Just Four Quid: What was it?

Just Four Quid was a year-long, daily blog fundraising campaign for biomedical research into the neuro-immune disease ME/CFS. It ran from May 2009 to May 2010, giving weekly moneysaving tips and asking people to donate part of the savings they made to ME Research UK and the ME Association’s Ramsay Research Fund.

The campaign is over but those charities are still going strong and need your support! You can still use the moneysaving tips to help you afford to donate – just take a look at the blog archive ( and this link selects the weekly posts with the main moneysaving idea for that week).

Our JustGiving pages will remain open for donations until 1 May 2011 (here’s the MERUK page and here’s the Ramsay Research Fund page); you can also donate directly to the charities’ offices (see MERUK’s and the RRF’s site, respectively).

There’s more background on the Just Four Quid campaign – and why it is so important to donate to ME/CFS research – here.

Thank you and goodbye!

It’s Day 7 of Week 52! After 364 days of blogging (well, apart from Christmas) it’s time to thank you all for your many cheery messages, your moneysaving efforts and your very many generous donations.

I am of course not the only one who wants to thank you: here is Tony Britton from the ME Assocation for the Ramsay Research Fund:

“Thank you to everybody who supported the Ramsay Research Fund through the Just Four Quid campaign during the year. We were very impressed at the innovative thinking which created the campaign and encouraged joint working between the MEA and ME Research UK on a fundraising project. It worked and it bodes well for the future!”

…and Dr Neil Abbot from ME Research UK:

“Money is the platform which supports all biomedical research, but studies are very expensive. This is why Zonko’s campaign has been so worthwhile – not only has it raised money towards our portfolio of research projects, but it has raised awareness across the board of the illness and the need for scientific investigation.  Thank you Zonko for a marvelous campaign. And thank you to all who donated – we know some of you (such as Fiona Taylor who campaigned among her friends throughout the year and netted over £1000 on her own), but to the many others, a big hug! And please remember, Zonko’s JFQ fundraising pages remain open for another 12 months, so there’s still the chance to contribute to the cause.”

I second all that! We’ve done extremely well to raise as much as we have (and in a recession!). This has been, and remains, one of the most exciting and promising periods for ME/CFS research ever – let’s keep using our new moneysaving tricks to fund future donations and do everything we can to keep up the momentum.

Thank you all for following the campaign and for your fantastic efforts in raising and donating money. I’ve been enormously impressed and inspired by your enthusiasm, generosity and support along the way. Every time you’ve donated or posted a message it has helped encourage everybody (including me!) and the example you’ve set will be a lasting boost to everyone for the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I’ve had loads of fun writing the blog and chatting with you along the way. But now, with my good wishes for us all for the future, it’s time for me to swirl my cloak and ride off on my virtual horse into the sunset. Goodbye, all, good luck and good health!

Money I’ve raised today: £8.00 (Just Four Quid for each of our charities – why not!)

Money I’ve raised so far: £919.52 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Week 52: How did we do?

It’s the end of our last week and our grand total (pending an update from the RRF, who are out of the office today) is £13,150: £8,662 for MERUK and £4,488 for the RRF. I’ll add the final RRF figure to the sidebar cashometer as soon as I get it.

So, a very heartfelt thank you from me to everyone who has contributed to our total – whether you’ve given loads (and some of you really have, thank you!) or a little, by working together throughout the year we’ve raised thousands and we should feel very proud (and we didn’t have to go up Everest or anything, phew!).

One last message, coming up next…

The future’s bright, the future’s…

…blue? With a bit of yellow? Or red?

I didn’t know, when I planned to blog on the “Week of the Future” in our final week that we’d be having a general election, let alone a hung parliament. The drama!

The only thing that we can be sure of is that things are about to change; and since we haven’t seen any government funding of biomedical research for ME/CFS over the years, a change in government opens up an opportunity for things to be done differently.

Of course, the economic situation is dire, but surely that’s all the more reason to spend a few million to get billions back in taxes and saved benefits as we all get cured and rush back to work? And among all these new MPs, surely there’ll be some who have family members with ME/CFS and who will want to help make that happen?

So, I think the future is bright. I just don’t have a clue what colour it is (though I think William Hill are open for business).

