A little bit of giving - a power beyond hypnosis

Pictures of Izzy and Make-a-Wish UK Chief Executive Neil Jones

We believe strongly in the power of hypnosis. But there are also individuals and organisatons that make a power of difference in other ways. So, each year, we will support one major charity as well as other, smaller good causes. You can read about some of these below: Make-a-wish Our half marathon New York clinic link

Make-a-Wish Foundation

When we launched our new series of downloads designed to help people with cancer and the side effects of its treatment, we knew our first charity would have to support those who live with long term, serious illness. The bravest of them are children and Izzy's story is not that unusual, explains Neil Jones of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. 'At any one time, there are 20,000 children in the UK living with a life-threatening illness.'

The foundation, which started life in Phoenix, Arizona in 1980, strives to grant a wish to as many of these children as possible. Izzy, who has a malignant tumor, was given a Wendy house by the foundation. There are now over 30 affiliate organisations granting wishes around the world. 'Currently, we are able to grant about five hundred wishes a year but there is much, much more for us to do,' says Neil. We will donate all proceeds from our cancer section to the foundation. Uncommon Knowledge's donations to date have now reached £5,340.57 which is a huge achievement and has covered the full costs of at least one magical wish. Here are a couple of letters from Make-a-Wish telling us how our donations help to make some of the children's wishes come true. Make-a-Wish Foundation UK Make-a-Wish Foundation US Our cancer treatment section Back to top

Izzy with her Wendy house

Our half marathon

Mull run start 2006

Izzy, who features in our story above, thinks Wendy houses are such a good idea that she wants us to raise money to get Wendy houses for other children. Sounds like a great idea, so in August, three of us will run the Isle of Mull half marathon in Scotland.

By 'us' I mean myself Roger Elliott, Mark Tyrrell who co-founded Hypnosis Downloads with me and Jill Wootton, training director at Uncommon Knowledge, our hypnotherapy educational organisation.

Training for a major event like this can act as a great motivator for other parts of your life, plus it feeds energy back into your work. The Isle of Mull lies just off the west coast of Scotland. It is a beautiful location and has some breathtaking scenery.

The half marathon is in its sixteenth year. The event was inspired by a relay race held to celebrate the bicentenary of the island's capital Tobermory.  The runners carried the message of congratulations from the south of the island to the north - a distance of 55 miles.  With so many runners on the island eager to participate in the relay, organisers decided to inaugurate a half marathon the following year.

Wish us luck Izzy!
Our sports psychology section
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Update on our half-marathon challenge

Well, two of us made it. Roger suffered an ankle injury, which meant he was not able to run. If there’s a moral to this tale, it’s that using hypnosis to train yourself mentally for a physical challenge only works if you pay enough attention to the physical side of your training (to be fair I have ankles like dry twigs).

But Jill and Mark both completed the hilly Mull course – their first half-marathon and raised over $1000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation UK.

New York clinic link

At the beginning of this year we launched '10 Steps to Become a Non-Smoker' and we knew from your emails that the program has enjoyed great success. But we were even more pleased when we received an email from Bob Mick MD, Medical Director for DePaul Addiction Services, a large, public-funded, not-for-profit facility serving the addiction related health needs of the Greater Rochester, New York area.

A psychiatrist certified in Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry, as well as a student of hypnosis, Dr Mick has used both our courses and downloads to further his understanding of hypnosis and to help refine his application of hypnotic language. For example, he used the script for Shy Bladder Syndrome to make it much easier and less embarrassing for patients to provide urine samples for drug analysis, an important monitoring tool in early abstinence.

Dr Mick now plans on using hypnosis as an aid for his patients to quit tobacco use and asked us if he could purchase the scripts for 10 Steps to Become a Non-Smoker. His clinic is currently applying for grant money to help convert it into a non-smoking facility - not only for the patients but also for the entire staff.

We felt that this was such a great project that we donated the scripts, free of charge. One of the joys of growing as an organization is that it does give us the scope to do things like this - something that would not be possible without you. So here's wishing every success to Dr.Mick and a big thank you to you!

10 Steps to Become a Non-Smoker
DePaul Addiction Services
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