Dear TROUBLE followers

You’ve done it again!! The extra time paid off, the last minute goals were spectacular!! (Okay, admittedly the soccer image is a bit of a stretch – but it’s not every year our fundraiser coincides with the World Cup..). So you must be dying to know the final score.

Our target of R 63 360 (ca. 3500€) seemed almost impossible for a while – but do you know what? Team TROUBLE stayed true to Jenny’s life motto: “Never give up” – and we got there!

We raised (or rather, YOU donated!) a total of R64 220 (3 540 €)!! Whooo-hoo!!! Where is my vuvuzela when I need it??

A heartfelt, humble, THANK YOU to every single one of you who supported us in these extremely hard times. No less than 56 sponsors chipped in. Some were friends, many were complete strangers. Thank you all SO, SO much!! It means that Jenny’s basic expenses for 2023 are covered and there’s even a tiny bit extra for emergencies.

Jenny is struggling to hold a pen at the moment, so she’s asked me to include this note from her:

Now of course, those of you in Germany are dying to know about the cookies & bookmarks!

WINNERS OF THE PRIZE DRAW:

The Prizes this year were:

– 5 BIG packets of home-baked cookies
– 5 MEDIUM packets of home-baked cookies
– 15 bookmarks (we like for as many people as possible to be winners :))

I also made an extra packet of cookies as a kind of consolation prize. Some sponsors contribute every year but are unlucky in the draw – so I wanted to surprise one of them with a packet as well.

Because we wanted to keep postage fees down, we only included people who live in Germany in the draw. We hope you understand..

Thank you again to Anne and Hugo for help with the baking. And as always, my little helpers (who are not so little anymore) assisted with the draw.

And the winners are:

BIG packets of cookies
1. Sylvia
2. Sophie
3. Valentin G.
4. Judith
5. V Schlicht

MEDIUM packets of cookies
1. Alex
2. Julia
3. Martin
4. Irati
5. Ulrike

Bookmarks:
1. Nina
2. Jeff
3. Marcus
4. Kerstin
5. Valentin F.
6. Anna
7. Nathalie
8. Dereck
9. Klaus
10. Thomas
11. Hannah
12. Sonja
13. Christiane
14. Teresa
15. Jane

Consolation Prize:
Valo! Who has contributed for 5 years running, but has NEVER GOT COOKIES!! So he has totally deserves this 🙂

Congratulations to all of our winners! I will be in touch with you over the next few days about your prizes.

The fundraiser is dead – LONG LIVE THE FUNDRAISER!!

That is to say: if you were planning to still make a contribution, please do. Extra cash allows Jenny to take care of unexpected costs caused by medical emergencies, her wheelchair, phone or computer (all of which have to be adapted to her special needs- making them really expensive.) We don’t want to set the fundraiser goals too high, but unfortunately it means that she’s always on a very tight budget. You can pay money into any of the accounts listed in the fundraiser mail. The money from Germany gets transferred to Jenny every 2-3 months. You can also pick your own date: one of our sponsors decided that Nov/Dec is a bad time of year for her, so now she transfers money at Valentines Day! Any time is a good time for TROUBLE!

Again – thank you to everyone who contributed so generously. God bless. We’ll be back with another fundraiser next year!

Till then, have a lovely Christmas season.

All the best,

from Jenny Symons a.k.a. TROUBLE

Yvette Coetzee-Hannemann (Friend, Fan and Funding Co-ordinator)

and everyone else in TEAM TROUBLE.  

Dear Trouble Aficionados

THE MAGIC JUST KEEPS ON HAPPENING!

So far, close friends and complete strangers have contributed a phenomenal R 57 518 (that’s 3 116€)!

We’re overwhelmed by the generous contributions that keep coming in and want to thank everyone again wholeheartedly!! Just to put these numbers into perspective: that is already more than our goal last year (R 45 960/2 640 Euro)but due to the leap in inflation, we’re not there just yet…

We’re still R 5 842 / 384 € short – and are hoping to get that by the end of the day.

So anyone who has been thinking about contributing  – please do so today. We would like to re-iterate that really NO contribution is too small. It adds up, as you can see!!

For banking details, please write to us at fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com.

Thank you in advance!!

Team TROUBLE

Dear Trouble-Troopers

You guys are AMAZING!! There has been an avalanche of donations in the past two days – more than R 27 000 (1500 €)!!! We don’t know exactly what the numbers are as some money is still in mid-transfer, but we’ve definitely cracked the 46 000 Rand  (2 500 €)  mark.

