A further update from UK co-ordinator Maureen Barclay who has been organising an annual London Street collection on our behalf since 1994.  She, together with her team of helpers, have raised well in excess of £300,000 for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, not only with the Street Collection but Queen Nights, Benefit Concerts, and sponsored events together with the merchandise stall she runs at the annual Queen Convention along with a raffle and auction. Last years street collection raised over £5,800 which is a huge total when you consider people are donating in very small amounts.
 

For the street collection, Maureen invites HIV/AIDS charities to collect on behalf of the MPT, and they then are able to keep the money that they have collected. This fantastic initiative is similar to the ethos behind the Freddie Mercury Global Charity Network, where charities are able to raise funds for themselves using the Freddie For A Day initiative. You can read more about this on the Global Charity Network website www.freddiemercury.com/network.
 

For example, last year Maureen organised permits for Positive Parenting and Childen (PPC) to collect in Waterloo Station and in the Soho area, and they were able to raise £176.26. Maureen’s support was featured in the PPC’s Spring 2012 newsletter.
 

In Maureen’s words…
 

“I have finally gathered the results in for the London Street collection that took place last November so I thought it would be good to put a bit about it on the website.
 

Every year I co-ordinate a street collection in the Metropolitan area of London, this event always happens on the last Saturday in November as it is the closest to World AIDS Day.
 

HIV/AIDS organisations in that area are invited by me to collect on behalf of The Mercury Phoenix Trust. Last year there were six London groups. Alongside this collection I organised a house to house collection in the Soho district over a week, this enables collectors to go from pub to pub and with the permission of the manager of each venue they are able to collect from the punters.
 

Last year a total of over £5,800,00 was raised. Although all the groups are collecting under the umbrella of The Mercury Phoenix Trust they all get what they have collected once it has been transferred from the MPT account.
 

The idea is to help these organisations financially and to raise their profiles, so if you would like to volunteer for this event or you have any thoughts on wanting to help raise money and you would like that money to go to your local HIV/AIDS group (must be a registered charity)  please get in contact with me we are always crying out for volunteers. "Lets keep the money coming in."
 

Maureen Barclay
National Co-ordinator
Mercury Phoenix Trust
13 The  Furlongs
Needingworth
St Ives
Cambs PE27 4TX
01480  468785
maureen.barclay@hotmail.com