GABIT
Date: Saturday November 14, 2009
Jane Minard’s Hearing Dog Iris was sponsored by Amanda Tapping, of Stargate fame, and her fans. Amanda’s fans regularly hold GABIT events (Get Amanda Back In Town) to raise money for charities. Amanda flies over from USA for these events to have photographs taken with her fans, sign autographs and to host auctions. One of their chosen charities is Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, so Jane and Iris were invited to meet Amanda, and Jane kindly invited Bruce, Cliff, Janet, Alison and Steve to go along and give her moral support.
The event was held on 14th November 2009 in a hotel at Heathrow Airport, next to a runway on a stormy day. It was fascinating watching some of the aeroplanes abort landing just above the runway, because of the strong winds and heavy rain. There were various fund-raising stalls and Hearing Dogs had a stall to sell their merchandise, and we did well with generous Americans visitors. There was a long queue of fans waiting to have their photographs taken of Amanda in the next room. When they were finally done, Hearing Dogs staff and volunteers were ushered in to meet Amanda and have our photographs taken. Jane was the first to meet Amanda, who was delighted to see Iris. She was a lovely and warm person, who spoke to each one of us, and Jane gave her a letter, telling her all about Iris, which reduced Amanda to tears.
In the evening, an auction was held of Stargate memorabilia, which Amanda hosted. We were amazed at the high and competitive bidding, raising thousands of pounds for their chosen charities. Jane and Iris went on the stage to receive a cheque for over £4,000 for Hearing Dogs, from part of their fund-raising activities. Jane made a short speech, assisted by sign language interpreter Abbie Ramsden. When Jane said that Iris had met The Queen, there was excitement amongst the Americans in the audience, and once again, Amanda was reduced to tears.
We ended the day by having a meal at a pub down the road, where we were recognised by Amanda’s fans!