A HALL Green woman has been shortlisted for a national award for all her work raising funds for a sight loss charity.
Sheila Parkes has been nominated in the Chairman’s Award for Fundraising category for this year’s Macular Society Awards for Excellence.
Sheila has been raising funds for the Macular Society since 2010 in memory of her mother, Minnie, who had age-related macular degeneration.
Through her love of the history of the Titanic, Sheila has raised more than £2,000 by giving talks about the ill-fated passenger liner, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 killing more than 1,500 people.
In return for the talks she asks for a donation to be given to the Macular Society.
Sheila said: “I’m really honoured to have been nominated for this award. Having seen the impact macular degeneration had on my mother’s life, I wanted to find a way of raising money to help with research into the disease.
“The talks are a great way of doing that. The Titanic is a real passion of mine and I was lucky enough to go on a cruise to mark the centenary of the disaster back in 2012.
“When I give a talk, I dress up in period costume and take along lots of the memorabilia that I’ve collected relating to the ship, which people seem to really enjoy.”
Now in its ninth year, The Macular Society Awards for Excellence is run by the charity to celebrate the inspirational work done to provide services and care for people with macular disease all over the UK.
The winners will be announced at the Macular Society’s national annual conference, which takes place in September.
The Chairman’s Award for Fundraising is a brand-new category for the 2017 awards and is one of five honours handed out by the Macular Society on the night.
The Macular Society is the national charity for anyone affected by central vision loss.
Cathy Yelf, chief executive of the Macular Society, said: “Sheila’s fundraising efforts really have been inspirational. She truly deserves this nomination and I’d like to add my personal thanks to her for all of her efforts to raise funds for us.”
