Following a match day corporate raffle, monies donated from participating in the FA community shield (formerly the charity shield), and auctioning a limited edition Chelsea Football Club football signed by the first team, a fantastic £10,785 has been raised to support The Stephanie Marks Diabetes Appeal, a Chertsey based charity working to improve the diabetes service for Surrey and Middlesex.  

Chelsea FC Mid Fielder, Michael Essien, together with his team mates at Chelsea, signed a limited edition football, which gave sporting enthusiasts a unique opportunity to bid at a live auction conducted by Wellers Auctioneers last Saturday.

Whilst the limited edition football had a reserve price of £300, the successful highest bidder increased his bid to a remarkable £3,000 having researched the work of the Appeal.  Val Marks, Fundraising Manager of the Appeal said, “We are delighted to have worked with Wellers who have helped us tremendously and kindly donated their services.  We would like to thank the lucky bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, for his generosity.  Amounts like this tend to be raised at charity dinners and we were absolutely thrilled when we heard the news that £3,000 had been raised at auction.”

The Stephanie Marks Diabetes Appeal is raising funds to create a new state of the art, dedicated diabetes resource centre that will provide integrated diabetes treatment, education, and research across the community and all sectors of the healthcare system for patients, carers and medical professionals. The initiative aims to deliver first class local accessibility in line with the National Service Framework for diabetes care.  It will be linked to community clinics by a sophisticated IT system allowing quicker and easier access to information and support for both patients and medical professionals.