A GIGANTIC, HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED SO VERY GENEROUSLY!!

People have also approached us, asking for more time so they could get their December paycheck, pass the mail on to their friends or have time at the weekend for transfers.

So we’re going into extra time!

We’re extending the fundraiser till Sunday 4 December.

If you are planning to make a donation, pass on the e-mail, or sell popcorn at a pop-up “I love TROUBLE” stand to raise money, please do (and send us the photos!!)

We now need less than 1000 € /  R 17 360. We can make it. As you all know from football, a LOT can happen in extra time 🙂

So – please join the effort. And remember: No amount is too small! It all adds up in the end.

So far, we’ve managed to raise a solid R 9 000 (about 510 €).
THANK YOU to all the amazing people who have contributed so far!!! 

Unfortunately though, this is still quite a way short of our goal: to raise R63 360 (3 500€ ) by 30 November 2022.

We know from previous fundraisers that many donations come at the end – so we’re optiistic we can still make it.

But we’ll need all hands on deck.

If you would like to make a one-off contribution, or a regular monthly contribution (limited to 1 year, 01.12.22-01.11.23 ) feel free to contact us at fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com and we’ll send you the banking details.

You will find further info about this fundraiser an about Jenny, the amazing person the money is meant for on this website, so feel free to browse.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! Have a TROUBLE-icious day!!

Hello! We’re getting the ball rolling on the 2022 “I love TROUBLE” Fundraising campaign.

For those of you who don’t know Jenny (a.k.a. TROUBLE), feel free to browse our website to find out more. These annual fundraisers are vital in keeping her going – and every year we are amazed at the generosity of her friends and acquaintances, but also of many people who have never met her.

Last year, we raised a phenomenal R 48 175 (ca. 2 699 € ). Thank you again to EVERYONE who chipped in so generously in the midst of the pandemic!!!

That money has supported Jenny through this year where, like all South Africans, she’s had to make some adjustments to deal with the regular power cuts and rocketing prices. But at least the corona restrictions have been loosened, visitors were allowed into the home and the garden again, and Jenny is allowed out. And she can sit next to her friend Norman again for hours on end to colour in and joke around.

Now, we’re looking to cover Jenny’s expenses for 2023, where the unprecedented inflation has forced us to increase our budget.

Our Fundraising Goal: By 30 November 2022 we want to raise R 63 360 (ca. 3 500 €)

The plan is to do so by getting R 1 930 (ca. 110 €) per month in regular, monthly contributions. “Regular contributions” mean that sponsors (maybe you?) commit to transferring a small amount every month for one year, from December 2021 until November 2022.

In South Africa, we’re looking for:
4 people who can commit R50 per month
3 people who can commit R100 per month
2 people who can commit R150 per month

Internationally (from all the countries with TROUBLE fans, including Britain, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand) we’re looking for:
4 people who can commit 5 Euro per month
3 people who can commit 7,50 Euro per month
2 people who can commit 10 Euro per month

If a monthly commitment is not your thing, one-off donations are also very, very welcome! Even small amounts really help! Our aim is to raise R 40 140 (ca. 2 210 €) in one-off donations.

If you can make a contribution, please write to fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com and we will send you Jenny’s banking details. We have fundraising accounts in South Africa and Germany or you can transfer via Paypal.

PRIZE DRAW:
Now we get to the good stuff, where we can give our generous sponsors something back! There will be a prize draw in Berlin for our German supporters (unfortunately, we can’t open it up to everyone, as postage fees are too high).

The prizes in the past have included some fun, home-made  “I love TROUBLE” surprises like cookies, christmas cards and bookmarks. What’ll it be this year? Watch this space to find out…

Here’s how it works: For every 10 € you donate or pledge, your name goes into the hat for the lucky draw at the end of the fundraiser – so the name of someone who pledges 5 € a month for a year (60€) goes into the hat 6 times.

Make sure to send us a mail, if you live in Germany and want to be included!

And, please remember to spread the word!!

Thank you!!

fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com.

Dear TROUBLE followers

What a nail-biting finish this year! Quick reminder: with only one day to go we were still 40% short of our goal, which was to raise R 45 960 (or 2 640 Euro).

