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The Chai Spa Day 2012
On Wednesday 23rd May the third extremely successful Spa Day, organised by Karen Goodkind and Ruth Bray in aid of Chai Cancer Care was held in the beautiful home of Michael and Jaqueline Meller. The Spa Day has so far has raised over £30,000 which will go directly towards funding Chai’s services.
100 ladies enjoyed a combination of pampering and holistic treatments including massage, healing and pilates that reflect some of the services that Chai provides for its clients. The weather was an amazing 27 degrees and meant that tennis coaching, yoga and fitness sessions could take place in the magnificent garden.
The day’s schedule of events was packed with relaxing and therapeutic treatments, celebrity workshops and a delicious lunch generously donated by Jason Milan and Tony Page.
The celebrity workshops included nutritional expert Ian Marber who spoke on antioxidants and ageing and Matt Roberts, celebrity trainer who advised on fitness and lifestyle choices.
Throughout the day Alan Herdman, founder of Pilates was advising on Pilates techniques and Robbie Steinhouse, International life coach was offering one to one sessions in the palm filled atrium.
The highlight of the event was hearing from Alex Samuels a 22 years old student who has non- Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He told the guest “If it hadn’t had been for Chai, I don’t think my cancer journey would have been the same. Chai let me be myself. They were there to pick me up when I was feeling down, they were there to listen to my concerns about my illness and treatment. They were there to make me feel human again when I had felt like a science experiment. They were there for my parents, my sister and my grandparents to help them cope with what was going on. They gave me a confidence to go out when I was bald and had no eyebrows. Chai made my cancer experience a positive one. Their motto “cancer doesn’t care, but Chai does” is so appropriate and true. You can’t comprehend what going through cancer is like, not only for the sufferer, but the people around them until you have been there yourself.” You can watch Alex's speech at the bottom of this page.
Following this, Nicky Clarke hairdresser to the stars entertained the guests with his personality and charisma whilst doing a hair demonstration and taking questions form the audience. He was so moved by learning about Chai’s services that he finished by offering the ladies at the Spa Day a 50% discount for a haircut at his new salon that was opening in London as he spoke.
When leaving, guests were given goody bags which contained fabulous and indulgent items, all of which had kindly been donated.
Such was the impact of hearing about Chai’s work that one of the ladies has already approached Chai to say they will be organizing a group climb to Kilimanjaro to raise much needed funds.