GrappleThon auction - Thank you Meerkatsu!

I just wanted to say a special thanks to Seymour Yang (aka the wonderfully talented Meerkatsu) for donating some of his highly popular BJJ apparel. Meerkatsu is a fellow BJJ practitioner, talented artist, blogger and gi reviewer. I highly recommend his website http://www.meerkatsu.com/ and blog http://meerkat69.blogspot.co.uk/ . All of these items will be auctioned off on the day and all proceeds will go to Kidscape!

If any other BJJ/fight companies would like to donate anything for the auction please get in contact. It’s really appreciated and proceeds are going to a great cause.


Thank you!

Congrats Spence!

Congratulations to Spencer Hewitt with his win at Cage Warriors!

For info about Origin MMA Academy see http://www.originmmaacademy.com/

Thanks to all who have donated, its really appreciated.
I have now created an independent JustGiving team page for the event so anyone participating in the GrappleThon, who don't wish to use the Origin MMA Academy page can now link their page directly to it. Please note the charity must be Kidscape.

If anyone wants to create their own JustGiving page and link to the new team page simply click on "join the team" here:

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/EssexGrappleThon2014

If any of this doesn't make sense please get in contact.

Ossss

The Kidscape JustGiving page has been up and running for over a week now and we have already raised over £100! Thank you to all those who have donated, it’s really much appreciated.

Also special thanks to Can (aka Slideyfoot) for advertising our GrappleThon on his much viewed website -  http://www.grapplethon.org/ . I highly recommend this website for anyone looking to run their own grapplethon and indeed it has been a tremendous resource for me. Coincidentally Can’s team; Artemis BJJ are also running a grapplethon on the same day in Bristol. They will be rolling for a dreaded 24 hours – good luck guys!  

I’m still looking for grapplers, so if anyone wants to get involved please comment/get in touch.

Date and charity chosen! The GrappleThon will be taking place on Saturday 12th April 2014 at Origin MMA Academy. We will be raising funds for an excellent charity called Kidscape. Kidscape is committed to keeping children safe from abuse. It is the first national charity dedicated to preventing bullying and child sexual abuse. Kidscape believes that protecting children from harm is key.

Donations can be made here, at our JustGiving page...

http://www.justgiving.com/originmmaacademy

Please share with team mates, friends, family and work colleagues.

Also if anyone wants to get involved and grapple please let me know.

Thanks,
Mike

Thank you to all my team mates, the positive response to the GrappleThon has been overwhelming. I also really want to say thank you to those who have already said yes to taking part. If anyone else wants to do the GrappleThon please let me or Spence know. Anyone of any experience/level is welcome. I really want to make this fund raising event a team thing so the more the merrier. And don't worry, no one has to roll for 12 hours straight, if people just turned up for an hour to roll that would be great (as long as there's two people  rolling over the period it counts)!

I will post the date and kids charity later on.

Venue confirmed! The 12 hour long Grapplethon will be held at the Origin MMA Academy in Rainham, Essex. With a provisional early April date.

Massive thanks to my BJJ instructor Spencer Hewitt for his support and use of his gym for this event. Spencer holds the rank of black belt in BJJ and is also a successful MMA fighter; showcasing his skills on some of the largest shows in the UK and Europe.

For more information about Spencer's gym and the large range of classes on offer see below:

http://www.originmmaacademy.com/

I recommend the classes for anyone of any age.  Spencer also runs successful BJJ and MMA classes for kids.  Spencer's BJJ arm of the academy is part of UK pioneer Marc Walder's Mauricio Gomes Origin BJJ Team. Marc has been pivotal in helping raise the profile of BJJ in the UK and was one of the first people to be awarded the rank of black belt in this country.

Next stage is get all my team mates involved and decide on a children's charity for the event.  I'm looking for a charity which specifically helps with child neglect and anti-bullying.