Oh my God, what a fantastic weekend! Firstly, let me just scream a massive THANK YOU to all you wonderful people out there who came and supported the charity in person and also to all those wonderful people who couldn't make it but supported the charity through donations. It was a truly fantastic weekend. The energy was amazing.

Friday Night Reception
Friday night kicked off with the arrival of our CKDCF cyclists who had pedaled their way from London and received rapturous applause from everyone who had gathered outside to welcome them home. Thank you to Bazza and Mark for their brilliant cycling efforts. Also thank you to 'Miserable Mick' for navigating and eating pies in a car on the entire journey! Anyone who would like to help them reach their fundraising target can Donate Here

Friday Night Dinner
The Friday night dinner is always a great way to meet new friends and everyone seemed to have a nice time talking and swapping emails. Thank you to Gordon and all the staff at the Summergrove for all the hard work and exceptional hospitality.

Friday Night Concert
After dinner it was upstairs to the bar for drinks and entertainment. The vibe was so cool that I have decided to change the name of the event to 'THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF LOVE'. It truly was a love fest! My old mate Paul Riley was kind enough to donate his energy to the evening and brighten up the spirits of those that were fortunate enough to bump into him. Thank you Paul.

The entertainment was excellent. Dorie Jackson sang a marvelous rendition of her song 'Railway Station Boy' accompanied by Scottish House Concert Hosts Gavin and Kay Duffy. We had UK House Concert hosts Ron and Debbie Peploe sing an amazing version of 'Too Much Saturn' followed by Swedish House Concert hosts Bjorn and Agnetta singing a brilliant Swedish version of a Jazz tune (Sorry, I forgot the name of the song). John and Wayne finished the night with a few Cumbrian Folk tunes. Thank you to everyone who took part, it was truly amazing.

Saturday Morning Table Tennis Competition
There were a few hangovers kicking around at the Table Tennis competition on Saturday morning but the turnout was amazing. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event. I will give a more detailed report on the winner of the competition a little later but I can tell you that he is a an incredibly good looking guy, a perfect table tennis player, he is talented beyond belief, he should be playing for England and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would swear that he was Chinese!

Saturday Night CKDCF Concert
The Saturday Night concert got off to a great start with Aquarian Nation artist John Gilmore Smith providing his own brand of 'conspiracy theory' music. Charlie McCracken followed with her Aquarian Poetry and her brilliant song 'Evil Knieval'. We were all geared up for a fantastic night...... The intro tape started to play and we walked onstage to a thunderous applause then........ nothing! The microphone was broken. Oh man, I was so depressed! Even though this event is not about me, I must admit that I felt like someone had wrecked my wedding day. The equipment failed and we had to walk off stage before we had even played a note. Damn, We spent six months organizing this event, we had taken care of every possible thing that could go wrong and we were all set for a fantastic evening....... but the monitor system and the microphones had other ideas! I tried to pull the microphone out of the socket and I hit myself really, really hard on the mouth with the mic...... I mean REALLY hard. I was in a bit of a daze. After changing microphones I spent the entire night without any monitors which means I couldn't hear what I was singing. If I wasn't in tune I apologize but I did try my best. You cannot avoid these things, they are a natural part of the 'live' process. Still, I was sad not to be able to deliver a better show for our guests who had traveled all the way there to support us. I managed to pull it around for the last six songs and had a blast but the whole process had left me in a bit of a daze.

The highlight of the night for me was created by our two special guests who both traveled a long way to join us onstage. Guitarist Luke Machin came on stage and played a blinding solo on 'Let Us All Go' and made us all look bad. Needless to say he got a huge cheer from the crowd. Thank you Luke, you truly are a star.

John Mitchell was next and he played beautifully on the old Joy Division classic 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. I have to applaud John not only for his guitar playing but also for having the balls and the decency to travel all the way up to Cumbria to support the CKDCF. I can tell you that John is a very sweet man, a very humble man and he has my up most respect. I was so happy to be able to spend some time hanging out with him. Thank you John, if you ever need anything that I can provide or help you with my door is always wide open. Thank you for your kindness and energy.

Sunday Morning Sponsored Walk
The hangovers were all on show as 200 people gathered at the top of Lake Ennerdale for the grueling eight mile walk. The weather was kind and gentle and everyone was in great spirits. After a Bacon sandwich and a cup of tea from the breakfast van we all set off like a giant worm around the lake. I have to be honest and admit that I was absolutely knackered when I completed the walk. After speaking to about twenty people a minute for three days straight, I was physically, emotionally and mentally drained. Apart from a broken wrist and a sprained ankle the walk was relatively drama free. We all ate burgers at the end and said our last goodbyes. The event was a massive success. I cannot express my gratitude enough to all those wonderful souls who came along for the ride. It is a great pleasure to have you all in my life.

The Reality of the Situation
The greatest thing about the CKDCF weekend is that every single person who came along has contributed to the lives of children in need. There are children suffering from Cancer who will benefit directly from your participation and I would like you all to carry that with you. You helped to ease the pain of another human beings difficulties and you made life a little more bearable for some children....... on some Oncology Ward........ in some Hospital. Somewhere out there, there is a little flower called 'Happiness' and it has your name on it. God Bless you all and Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Francis x x x

October 21, 2009: Tetra Speakers has donated a pair of their 120U Listening Instruments (read speakers) to the CKDCF auction. These are the same speakers that play for Francis at home. Find out more here www.tetraspeakers.com/pages/120u.html and spot the Frankie herewww.tetraspeakers.com/pages/biotet014.html

More details on this auction will be posted soon.

Robert has been involved with various charities, including the Nordorf Robbins fund for quite some time. Dunnery says, " I am very grateful that Robert would lend a hand. It will bring some focus to the CKDCF and help us to support various children's needs. Everyone at the CKDCF is buzzing that Robert is donating the guitar and video message. Personally, I think this is absolutely fantastic. I'm psyched ".

Details of the Robert Plant guitar will be available shortly on this website.

Riley was catapulted to fame with the huge Scottish sit com called 'Still Game' and has continued his success with solo projects. On 1st November 2006, it was announced that Riley had been nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award for his role as Winston in Still Game. On November 12, Riley won the award, also picking up the "Best Entertainment" category as well for Dear Green Place.

For those of you living in the USA, Paul Riley is a Scottish actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Winston Ingram in the Scottish sitcom, Still Game. He previously worked on the sketch show Chewin' the Fat, the show that Still Game was a spin-off from. Riley starred in Dear Green Place, advertised as a "a gently-comic look at the working lives of Glasgow's park wardens". Paul Riley attended Scottish Youth Theatre and is one of their patrons.