Summer Superdraw

You could win a week away at the 9 bedroom palatial pad Chaucer Barn in Norfolk, plus £500 spending money, in the Helen & Douglas House Summer Superdraw. Lots of other prizes are up for grabs too. Tickets are £1 each (minimum of five tickets per transaction) and are on sale until 23 September.

Bid4holidays

Over the summer of 2011 we stepped up our charitable contributions a notch by hosting the Bid4holidays charity auction. Some very generous home owners and property managers donated weeks at their homes to the auction, raising a whopping £35,724.

All of the money was split 50/50 between Helen & Douglas House and Cancer Research UK.

Vanessa Fay of Helen & Douglas House said: "We are thrilled that the auction has raised over £17,800 for our charity. This amount will pay for around seven families to have an essential break at Helen & Douglas House."

Cancer Research UK said: "We would like to thank everyone who donated through the Bid4holidays website. Whether it was by donating a holiday home or bidding on one, your contribution will contribute to our life-saving work."

Bumper fundraising activities

No challenge is too small for some members of the team who volunteer to do something out of the ordinary in their spare time to raise money for Helen & Douglas House.

1. One of our product managers, Alex Baker, took on the Virgin London Marathon in April 2011, raising a heart-warming £2,494 by rediscovering his running legs. Not wanting to stop there, Alex is already in the ballot for 2012.
2. Four members of the team raised £400 by jumping out of bed before the birds woke up to walk 26 miles in the Daybreaker challenge.
3. The team runs lots of ad hoc fundraising through clothing swap shops, cake sales and even making adorable decorations at Christmas time.

Lending our skills

Each member of the team is allocated two days each year to spend doing voluntary work to support Helen & Douglas House. They may want to lend their expertise in web development, marketing or customer relations, do a spot of DIY or gardening at the hospice or serve customers in one of their charity shops. Whatever they decide to do, it can make a big difference to the charity's work.

Refer a friend scheme

If you advertise with us, every time you refer a friend you can get a free gift worth up to £70. One of the gifts is a £50 donation to Helen & Douglas House and a handful of advertisers have already shown their generous streak by opting for the donation.