside your own.

This seems to be a growing trend - giving up booze or something else for January. Whether this is to help lose weight, to "detox" or just to help yourself feel good, it is probably no bad thing. Not sure the breweries will agree with that, though.

Another trend which is running in parallel with this abstention is to put aside or calculate the money saved, and donate it to a worthy cause.

Guessed what I am going to say next? Got it in one! The objective of the "Vic Talks The Walk" project is to raise funds for sufferers from pancreatic cancer. Mainly through my own efforts, writing and selling books of which proceeds go to the cause; addressing clubs, coffee mornings, et cetera about my mammoth walk, sitting in at "table top sales", again with the intention of selling personally signed copies of the books, dedicated to the buyer or his/her designated recipient.

But I will not turn up my nose at direct donations.

If you are giving up booze or anything else for January, consider this. After you take that decision on January 1st, there will be people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, who will not be alive when you open your first bottle on February 1st. 

There has been no progress in the diagnosis or treatment of pancreatic cancer in the past 40 years. Progress can only come from research funded by people like us. At some stage, one donation will make the difference, will fund the longed-for breakthrough. That donation could come from you.

If it comes from savings made during your alcohol-free January, it will not have cost you a penny. It will save lives for evermore. And you yourself will be healthier than at the start of the year.

It's a win-win, isn't it?

Please pour your booze money into the "sponsor me" button at the top right of this page.