But then: multitudes of TROUBLE fans worked some last-minute magic. Money poured in from all over the world, two sponsors even chipped in a second donation! And in the end we had raised a phenomenal R 48 175 (ca. 2 699 €)!

And so, we’ve even exceeded our fundraising goal, leaving Jenny with a little bit of extra cash for these uncertain times, where inflation is near impossible to predict.

We want to extend a humble, heartfelt thank you to each and every person who contributed so selflessly – especially in these hard times. Here is a note from Jenny for all our sponsors:

WINNERS OF THE PRIZE DRAW (in Germany):

In our previous prize-draws, the home-baked cookies turned out to be the absolute favourite. Last year things went spectacularly wrong with them. Flashback to 2020: the ingredients were all lined up and we were just about to start baking, when the phone rang and my kid’s teacher told me he was in quarantine with immediate effect because of a corona contact in his class. The uncertainty about his (and my??) possible infection made me stop right there. I didn’t want to accidently send infected cookies to our sponsors…)

So, this year, with no known contacts, the cookies were our main focus of our draw!! Anne (a long time super-sponsor) helped with the baking and contributed these amazing “I love TROUBLE” theme cookies:

My troublesome assistants then started to draw the names out of the bowl.

The winners of our mixed-cookie bags are:

1. Suzi
2. Sophie
3. Kate

And the winners of the mixed cookie bags (incl. the special edition “I love TROUBLE” cookies) are:

1. Alexandra
2. Cynthia
3. Nina
4. Martin
5. Anna

Congratulations to all of our winners! I will be in touch with you over the next few days about your prizes!!

Sorry to everyone who missed out – but THANK YOU for your ocntributions.

The fundraiser is dead – LONG LIVE THE FUNDRAISER!!

That is to say: if you were planning to still make a contribution, please do. Extra cash allows Jenny to take care of unexpected costs that are normally caused by medical emergencies, or her wheelchair, phone or computer (all of which have to be adapted to her special needs- making them really expensive.) We don’t want to set the fundraiser goals too high, but unfortunately it means that she’s always on a very tight budget. You can pay money into any of the accounts listed in the fundraiser mail, the money from Germany gets transferred to Jenny every 2-3 months. (One of our sponsors decided that Nov/Dec is a bad time of year for her, so now she transfers money at Valentines Day!) Any time is a good time for TROUBLE!

Again – thank you to everyone who contributed so generously. God bless. We’ll be back with another fundraiser next year!

Till then, have a lovely Christmas season.

All the best,

from Jenny Symons a.k.a. TROUBLE
and Yvette Coetzee-Hannemann (Friend, Fan and Funding Co-ordinator.)

 

Dear Trouble Aficionados

ONE DAY TO GO on our annual “I love TROUBLE” Fundraiser.

Despite amazing support, we are unfortunately still short. One can really see that times are tougher that normal. Especially the sponsors in South Africa have struggled to commit to as much as in previous years, and we can absolutely understand that.

So far, we’ve raised R 27 900 (about 1 530 Euro). That’s about 60% of our goal, to raise R 45 960 (2 640 Euro) by Sunday 5 December.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so generously so far!!

If you are still planning on making a contribution – there’s no time like the present! Write us an E-mail at fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com for banking details.

Please feel free to browse our website to out more about Jenny Symons a.k.a. TROUBLE (the incredible woman who we’re doing the fundraiser for).

And for all our German sponsors: take a look at what Anne has prepared as a special surprize for the lucky draw:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Anne!!

Greetings to everyone – and thanks in advance for making this fundraiser work!

Yvette Coetzee-Hannemann (fundraising coordinator)
& Jenny Symons (a.k.a. TROUBLE).

 

 

Dear Friends,

Today is the deadline for our fundraiser. We were aiming at raising
R 45 960 (about 2640 Euro).

And so far we’ve raised an amazing R23 400 (about 1 280 Euro).

Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed!

Unfortunately, this is only about half of what we need to get Jenny through the coming year. 

But if we do a fundraiser for a lady whose motto is: “Never give up”, then we’re not going to give up at this point, are we? No way!!

And so, we are pushing the deadline back till Sunday 5 December so we can still reach our goal.

Please browse our website to read about what an amazing lady TROUBLE is, and what she has been up against all her life. You will see that she’s even tougher (and cooler) than Chuck Norris!

If you were thinking about contributing – please do so. Even the smallest amounts add up.

