OSPREY 21st Anniversary

1 July, 2013

OSPREY celebrated 21 years of charitable fund-raising in June 2013 with a Gala Dinner for 200 VIPs, local dignitaries and loyal supporters.

Since its inception the charity has raised more than £1million. EVERY penny raised has remained in Hull and The East Riding of Yorkshire funding research into this deadly disease as well as funding the purchase of all the bone densitometers for the Centre for Metabolic Bone Disease at the Hull Royal Infirmary. This year, OSPREY placed an order for two more densitometers valued at over £100,000 for the Centre.

During the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to Hull in 2006, OSPREY launched an appeal to raise £106K in that year. This was to fund the purchase and fitting of a mobile densitometry unit to enable those in the area who were unable to travel to the Centre to be scanned.

Due to the enthusiastic response prompted by HRH’s visit we received a number of generous donations. We also auctioned a visit to Highgrove, generously donated by HRH. In 2007 we launched our vehicle.

As well as funding the purchase of equipment we are also funding three PhD research scholarships at the University of Hull under the guidance of Professor Michael Fagan (not the Michael Fagan who sat on the Queen’s bed uninvited!!)

In January this 2013, Tom Chesters, one of our PhD students, tragically lost his life as a result of an avalanche whilst climbing in the Scottish Highlands. Two of his close friends Daniel Williams and Simon Dodd from Leeds competed in a sponsored Ironman Triathlon in his memory. Half of the money they raised was donated to OSPREY which will help us to continue to support completion of Tom’s valuable work. Whilst the bulk of his research was almost complete we have funded another scholarship to ensure it is finished. Tom will have his PhD awarded posthumously.

Osteoporosis is growing to epidemic proportions worldwide. This is in part due to the ageing population but is also due to lifestyle choices of the young. Obsessions with keeping weight down in order to mimic their celebrity idols and spending too much time slouching in front of a TV or computer screen (current reader excused!) does little to promote good bone health.

We are grateful to our large number of loyal supporters who have helped make this such a successful local charity. Osteoporosis is not going away and neither is OSPREY.

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