The Geoff Bulpett Wheelchair Appeal

Welcome to the Jeff Bulpett wheelchair appeal page

Jeff has been an MS sufferer for many years and his plight came to our attention in the early summer of 2009. Jeff is in desperate need of a replacement for his motorised wheelchair, which is reaching the end of its days. The replacement cost is around £12000 and Social Services will only contribute some £2000 towards the cost. .
The Geoff Smith Foundation has been pleased to be involved in the fund raising but the real credit goes to Tracey Attwood, the staff and customers at The Hinkler pub in Hinkler Rd, Thornhill, Southampton, and to Simon Waters and his connections.
We pledged £3000 from our October 2009 Golf Day at Brokenhurst Manor and in the meantime, the regulars at The Hinkler heard about Jeff's plight. Jeff lives just around the corner from The Hinkler and the local community have really taken the project on board. They have held raffles and a sponsored ceremonial cutting off of a pony tail, as well as a Christmas Carol Service in December. So far The Hinkler have raised in excess of £3500 and more events are planned.

Supporters have rallied round and amongst other events held a sponsored walk (see below) around the Common on a chilly December day.

Simon Waters, director of Waters & Sons Funeral Directors of Sholing, Southampton, heard about Jeff through the Echo coverage of Hinkler events. His mother died from MS and he wanted to help. Simon has organised the sponsored walk taking place on Sunday 13th December and we believe Simon's efforts will raise a four figure sum towards Jeff's wheelchair.

Simon and his firm have become keen supporters of the Foundation and will make a donation to us whenever a supporter of the charity has need of their services. Visit www.funeraldirectorssouthampton.co.uk for more information on the range of services that they offer in what can be difficult times. See also their testimonials page and what others have said about their service.

Martin Bulpett, Jeff's brother organised an evening featuring X Factor singer Sarah Brackstone at the Dockers' Club in Southampton in April 2010. This looks to have raised a further £2000+ towards the appeal.

We are now close to placing an order for Jeff's new chair. An official presentation evening will be held at The Hinkler and details will be posted here.

The fundraising by Jeff's supporters will go on, as there is a twist to this tale. Back in February 2009, Jeff took out a loan of around £6000 and paid this over to a wheelchair company who were to supply him with a chair. Before this could be delivered, the firm went bust so Jeff was left with no wheelchair and a nasty debt. Through the efforts outlined above, enough will be raised to buy a wheelchair. Now Jeff's friends and supporters will turn their attention to raising more money to wipe out the loan.

Who says community spirit is dead!

Sponsored walk 17th December 2009 - 31 hardy souls braved the cold conditions on Sunday 13th December including Simon Water's friends and family and a group from The Hinkler pub, led by landlady Tracy, wearing the Saints' mascot outfit. Over £2000 was raised.

Jeff with carer Sue