{"id":7353,"date":"2021-12-19T16:37:32","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T16:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/superstar-great-gran-85-says-charity-work-gave-me-my-life-back"},"modified":"2021-12-19T17:11:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T17:11:16","slug":"superstar-great-gran-85-says-charity-work-gave-me-my-life-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/superstar-great-gran-85-says-charity-work-gave-me-my-life-back","title":{"rendered":"Superstar great-gran, 85, says charity work \u2018gave me my life back’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>A great-grandmother says doing charity work \u2018gave me my life back\u2019 after the death of her husband 22 years ago.<\/p>\n

After mourning the loss of 63-year-old partner Donald, Sylvia Wood wanted to give something back to those less fortunate than her.<\/p>\n

That gave her the motivation to start her fundraising journey which she has been on for two decades.<\/p>\n

More Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire headlines<\/p>\n

Now 85 years old, the great-grandmother of 18 is still raising money for worthy causes.<\/p>\n

Sylvia, who lives in Stafford, said: \u201cIt began when my husband passed because it gave me a sense of living. It gave me my life back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 65 myself, my sister decided we would do a pantomime and we did Cinderella. It was a Saturday afternoon and all the pensioners came free and I paid for all the tea and coffee. I charged \u00a35 for a ticket and many people came with their families.\u201cWe sent \u00a31,400 to Great Ormond Street Hospital. I thought this is the start of something.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend was doing a lot of work in Gambia so I had another party and the money went to the children in Gambia. After that, I thought I\u2019ll keep going<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughter came to me because her 15-year-old friend was knocked down and he had a very bad brain injury. She said we are going to do a walk for him. I joined them and we did a 10-mile walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharity and what we do isn\u2019t about me, it\u2019s about all of us including the people that have helped me and worked with me to organise everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all pull together and the charity money comes from the people who come to your party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altogether, 170 people attended her latest charity event, which took place at the Stafford Rangers football ground in September.<\/p>\n

She managed to raise a total of \u00a31,390 for Children In Need. It led to her becoming one of the four finalists in the Terry Wogan award last month.<\/p>\n

Sylvia added: \u201cI had a phone call in the evening while I\u2019m sitting watching the television. This lady says \u2018this is Children in Need\u2019 and I said \u2018I beg your pardon?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said \u2018you have reached one of the four in the final for Children In Need\u2019. I didn\u2019t say anything and then she said \u2018are you still there?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told her to say it again. I said \u2018oh,right\u2019. I didn\u2019t know what to believe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had another call and she said can you come for an interview with Michael Ball or we could do it through your computer. We arranged to have an interview on the computer.\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful feeling. My children say \u2018you must be disappointed because you didn\u2019t get through\u2019 and I said \u2018not at all\u2019. Someone has to win. There were four of us. It isn\u2019t about winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put a photograph of the three others on the television. When I was a little girl, I loved tap dancing and I used to be in the shows at school. I used to think I\u2019d love to be on the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other day, we were laughing and I said \u2018I didn\u2019t think I would have to wait until I was 85 to have a picture of myself on the television.\u201dSylvia says she will continue to do her charity work as long as she is able to. But with five children and 12 grandchildren, she might let them take the reins.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIt makes me feel 10ft tall. After the event, I am shattered but it\u2019s so lovely. The children have a thing on their phone where they talk to each other and plan fundraising.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that keeps my brain going and it keeps me alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughter Zoe has done an awful lot and so has my daughter Donna. We all meet up and I give them a pen and a pad and say let\u2019s organise this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children say we have got to start planning for the next five years. I am 85 so if you think I am going to be dancing on the dance floor with a Zimmer frame when I am 90, you can forget it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue doing charity work.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. A great-grandmother says doing charity work \u2018gave me my life back\u2019 after the death of her husband 22 years ago. After mourning the loss of 63-year-old partner Donald, Sylvia Wood wanted to give something back to those less fortunate than her. That gave her the motivation to start her fundraising journey which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,9],"tags":[2355,2361,3319,260,3363],"class_list":["post-7353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-charity","tag-gambia","tag-superstar"],"yoast_head":"\nSuperstar great-gran, 85, says charity work \u2018gave me my life back' - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A great-grandmother says doing charity work \u2018gave me my life back\u2019 after the death of her husband 22 years ago. 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