
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Marks and Spencer Fund Raise for Harry

Thursday, 3 June 2010
Funds Raised in Harry's Memory and Progress on Vaccines
TOTAL FUNDS RAISED
The total funds raised in memory of Harry are as follows (all on-line and off-line donations) :
Meningitis Trust £2871.50
Meningitis Research Foundation £91,419.06
Youth Sports Trust £6748.67
Total £101,039.23
Many thanks from the Mills family for all your efforts. This is a fantastic sum of money that is still growing. A wonderful tribute to Harry's memory.
MENINIGITIS VACCINES
Harry died of infection from a strain of the Meningitis B virus and septicaemia. The difficulty with finding a vaccine for MenB is that many strains exist and the immune system does not recognise it as a threat.
We have attempted to provide an update on vaccines and further information and guidance on progress. Should you have any questions or need further information please email to richardm@flexit-resources.co.uk.
Linda Glennie, Head of Research and Medical Information, Meningitis Research Foundation, has provided the following update for Harry's Fund Raisers..
"Menveo (licensed by Novartis) has just received its European Licence today, so suddenly it’s news again.
Menveo could be quite significant, but unfortunately it doesn’t cover meningococcal B.
It does cover meningococcal A, C, W135 and Y. It’s the same technology as the MenC vaccine so we all expect it to work very well. For now it will probably be used in the UK for travellers to places with high incidence of MenA or MenW135 like Africa and Saudi Arabia, for people with particular immunodeficiencies that make infection with MenY or MenW135 more likely, or people who are household contacts of someone who is ill with one of these strains.
However, a bigger question is whether the UK should use Menveo routinely. Many people think that in order to maintain immunity to MenC, we will need a teenage booster introduced in the near future. Instead of using MenC for that, we could use Menveo. The number of cases of Men A,Y and W135 in the UK is quite low—just over 70 cases in 2008, more in 2009 but the figures aren’t published yet. Some people think these numbers are too low to warrant using Menveo. However, if you can save 70 people from potential death or disability just by switching one vaccine for another, we think there’s a pretty strong case actually. Also, a teenage booster would catch people at the age when they are most likely to go off travelling to places that may well have higher risk of these strains even if they aren’t on an official list of high risk destinations. The US for example has quite high numbers of MenY cases.
Also, it looks like cases of MenY are starting to go up—still very low, but the rate of increase is starting to make people take notice. In the US, they went from having almost no MenY cases to MenY accounting for around a third of all meningo cases within a very few years.
At the moment Menveo is licensed for ages 11 to 55. However, there is very good evidence that it protects in younger children, so a licence for babies and children may not be too far away. Once that happens, the vaccine could be used more widely."
See the following for further information (click on each):-
Menova
MRF ‘Ask the expert’ on teenage booster and Menveo
Why does MRF still fund MenB research?
MRF Site Visit to Imperial when we looked at 2 MRF funded MenB vaccine projects
MRF Annual Review
Harry’s Lunch Weds 22nd Sept 2010

We're delighted to be running Harry's lunch for the third year on Wednesday 22nd September 2010. It will be held once again at St Katherines in Parmoor and the chosen charity this year is the Child Bereavement Trust.
The menu will be a choice of Salmon with Pesto Crust, Chicken Provencale or the vegetarian option of Aubergine and Mozzarella Bake/ Towers. This will be served with seasonal vegetables and minted potatoes. This will be followed by a dessert of Chocolate Brownie with Cream or Meringue Hedgehogs with Fruit Couli. Tea and Coffee will then be served.
Please could you advise us of your choice when booking your ticket.
We do hope you can come along and bring your friends. It would be lovely to see you all again this year for this fun and sociable occasion and also to raise valuable funds for charity. As you know we do like a theme and this year is no different. It is to be Harvest time with the addition of hedgehogs!
Tickets remain at the same price of £25.00.
For tickets or more information please contact Judi 01628 483962 hithemills@clara.co.uk or Wendi on 01628 475150 wendiparcell@sabrehost.net.
Thanking you for your continued support.
Wendi and Judi
Marlow Merlins Rugby Awards Evening: 7th May 2010
Marlow Merlins U15s Easter Rugby Tour & Dorset Tournament
John Watson (Marlow Merlins) presented the winners with a pair of ‘Harry’s socks’ and said that the team would be remembering Harry with a minute’s silence during their game on 25th April.The French players were touched by Harry’s story and wanted to wear the socks at their next match, Thierry Lucidarme (Montigny-le-Brettoneux) sent the attached photos of his team wearing ‘Harry’s socks’ during a match the following weekend.Marlow Mini Rugby Tournament 28th March 2010
The Marlow Mini Rugby Tournament played host to over 2000 young rugby players and supporters. Since Harry died, a special trophy has been awarded in his memory to the winning u12s side.
London Irish were the victors. A strong team, this is the second time an U12 side from their club has won the Harry Mills Memorial Cup. England & Wasps player joined us for the presentation along with Rhys Durkin from London Irish who himself had meningitis as a baby and has come along to the presentation of Harry’s Cup every March since 2008.
Steve King: Great North Run & Marlow 5
Steve King joined 54,000 runners for September 2009’s Great North Run in Newcastle and 2,000 entrants for the Marlow 5, running for the Meningitis Research Foundation. He completed the both races in excellent times and raised a total of £1650.
Guy Lambert: Marlow 5 - 9th May 2010
15 year old Guy Lambert ran the Marlow 5, a 5mile road race around Marlow. He achieved an impressive time of 40mins 33secs and raised £50 for the Meningitis Trust. He intends to run it again next year when his mother Jane runs for the first time – is he worried? Nah!
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Vicky and Michael Hit Their £500 Target


