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I'm fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of James Parker.
James and I were best friends from primary school. Sadly, on the 24th October 2010 aged 34, he lost his battle with Pancreatic Cancer. In his memory, I am going to complete a 24hr Snooker Marathon.
James was a very keen Snooker player and from an early age we would regularly be found in the local snooker or pool hall. His flamboyant use of back spin would always make people laugh and be astounded at the same time!
Once at a competition in Wisbech, James was matched up against professional local hero Joe Perry, he was given a handy 49 head start and initially potted a Red and Brown giving him a satisfying lead. Joe then went on to pot a long red and followed it up with a 133 point clearance! James giggled as he shook his hand and we dined out on that story for years!
James then moved to the USA where he met and married Sonya, although a Snooker table was hard to find, James managed to find the large American pool tables and his love of ball-spin could flourish! On his trips back to visit England we would always find time to play Snooker and his skills never diminished.
I have always had the desire to carry out a challenge in James’ memory to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK. I knew it had to be Snooker based but had never been able to find a venue that would be able to accommodate the event. I have recently been playing at 3 Counties Snooker Academy in King’s Lynn, and luckily Richard and Steve have been kind enough to let me use their venue.
The venue is perfect and offers the complete experience for a game of Snooker.
The room is spacious with a Riley Aristocrat Table and fine Strachan cloth, a heated slate bed and professional 1g Aramith balls. This table was played on at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield during the World Snooker Championships and was actually played on by Steve Davis when he played Joe Perry in 1999.
The challenge format for the 24hrs is 48 x 25min slots available to book by donating £10 per slot to play me, starting at 12pm on Saturday 11th June 2022. If all slots are booked and played it would mean I can raise the £480 target, which would be amazing for the charity. Of course, you do not have to play to donate. Any support would be greatly appreciated to help me reach my target!! 😉
Depending on interest and the number of bookings there may be longer slots available. Groups could be organised, with time slots together, but would need to be booked as soon as possible to accommodate.
If you are interested in helping me complete this challenge then please private message Melanie Jones on Facebook or contact Jonathan Jones on LinkedIn/Twitter and we can work out availability.
Please do not feel you need to be the next Ronnie O’Sullivan to play on the table, all I ask is that people respect the table and the venue. Richard and Steve have been incredibly generous to allow me to use the Academy.
Don’t worry if you don’t own a cue, I can provide a spare. I have also been fortunate enough to have been sent James’ cue from America by Sonya Parker.
I really hope you can come and join me and spur me on! It will be great to share memories of James and raise money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer… plus you never know Steve Davis and Joe Perry may come along to say hi!
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read my story and I will hopefully see you on the 11th June.
My donations could fund...
155 hours with a nurse on our Support Line
or
69 hours of early diagnosis research
My Achievements
Reached 100% of goal
Reached 50% of goal
Shared page
Self donated
Distance Travelled
Reached distance goal
My Updates
Completed update
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to update you on how the event went at the weekend.
I have tried to keep the pictures in order of when they were taken, you can probably tell by my eyes too!
We managed to set-up the room on Friday with the banners and balloons given to us by PCUK. We then had the local press photographer arrive on Saturday to take a photo of the team just before we started and then guests started arriving from noon until 10pm!
The first half of the day flew by and it was great to catch up with family and old friends, between shots, to share memories of James. We all tried to attempt a “Parker Double” which is when you hit a ball against the cushion and it drops in the opposite pocket! Sadly, it took me until 11am on the Sunday to achieve my first one! A good friend Ian Cook had helped me make a playlist of James’ favourite songs which helped keep the mood upbeat.
It was fantastic to see James Parker’s Mum and Dad and my parents arrive at 4pm. It really hit home the reason we were all there and I found it quite emotional. We had a video montage of James playing which was also great to look at between shots for inspiration.
At 5pm we had a USA video call with James’ wife and family which was a really good boost! We shared the picture on the big screen so everyone could say Hi, and luckily they managed to see me pot a few balls!
The 2nd half of the event was a lot tougher and we tried to keep upbeat by having music on in the background and strong coffee! 3-6am was definitely the hardest part and looking at the clock was a big mistake. Luckily, my friend Graham Harper was brilliant at giving me some tough frames which helped focus the mind and move time forward!
By 6.30am my next guests arrived and one of them, Julian Cook, brought me a McDonalds breakfast which really hit the spot! More good friends arrived in the morning, and at 10am a future world champion Jack, aged 11, came and played like a superstar!
