• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Vote Once, from Anywhere! Win £2,000 for Invest in ME

View the Post on the Blog

Do what the shoes say!
(Image by Theresa Thompson on Flickr)

by Sasha

Probably the easiest money we’ll ever raise is up for grabs in an online voting contest in which UK research charity Invest in ME is a frontrunner.

Anyone can vote, from anywhere in the world, and you vote just once, but you need a Google or Facebook account to do so (or to be willing to spring for postage).


The contest

The contest is being held by Direct Debit, who manage automated bill payments in the UK. They’re running a fresh contest each month until June, each with a top prize of £2,000 ($3,100), a second prize of £1,000 ($1,500) and £2,000 ($3,100) divided equally between a small number of runners-up.

We want the first prize for the April contest and, at the time of writing, Invest in ME is already in second place. Even if we get to first, we can’t be complacent: there are a few mega-charities in the pool whose supporters seem to be asleep but will give us a real run for our money (literally) if they wake up.


Invest in ME

Invest in ME (IiME) were only founded in 2005 but have made a big impact on the ME scene, with their driving passion for biomedical research. They want a national strategy for biomedical research into the causes, pathology and epidemiology of WHO-defined ME, leading to diagnostic biomarkers, medical treatments, and a cure.

With that focus, it’s hardly surprising that they’ve made a big hit with ME patients both in the UK and beyond, and one of their main activities is hosting an annual, international ME conference which now attracts not just clinicians and researchers but patient advocacy groups and journalists from all over the world.

This year’s conference, to be held on May 31 in London, has an impressive line-up that includes Dr Mady Hornig, the director of the eagerly-awaited Lipkin pathogen study; Prof. Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik of Bond University’s PHANU; Prof. Olav Mella and Dr Ǿystein Fluge of the Norwegian Rituximab study; and Dr Andreas Kogelnik of the Open Medicine Institute. One of the main functions of a conference is to get the right people in the same room together and it looks as though IiME know exactly how to do that.

Invest in ME’s other big project is to establish a UK and European Centre of Excellence for translational biomedical ME research, clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment for patients, that will also offer training and information for healthcare staff. The centre, using existing NHS infrastructure as far as possible, and based around the Norwich Research Park, will collaborate with international biomedical researchers. IiME have already raised £88,000 of the £100,000 needed to begin their first research project.

And finally, something I really like about IiME: they’re advertising the fundraising drive for Norway’s Rituximab trial. As they say, it’s not a competition.

That kind of attitude deserves our support and we can give it for free, for just a mouseclick.


How to vote

You only need to vote once – how refreshing! – and you can vote from anywhere in the world by logging into your Facebook or Google account and then going to Invest in ME’s voting page. Scroll down a bit and hit the big red button at the bottom right that says, ‘Vote for this cause’.

Only one vote for IiME is allowed from each IP address, which means that you can only get one vote per internet connection in your house.

Unusually, if you don’t have a Facebook or Google account you can vote by post. Send a postcard with your name and address, saying that you’re voting for Invest in ME, to: The Big Break, 131-151 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 5BB. The closing date for votes is 30 April.

You can keep an eye on how we’re doing by going to this page and clicking on the ‘Rank’ sort-order button.

Please vote, and get your friends and family to vote. Let’s put a £2,000 smile on Invest in ME’s faces!




Phoenix Rising is a registered 501 c.(3) non profit. We support ME/CFS and NEID patients through rigorous reporting, reliable information, effective advocacy and the provision of online services which empower patients and help them to cope with their isolation.

There are many ways you can help Phoenix Rising to continue its work. You can even donate significant sums, at no cost to yourself, as you shop online! To find out more, visit Phoenix Rising’s Donate page by clicking the button below.


View the Post on the Blog
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I don't know how to quote so...

Sasha: Yes, I've never really noticed the 'what's new' button, which is a bit embarrassing! Personally, I only really read the forums - and when I'm feeling particularly tired, I usually just go for the first two (general discussion and latest research) or else I feel a bit overwhelmed.

Having said that, I will certainly use all of these options from now on - they seem pretty useful!

Merry: Thanks for your extremely helpful post!
 
Still doing amazingly well - we're 2,773, Sands is 2,581 so we're 192 ahead!

However, last week they pulled in an extra 300 on the Monday morning, I seem to remember reading, so we can't be complacent.

If you haven't voted or asked your friends to vote, do it now! :)
 
Yes they will push tomorrow, so I think we need to find more votes if we want to come in first! SO VOTE VOTE VOTE if you haven't yet, and do make the extra effort to tell your family and friends. You can also tweet and share this on facebook using the buttons at the bottom of this post.
 
Still looking good - we're still in 1st place with 2,796 and Sands have 2,582 so they're 214 votes behind.

Not safe enough though - especially if they make a post-weekend comeback like last time.

Vote if you haven't already! Get your friends to vote too!
 
If I were them I would push for votes later today so that we don't have time to respond. It would be good if we could find some more votes.

I agree - I always wonder where these groups get a big surge of votes from - some of them in some contests do it over and over again. Mind you, so do we sometimes - I assume that's you and the fundraising group mailing another load of people! :)
 
The CFS Patient Advocate's latest post on his blog is a terrific advert for Invest in ME's conferences (which he travels from the US to attend) and shows clearly why they're so well worth supporting - with your VOTE! :)

http://cfspatientadvocate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/fish-or-cut-bait_29.html

If you haven't voted yet or asked your friends to do so, please do it now - voting ends tomorrow (presumably at midnight-ish UK time, but I don't know). There's still time for Sands to stage a comeback - they have done so several times already! :eek:
 
Argh! Sands making their move! Argh! :eek:

We're leading with 2,828 to their 2,773 - they're only 55 behind! They've pulled back about 150 votes in a few hours. :eek::eek::eek:

Have we got any more votes in the locker?
 
Argh! Sands making their move! Argh! :eek:

We're leading with 2,828 to their 2,773 - they're only 55 behind! They've pulled back about 150 votes in a few hours. :eek::eek::eek:

Have we got any more votes in the locker?
not that I know of. I will ask the fundraising group, see if there is anything to be done. Well done for spotting the march!
 
12 votes! The final day's voting and we're behind Sands by 12 votes! :eek::eek::eek:

The others are in the dust, it's just us and Sands. We get £1,000 in second but we want the £2,000 for first place!
 
Our surge forward got bigger in the last couple of hours - we're ahead with 3,094 to Sands's 2,965 - we're 129 ahead! :alien:

I don't know where those extra votes came from but I'm very grateful for them! :)

But we've got to keep this up til midnight! :eek:
 
yes 80 odd votes is unlikely to be enough to keep us in first place because I expect SANDS will have a surge later on today. So, if you haven't emailed your friends/family yet then please do so now!
Also, if you have already facebooked it, great, but if you have the energy then use facebook messenger to check with your supportive contacts to see if they have voted yet - many are willing, but just need a bit of prompting!