Dorothy House Stories

Alan Newbury’s story

My name is Alan Newbury, of Coronation Road, Melksham. My sister Carol Haynes died in December 2005 after a long illness from cancer. She was only 58 years old.
The last eight weeks of her life she spent in Dorothy House at Winsley – she had been there a few times previously. She was content and at peace there – the staff were just brilliant.

I promised Carol before she died that I would try and raise some money for Dorothy House.
Carol died quite peacefully on 13 December 2005.
I and my wife Sandra were staying with family in Liverpool over Christmas and I was trying to think of what I could do to raise some money. Then it just came to me: Carol and I were both teenagers in the sixties. Perfect! A sixties memorial dance.

Well, the planning started – not that I had a clue how or where to start. I opened a bank account – the Carol Haynes Memorial Fund – with the help of the manager of the NatWest Bank in Melksham. Then I sat down with Carol’s husband Mick, her son Leon and daughter Beth to talk over what I had planned. They were all delighted, so it was full steam ahead.

I approached some business friends of mine for help, mainly with money so I had a theme for raffle prizes. They were all brilliant, so I then sat down at the computer and with one finger at a time started writing letters – 600 of them, as well as about 170 emails – to companies asking for help with raffle prizes and auction items.
My brother-in-law John Davies did a fantastic poster to advertise the dance and I approached Cooper Avon, who own Melksham House, to see if we could have the hall. The only night they had was 15 July so I took it, only to find out later that it was Carnival Day and Party in the Park as well.

I had 245 tickets to sell at £5 each, and they sold so fast I didn’t even have to put up any posters. I ordered raffle tickets, which were paid for by a sponsor – Greenlands Patio Centre in Melksham – organised an army of helpers to sell them and we were on our way.

Seven months flew by and on the night it was magic – 68 raffle prizes, seven auction items, a lucky prize draw for the entrance tickets, a £5-a-go draw for an England shirt signed by Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, live music from Route 66, which my brother-in-law Mick played in … the night was swinging and everybody had a brilliant time – magic!

There are so many people to thank – where does one start? Everyone that gave prizes, donations to buy the main raffle prizes and help with selling the tickets; a big thank you to my wife Sandra, all our family and friends; a special thank you to our daughter Lisa, who spent days wrapping all the prizes ion lovely giftwrap, and our son-in-law Rob, who designed the gift envelopes – they all looked magic. And finally a big special thank you to Diane from the Party Hut in Trowbridge, who came to our rescue at the last minute, filling balloons with helium and providing table and floor decorations. Thank you all so very much.

My wildest dream was to try and raise £3,000 – which is what Dorothy House needs to raise to keep going for just half a day. I was so overjoyed when I did my sums and the amount we actually raised was a massive £5,816.26, which is fantastic.

I tried to do what I promised my big sister I would. I just hope the money will help and that awareness of Dorothy House has been spread to a few more people.

When we needed them, they were there for all of us; nothing was too much trouble, their support was fantastic.
Once again, a big thank you to all.

Alan and Sandra Newbury