At 11am, James’ sister Victoria came along with her family, husband Lucas and son Oscar, along with James’ parents which was a real boost and great way to end the event. Emotions were again running high but it really was a tonic to make it all worthwhile.
Before we played the final frame, the owner of the venue Richard Thorpe popped up to give me a frame….. As a qualified coaching professional and 147 break builder I knew it would be a struggle!! I managed to hold on until the final Brown ball before he potted the remaining colours, happy that I hadn’t disgraced myself!
As the 24hrs came to a close, my wife Mel surprised me with a pint of Guinness, which was James’ favourite drink, in the tankard he bought me for being his best man in 2004. It was incredibly emotional and we all raised a glass to the sky in James’ memory.
All in all the event went brilliantly and I couldn’t let it pass without giving some mentions.
Huge thanks to the following people,
Pancreatic Cancer UK for all their support with merchandise and guidance.
Richard Thorpe for allowing me to use the amazing venue, nothing would have happened if you hadn’t allowed us to be there.
Ian Cook for donating the cue which sold for £321!!
Cousin Kate, Mandy, Kaylee and James for amazing support, dietary advice, refereeing, playing, entertaining guests and keeping me upbeat!
Graham Harper for being there for the full 24 hours! And for keeping me going through the graveyard shift, helping with refereeing and generally being a great mate.
Lastly, my dear wife Mel, whom without her help the whole event wouldn’t have gotten off the ground. From my initial concept, she has helped arrange the fundraise page, arranged the room, sorted out the running order, organised drinks and food and made the whole day run like clockwork. I cannot thank you enough for everything and I love you very much xx.
We managed to raise £600 in donations during the event which is brilliant and has boosted the total to £3750!
We managed to complete 45 frames of snooker!
Unfortunately, my highest break was 35 which was a bit disappointing!
Lastly a HUGE thanks to everyone who has donated and supported the event, it really has overwhelmed me how much support we have received. I shouldn’t be surprised as James was so well loved by everyone and dearly missed. I really hope the contribution goes someway to help tackle this horrible disease.
All the best Jon xx
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WOW!
Hi, a quick mini-update.
Happy Birthday James
Hi everyone, just a quick update on the progress.Thank you to my Sponsors
£29
Ian
£13.52
Pauline Beever
Congratulations Jon and team Jones, fantastic result.
£52
Ellie And Dave
Well Done Jon
£104
Daren Blackburn - Mobile Mechanical Remedies
Well Done Jon!
£100
Neotech Spec
£104
Melanie Jones
I'm so super proud of you! James will be smiling down and laughing at your attempts of a "Parker double" ha ha. Everyone has been so supportive and we thank them for that. I love you xx xx
£600
Cash Donations At Event
I am overwhelmed by those that attended the event at the weekend and still donated more money. Another £600!!! Thanks to Steve Haylett, Ian Cook & Joshua, Mark Higby, Karl Day, Bob Jose, Eric Grange, Ian Ding, Viv & Rob Parker, Roger Jones, Steve Burgess, Peter Burgess, James Rhodes, Andy Gosling, Julian Cook, Graham Harper, Geoff Seymour, Kaylee Newland, Jim & Chris, Jamie Thurston, Justin Nunn. Thank you all so much xx xx
£52
Vivienne Parker
Congratulations Jon on team Jones and doing the Snooker Marathon, it was a fantastic day.
£20.80
Sarah Daggett
Well done Jon. Love the Daggetts
£60.32
Julian Cook
Well done John.
£50
Moya Gary & Alex White
Good luck , great idea.
£26
Paul Divall
£8.32
Rosina Stone
A friend of Graham Harpet
£10.40
Anonymous
Good luck Jon. Love from all the fitzjohns
£50
Richard Jones
Well done brother!! Amazing effort and cause!
£10
Sharon & Chris
Good luck
£10.40
Vicki Boulding
Good luck Jonathan - Vicki & Perry
£10.40
Sharon Thompson
Good Luck Jon . Your friend James would be very proud of you . Lovely thing to do 😊
£8.32
Margaret Suckling
£26
Alistair Jozefowicz
Good Luck John, we have had two friends{brothers) die of this terrible disease in recent tears.
£260
Vic, Lucas & Oscar
Amazing idea and a great way to raise money for such an important charity and honour James too in a way he would very much approve of 😊! Good luck for all those games!
