Look To The Stars News: Gemma Atkinson

Celebrities' Socks Appeal For Charity

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

MandMDirect.com is excited to introduce its limited edition ‘Socks Appeal’ charity sock range in association with Help for Heroes, The Andrew Flintoff Foundation, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust and The White Ribbon Alliance. The campaign is completely not for profit and all proceeds go directly to each charity partner, the perfect gift for Christmas.

Appearing in an exciting pictorial campaign, eight celebrity ambassadors have been styled in their chosen charity socks for Christmas. Help for Heroes is supported by Gemma Atkinson and Calum Best, The Andrew Flintoff Foundation by Freddie Flintoff and Jeff Brazier, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust by Violet Budd and Tamsin Egerton, and The White Ribbon Alliance is supported by Laura Bailey and Lauren Lavern.

Artist and illustrator, Duncan Cargill has created unique and exclusive designs specific to the theme of each charity, each with exciting illustrations and colour ways stylishly representing who they are and what they stand for. The socks are perfect Christmas gifts or stocking fillers and can be used to brighten up any outfit this Christmas. Each pack costs £9.99 available from MandMDirect.com from mid November.

British Celebrities Doodle For Charity

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A variety of British celebrities have completed unique drawings to raise awareness of a charity committed to helping the most vulnerable children and young people in the UK break through injustice, deprivation and inequality, so they can achieve their full potential.

The Celebrity Journeys campaign asked stars to illustrate “the start and end of a personal transformation in their lives in a single, unbroken line”. The drawings are currently appearing on an online gallery for Action for Children.

Stars who have taken up the challenge include Rod Stewart, Joanna Lumley, Gemma Atkinson, Ranulph Fiennes, Jo Brand, Robbie Coltrane, Ronnie Corbett, Esther Rantzen, Alexi Sayle, Brian Blessed, Vanessa Mae, Peter Davison, Kim Wilde, Ben Elton, Amir Khan, and many more.

“[My] picture tells the story of how anybody can start from very little and with the right ingredients and determination, can rise to the top,” said celebrity chef Gary Rhodes.

Action for Children said the online gallery will highlight the support it gives to thousands of young people as they start their own personal journeys.

To view the gallery, click here.

Gemma Atkinson Goes Blind For The Dogs

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

British actress Gemma Atkinson went blind for charity last week.

The 24-year-old agreed to be blindfolded and led by a guide dog at the Manchester premiere of Disney’s latest animated film, Bolt, to help raise more than £400 for charity.

“It is an amazing job that the guide dogs do and I felt confident and did not feel vulnerable at all,” said Atkinson, who raised the money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Gladiator Panther and Hollyoaks actor Ellis Hollins also attended the charity premiere and rode in a 12ft human hamster ball to raise money for the organization.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was founded in 1934 to provide welfare for blind and partially-sighted people, including the training and provision of guide dogs. Guide Dogs’ mission today is to provide guide dogs, mobility and other rehabilitation services that meet the needs of blind and partially sighted people. They rely entirely on public donations, and more information about the organization can be found here.

Stars Launch Charity Fun Run In Britain

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

British opera singer Russell Watson joined other stars last week to launch this year’s BUPA Great Manchester Charity Run.

The 42-year-old – who underwent a life-saving operation after the discovery of his second brain tumor in October 2007 – is considering taking part in the run, which will take place in May.

“I’m contemplating running at the event,” he said. “It’s going to be in the middle of my UK tour, so if I’m not somewhere down south or too far away I’d really like to do it. Recently I’ve started to get back into my fitness regime again and I’m enjoying it, so I’d like to.”

The event is part of a series of regional fun runs, which will raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Also at the official launch was Gemma Atkinson, Antony Cotton, and former Bond girl Britt Ekland. Ekland watched her mother suffer from Alzheimer’s 14 years ago and is a major supporter of the Society.

“I think it’s important that I can use my experience and my sometimes high profile to do whatever I can for the Alzheimer’s Society and raise funds where necessary,” she said. “To be connected to this year’s Bupa Great Run is a major, major thing for us in the society.”

Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton announced that he would be running the race with his soap star colleague Samia Smith, after been asked by a 13-year-old girl born with her heart back-to-front. The stars will be raising money for Francis House Hospice in Didsbury. Former Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson will run in support of Manchester’s New Children’s Hospital Appeal.

More information about the BUPA Great Charity Runs can be found here.

Jeremy Edwards Strips For Cancer Research

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Female readers may like to sit down and take a deep breath before perusing this story: hunky ex-Holby City and Hollyoaks actor Jeremy Edwards has stripped off for a new charity campaign targeting male cancer.

The 37-year-old actor has been photographed without a stitch on for the Everyman Campaign, an initiative launched by the the Institute of Cancer Research in 1997.