Vicky Tippell (on the right with Jenny - Harry's sister) and friend Michael 'Spiderman' Greene have hit their £500 target running the Bath Half Marathon. To date £680 have been raised for the Meningitis Research Foundation. You can still donate at their Justgiving site.Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Jess & James Run 4 Harry - The Great North Run
Under clear blue skies and a warm autumnal sun, Jessica Denton and her uncle James Hughes took on the challenge of the Great North Run raising £1350 for the Youth Sport Trust & Meningitis Research Foundation. Having trained for several months, they were delighted with their finishing times of 2 hours 25 minutes coming 28958th out of a total 54,000 runners. As they went over the finishing line, the Red Arrows began their breathtaking aerial display – an apt salute to a fantastic effort!
Jessica has been so bitten by the running bug that she is now considering attempting the London Marathon….watch this space!
Harry’s Lunch Raises £2,500
The theme of this year’s Harry’s Lunch was ‘butterflies’ to tie in with the Harry’s Garden event at Butterfly World. Around 100 people attended the lunch, held at St. Katharine’s, Parmoor, and helped raise just under £2500 for the Meningitis Research Foundation which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. The event was organised by Wendi Parcell, Florence MacGregor, Sue Robertson & Judi.
In addition to a fantastic array of butterfly themed raffle prizes donated by local businesses, individuals and internet companies there was also a silent auction featuring a number of unique items such as original artwork, a bespoke butterfly cushion and a signed copy of Heston Blumenthal’s The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.
Fern Alder, the award winning garden designer spoke about how she created Harry’s Garden, and about how the sunflowers and sweetpeas grown by guests at last year’s event were used. Guests were able to see how the garden progressed from little more than a building site to the finished result from a display of photographs, brochures and news articles. Upon leaving, they were presented with Butterfly World discount vouchers and a packet of Mr Fothergill’s Butterfly World seed collection.
Click here for press coverage
Monday, 13 July 2009
Harry's Garden is in Bloom

Harry's Garden and the Butterfly World site has now become the most amazing display of wild flowers. It is described as another world and a wonderful display of colour with tens of thousands of plants. See attached links for updates....
Daily Mail - A blaze of blooms to send your spirits floating like a butterfly
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| Harry's Garden July |
Rory Kempson Awarded Harry's Cup
Congratulations to Rory kempson who was awarded Harry's Cup at the Marlow Rugby Club Marlow Merlins Team. This is the team Harry played for and the award was made at the end of season presentation on Friday 19th June. A great evening for the boys and Mums and Dads as Ali Buckle conducted proceedings (in the way only he can) and reminded us all of a great season. Richard and Judi presented the cup to Rory.
This is a lovely way for Harry to be remembered by his mates from his rugby team.
Friday, 5 June 2009
Harry’s Garden Press Day 4th June 2009
Harry’s Garden, part of the Future Gardens/Butterfly World Project was officially opened on 4th June by Emilia Fox & David Bellamy – both patrons of Butterfly World. Around 1000 people attended the event, including 300 representatives from the gardening and national press. Clive Farrell, founder of the project, made special reference to Harry’s Garden in his speech to the press and later introduced us to Emilia Fox who has sponsored the garden.
As the press entered through the rugby posts they were greeted by bubbles from a bubble machine and Fern Alder (garden designer) wearing some impressive butterfly wings. Many of the flowers, including the alliums and sweet peas were in full bloom and looking fantastic, others such as the wild flower bank will come into their own as the summer progresses. The sunflowers (grown by Harry’s friends) are getting much taller & sturdier but won’t flower until later on, so children from Jack & Jill Nursery produced some handprint sunflowers for us to place in the border especially for press day. June Kingsbury’s resin football and rugby balls, strategically placed in Fern’s experimental straw bales, were much admired as were Fern’s green hedgehogs. & naturalistic plantings. We were delighted that Iain & Neil from the Meningitis Research Foundation and Sue from the Child Bereavement Charity were able to come along, and hope that Harry’s Garden will help raise awareness of the wonderful work these two charities do. Harry’s Garden is open until October and will then be replaced by a new charity garden each year.
The 12 Future Gardens competition gardens are all strikingly different with themes ranging from ‘Narratives of Nature’ to ‘Urban Greening’ and created by both established international designers and some less well known. They have all been designed to develop over the 4 months that the gardens remain open. The main site is amazing and children in particular will love to explore the Very Hungry Caterpillar’s edible garden, the Theatre of Insects and the ‘Through the Flowerpot’ garden, where like Alice through the looking glass you are shrunk to Lilliputian size. There’s also a giant leafcutter ant sitting atop an anthill on the edge of the site as well as a tropical butterfly house – a temporary structure until the giant dome is completed in 2011.
Although this is just Phase 1 there is lots to see and do and makes a great day out.
It’s located just off junction 21A of the M25 on the outskirts of St Albans – around a 30minutes drive from Marlow.
Opening times:
5th June – 4th October 2009
7 days a week 9.30am-6pm
Article in the St Albans and Harpenden Review
Links to Butterfly World/Future Gardens website