£26
John Laing
my mum died of pancreatic cancer aged 46 so a very worthy cause
£104
Graham Harper
Well 'pled' Jon.
£10.40
Sue And Paul Garland
Amazing to support this worthy charity.
£104
Neil White
Good luck with your challenge Jon, very worth cause.
£60.32
Robert Philip Bartrum
Good luck Jon from all the team at Bartrums Road Services.
£15.60
Kevin Burgess
Good Luck 🤞
£10.40
Martyn Moon
£30
Dave Browning
£104
John Edwin Stanford
Good luck on the marathon
£52
Sarah Clifton
Good Luck Jon
£50
Fdl Packaging
Good luck Jon From everyone at FDL Packaging
£52
Callum Baker
Great cause, all the best Jon - From Callum and the team at Cambrian Packaging
£50
Jacob Froggett
Best of luck Jon from all of the team @ Clydebridge Chemicals
£10
Anonymous
£52
Gareth Molyneux
£20.80
Alison And Ian Ding
What a fantastic thing to do in James’s memory. Good luck!
£58
Martin (flag Paints)
I lost a very good friend (Paul Hughes) to Pancreatic Cancer last year. Wishing you the very best of luck in raising money and awareness.
£52
Mathew Stanfield - Gruppo Asa
All the best on this great challenge Jon from Gruppo ASA
£10.40
Mark Nicholls
Good Luck and a big well done
£26
Geoff Mackrill
Good Luck Jon Its a good cause
£20.80
Richard Specncer Lloyd
Best of luck Jon and make sure you get some rest before hand and afterwards. Great effort for great cause and sorry you lost your friend through these tragic circumstances
£10.40
Dean Tatum Tatum
Good luck Jon
£52
Lisa Nunn
Good luck & best wishes Jon (and Mel) what a wonderful thing to do!!!
£333.84
Melanie Jones
A massive thank you to Ian Cook for donating a professional snooker cue to sell, and all proceeds to go to the charity...amazing!!! Sold for £321!!
£20.80
Cheryl And Art Bottolfson
Hi Jon It’s so great you are doing this in memory of James! I am sure James will be watching with great amusement!
£156
Jane And Roger
Hope you raise lots of money for such a worthy charity love Mum and Dad xx
£83.20
Sonya Parker
Hi Jon. This just great and amazing!!! I hank you for doing this and I’m sure James will be watching with pint in hand. Giving you advice or laughing lol which we know he was good at both. All of my Love Sonya Parker
£84
Peter Bird
Well done Jon.Sums up the bloke you are. A fantastic tribute for a great mate sorely missed Peter
£10.40
Stuary Warren
JP was a top top bloke didn’t play much Snooker with him but played loads of golf with him when we were younger loved his John Daly esq golf swing, I was also there that night he played Joe Perry
£5.20
Bethany Cook
❤️
£104
Robert Parker
Excellent project, see you for competition on the day!
£20.80
Kaylee
❤️❤️❤️
£10.40
Alice Hutchings
Good luck Jon, such a fantastic thing to do for such a worthy cause xx
£15.60
Brian Walter Spilman
James was a super boy greatly missed by of course you and his Mum Dad and sister. Brian
£52
Sue & George Prevett
Good luck Jon. This is a cause close to our hearts as our fathers (Melanie’s grandfathers) both died from this disease. Thank you for you efforts! Sue & George xx
£104
Vivienne Parker
Best wishes for the day Jon.
£52
Cameron Jones
I hope to see a 147! Shame I can't play with you but best of luck with it. Really admire what you're doing. Cam x
£50
Brady Jones
£104
Harley Coulson
Great idea Jon, fantastic thing you are doing here in James’s memory. Due to work I’m away and can’t play. But for sure will grab a game of snooker another time.
£40
Tracey, Kim & Rylie Graham
This is a great thing you are doing! We think about James aka Unc Monk often. We miss him dearly!
£10.40
Stuart Roberts
Good luck Jonathan - reminds me of a 24 hour pool marathon so stock up on red bull 😊 great cause and wishing you all the best.
£8.32
Chelsey Scott
So perfect to honor James! I hope you raise a lot and have fun sharing his memories!
£50
Ian Cook
Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
£147
Hi Johnny, Dad forwarded this. Nice gesture in memory of James. Best wishes, Ian Perkins.