“I’ve always exercised but I only got the six-pack recently and I’m pretty proud of it,” said Edwards. “I did a six-week challenge for Men’s Health magazine that involved training twice a day, a six-mile run before breakfast and no carbs after lunch. I’m chuffed and my mates can’t believe the transformation.”

Edwards said he decided to support the campaign after a scare five years ago: “One of my testicles swelled to the size of a cricket ball. Thankfully, it was a treatable cyst.”

The actor joins other celebrities such as Gemma Atkinson, Rachel Stevens, and Dermot O’Leary in supporting the campaign, which aims to increase awareness in males of testicular cancer.

The steamy photo of Edwards will appear in the August edition of Cosmopolitan magazine, although the star admits not everyone will be impressed.

“Because my fiancée Lydia sees me naked every day, I don’t think it’s had as much impact on her,” he said. “I’m like, ‘But look at my abs!’”

More information about the Everyman Campaign can be found at their website.

Gemma Atkinson Designs Hospital Room

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:32:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

British actress Gemma Atkinson has helped design a special room at a hospital in Britain to give young cancer sufferers a place to chill out.

The 23-year-old created the room in association with the Teenage Cancer Trust at Manchester’s Christie Hospital, and hopes the facility will give patients an area where they can escape the confines of their ward.

“Teenage Cancer Trust is a great charity, supporting young people with cancer in Chester and throughout the UK,” she said. “I visited the unit in Manchester recently and I was inspired by the patients I met who all had such zest for life. I was amazed by their positive attitudes, despite going through such a terrible ordeal. I want to do as much as I can to support them.”

The room has a rubber floor, making it easier for wheelchairs to move on, and a magnetic wall to make displaying appointment cards and notes easier and safer. It also features a Playstation and iPod jukebox.

“I’m really pleased with it,” said Atkinson. “Hospital wards are quite dull and boring so I went to Christie’s and asked teenagers there what they want. I wasn’t aware teenagers got cancer, but six are diagnosed with it every day.”

Gemma Atkinson Finishes Olivia's Great Walk To Beijing

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:09:33 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Olivia Newton-John’s Great Walk To Beijing charity event is into its 19th day and has already raised over $1.5 million and gathered sponsorship pledges from over 6000 people from around the world.

The last few days has seen the end of stage 4 of the event, which involves a group of celebrities and cancer survivors walking the length of the Great Wall of China in 21 days and raising $5 million for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Over 142 kilometres have been walked by the group so far.

One star who has just finished her part in the walk is former Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson, who walked the first four stages.

“I’m enjoying every minute, but it’s pretty hard work,” the 23-year-old said prior to finishing the walk. “I go to the gym five times a week and I think I’m quite fit, but I have been finding this quite gruelling. But I’m determined to make it to the end. I’ve vowed to myself that I’ll find the stamina to do it. It’s an amazing experience. And it’s been such an eye-opener – we’ve been walking past really isolated parts of China. I am missing [my boyfriend] Marcus, but he’s really proud of me for doing this so that definitely helps keep me going. It’s pretty tough! Thankfully cancer hasn’t touched me or my family, but being a female I am very aware of how common breast cancer is and I want to do my part to help.”

Olivia's Million Steps To Cure Cancer

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:44:54 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Only four days into the 3-week, 228-km walk along the Great Wall of China and Olivia Newton-John’s team of fund-raisers is already suffering sore knees, pulled muscles and twisted ankles, and realizing that this will be far more challenging than expected. No one is giving up yet, though, on a goal to raise $5 million towards the building of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

The centre will provide in- and outpatient treatment and wellness therapies as well as integrated research into new and better cancer treatments and, ultimately, a cure.

Olivia – a cancer survivor – was diagnosed with the disease only two weeks after her father died from it. Fifteen years later, she has learned a lot on her road to recovery and is eager to give back. She says, “The whole experience has given me so much understanding and compassion I now want to help others going through the same journey.”

Olivia is joined in this gruelling challenge by Sir Cliff Richard, Dannii Minogue, Didi Conn, Gemma Atkinson, Joan Rivers, Leeza Gibbons, Marcus Patrick, Martina Laird, Scott Wolf, Amy Sky, and other celebrities whose lives have somehow been touched by cancer, as well as other cancer survivors.

Television host Leeza Gibbons, who joined the walk to support the hospital and her friend Olivia, was surprised at the physical effort required. “It was really exhausting and very challenging in certain spots. But whenever you would think, ‘Oh my gosh this is getting to be a lot,’ you’d look around behind you and there would be a cancer survivor.”

Over $1 million has been raised already. To meet the teams and sponsor a walker, go to The Great Walk To Beijing 2008.

Look To The Stars News: Gemma Atkinson

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