Progress report up next, and then my final post…

Money I’ve raised today: £0.00

Money I’ve raised so far: £911.52 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Lego time machine

What would happen if you met yourself in the future? Forget Dr Who, find out with this time machine built out of Lego. Very educational. I won’t be doing that, then.

Money I’ve raised today: £0.00

Money I’ve raised so far: £911.52 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Bouncing Fish #52: Star Trek bloopers

Apparently life is more difficult in the 24^th century than you might think, as you can see from these out-takes from the Star Trek Voyager series.

Money I’ve raised today: £0.00

Money I’ve raised so far: £911.52 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Our greatest hit

You may be wondering what, over the year, has been the most popular post. Wonder no longer: hardly a day has gone by without someone arriving via Google to learn all about whether you can wash your hair with Fairy Liquid (and ironically, I wasn’t really sure).

The backstage bits of WordPress, our blog host, allow me to see the search terms that people use to arrive at Just Four Quid. What was the most unusual search term? “Butch men who like sewing”. I hope you found what you were looking for, that Googler!

Money I’ve raised today: £2.34 (JFQ’s cut of a friend’s stuff sold on Ebay)

Money I’ve raised so far: £911.52 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

MERUK: past and future

What have ME Research UK been doing with their research funding this year, and what have they got lined up? Here’s Dr Neil Abbot, MERUK’s Operations Director:

“It’s amazing to think that  one whole year has gone by since the start of Zonko’s JFQ campaign. And ME Research UK has, over the 12-month period, funded 4 new projects, including a cross-disciplinary study at the University of Newcastle of muscle bioenergetics – the biological processes involved in producing energy in the muscles – and an investigation at Uppsala University Hospital of the relationship between ME/CFS and XMRV in Swedish patients.

“Also, during the year we have seen 7 scientific papers appear in print or ‘in press’ describing previous ME Research UK funded work, including the paper by Profs Newton and Jones (Newcastle) on abnormalities of acid handling by leg muscles, and the report by Prof Jo Nijs (Belgium) on the role of elastase, an enzyme which breaks down proteins and is involved in immunity, in the post-exercise problems patients experience.

“Our strategy for the forthcoming year is to extend our portfolio of research studies, particularly in virology (such as XMRV and related issues), and genes and genetic signatures. However, each year brings new and unexpected applications from research groups, and we shall continue to be uber-responsive to appeals for the pilot or “seed-corn” funding that gets research off the ground!”

Money I’ve raised today: £0.00

Money I’ve raised so far: £909.18 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Ramsay Research Fund: past and future

The ME Association’s Ramsay Research Fund has been making good use of its money over the last twelve months and has plans for the coming year, as Tony Britton, their publicity manager, explains:

“It’s been a year since the launch of the Just Four Quid campaign, during which we have been working in partnership with Action for ME to explore the setting up of a central ME/CFS biobank in the UK. The second stage of the feasibility study is now well under way under the leadership of Dr Luis Nacul from the London School of  Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Tissue and brain samples from the biobank would enable researchers from any group to search for biomarkers –  unique biological abnormalities in ME/CFS which could be used in diagnosis and treatment.

“At the University of Newcastle, Professor Julia Newton and colleagues are busy working on a wide range of muscle physiology studies in ME/CFS, including one funded by us, assessing whether there is anything unusual in the way in which patients’ muscles produce energy and lactic acid.  This year also saw the publication of an MEA-funded study by Dr Derek Pheby and Dr Lisa Saffron on risk factors for severe ME – important because severely affected patients are a highly neglected group.

“We continue to keep in touch with leading researchers in our field and our medical adviser, Dr Charles Shepherd, is an active member of the Medical Research Council’s Expert Group on ME/CFS Research, chaired by Professor Stephen Holgate. We remain willing to talk to any scientist or clinician seeking funding for a biomedical research project in the ME/CFS field – too much money has already been spent on psychosocial studies.”

What about MERUK? Up tomorrow.

Money I’ve raised today: £0.00

Money I’ve raised so far: £909.18 (see my personal Justgiving pages via the links at the bottom of the sidebar, plus some I accidentally put on the communal pages!)

Week 51: How did we do?

Slightly belated update due to the May bank holiday but here we are: a new grand total of £12,909, up £224 on last week (details in the sidebar cashometer).

Thanks and well done all, let’s make our last week a good one!