For banking info, please mail us at fundraisingfortrouble@gmail.com.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! Have a TROUBLE-icious day!!

Yvette Coetzee-Hannemann (Friend, Fan, Fundraising co-ordinator) and Jenny Symons (a.k.a.TROUBLE)

Hey everyone!

This is a quick reminder, that there are only 4 days to go on our
„I love TROUBLE“ fundraiser.

So far, we’ve managed to raise an amazing R 13 370 (about 730 €).

THANK YOU to everyone who’s contributed so far!!!

Unfortunately though, this is only about 18% of our goal (R68 460 or 3 800€ by 30 November).

From past experience we know that a lot of contributions come at the end – so we’re optimistic we can still make it. But we’ll need all hands on deck.

To all of you who still want to chip in, please write an E-mail to fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com.

And please keep beating the drum & tell as many people as you can think of who might be interested.

By the way: for all those of you living in Germany: we’ll be baking cookies this weekend for the prize draw. So, if you take part in the fundraiser now, you too have a chance to win!

You will find further info about this fundraiser an about Jenny, the amazing person the money is meant for by looking around on our website.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! Have a TROUBLE-icious day!!

Hello again!

We’re kicking off the 2021 edition of the“I love TROUBLE” Fundraising campaign.

For those of you who don’t know Jenny (a.k.a. TROUBLE), feel free to browse our website to find out more. These annual fundraisers are vital in keeping her going – and every year we are amazed at the generosity of her friends and acquaintances, but also of many people who have never met her.

Last year, we raised a phenomenal R68 460 (about 3 800 € at the time)! Thank you again to EVERYONE who chipped in so generously in the midst of the pandemic!!!

That money has supported Jenny through this trying year – where they had to stay in the home for months on end and were often not allowed any visitors. Added to that, prices have been rising and it’s been increasingly difficult for her to get the medication she needs. Lately there has been some sort of normality again, and Jenny has even taken up art classes again, working on what she proudly calls Spastic Art.

Now, we’re looking to cover her expenses for 2022. Thanks to the increase in regular sponsors, we don’t need to raise quite as much as last year.

Our Fundraising Goal: By 30 November 2021 we want to raise R 45 960 (ca. 2 640 €)

The plan is to do so by getting

• R 2 275 (ca. 130 €) per month in regular, monthly contributions and
• R 18 660 (ca. 1 072 €) in one-off donations.

In order to reach these goals, in South Africa, we’re looking for:

• 4 people who can commit R50 per month
• 3 people who can commit R100 per month
• 2 people who can commit R150 per month
• 2 people who can commit R200 per month

Internationally (from all the countries with TROUBLE fans, including Britain, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand) we’re looking for:

• 4 people who can commit 3 Euro per month
• 3 people who can commit 5 Euro per month
• 2 people who can commit 7,50 Euro per month
• 2 people who can commit 10 Euro per month

“Regular contributions” mean that sponsors (maybe you?) commit to transferring a small amount (let’s say R50 / 5 €) every month for one year, from December 2020 until November 2021. Of course, we’ll be very happy if sponsors extend their support beyond that, but we will check in with everyone after a year to see if that is possible.

If a monthly commitment is not your thing, one-off donations are also very, very welcome! Even small amounts really help!

If you can make a contribution, please write to fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com and we will send you Jenny’s banking details. We have fundraising accounts in South Africa and Germany or you can transfer via Paypal.

PRIZE DRAW:
Now we get to the good stuff, where we can give our generous sponsors something back! There will be a prize draw in Berlin for our German supporters (unfortunately, we can’t open it up to everyone, as postage fees are too high).

The prizes in the past have included some fun, home-made “I love TROUBLE” surprises like cookies, christmas cards and bookmarks with Jenny’s Spastic Art on them. What’ll it be this year? Watch this space to find out…

Here’s how it works: For every 10 € you donate or pledge, your name goes into the hat for the lucky draw at the end of the fundraiser. The names of people who pledge more go into the hat more than once – so the name of someone who pledges 5 € a month for a year (60€ in total) goes into the hat 6 times.

Make sure to send us a mail, of you want to be included! YOU could be the next winner!!

And, please remember to spread the word. Just over 3 weeks to go!!

Thank you!!

Trouble (Jenny) and Yvette (Friend, Fan, funding co-ordinator).fundraisingfortrouble(at)gmail.com.