Free Dear Coca-Cola by Terry Ravenscroft

London Marathon, made love four times and dug a dog’s grave.
    This stuff should be on prescription and I urge you to consider adding it to your range. It would be criminal not to.
    Finally, I am looking for sponsors for when I take part in the London Marathon. All monies donated will go to good causes. Possibly towards a stone for Sharon of the Gold Blend ads if she hasn’t already got one. Can I put you down for say, a hundred pounds?
    Yours sincerely
    T Ravenscroft (Mr)
     
    ****
    Nestle
    Mr T Ravenscroft
    17 Lingland Road
    New Mills
    CHESHIRE
     
    001874797C 12 April
     
    Dear Mr Ravenscroft
     
    Thank you for your recent enquiry.
     
    As I am sure you will appreciate, we receive many requests every year for financial or product donations. We were able to support over 20% of the fifteen thousand requests last year and the total donated was £1,000,000. Although we would like to help everyone it is obviously not possible to do so.
     
    We have considered your request for sponsorship very carefully but we are advised by our colleagues in Marketing that we are currently not able to support this idea.
     
    The aim of the Nestle Trust is to invest in partnerships and programmes which support the Nutrition, Health and Wellness of young people and which really make a positive difference to their lives. We tend to focus on local good causes which are well managed and relevant to the company and where support will create goodwill with the community generally.
     
    The key area for support is young people (specifically teenagers 11-18 year olds) in the following areas: Out of school childcare generally and specifically 4Children and Make Space, Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Sport, Education (but not areas which are Local Education Authority responsibility), Community Development.
     
    Because of the number of requests we receive, we focus our support on charities or good causes which are local to our factories and depots, and, where appropriate, make a donation direct.
     
    Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us and for giving us the opportunity to explain our position. I wish you every success in your fund-raising efforts.
     
    Yours sincerely
     
    Melanie Durkin
    Consumer Relations Officer
    Consumer Services.
     
    ****
     
    17 Lingland Road
    New Mills
    CHESHIRE
     
    24 th April
     
    Melanie Durkin
    Customer Relations Officer
    Nestle
    York
    Dear Mel
    Last Sunday, fuelled by Nescafe 1000% extra caffeine as recommended by your good self, I ran in the London Marathon. Sadly you didn’t feel able to sponsor me for this event, but I don’t hold this against you, in fact quite the opposite, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the words ‘Nescafe Made This Possible’ emblazoned on my running singlet. Did you perhaps get a glimpse of me? I was running just behind Rod Hull and Emu for a couple of miles (I wasn’t chancing running in front of him after what he did to Michael Parkinson!). I am told by friends that I was briefly on television three times, which is excellent publicity for Nescafe I am sure.
    It was my hope of course to complete the course, but sadly this proved to be a little too much for me. However I covered twelve and a half miles before I collapsed, which is almost halfway, and raised £433. In fact I am fairly sure the TV cameras were on me when I lost consciousness. I am absolutely sure they were on me when a St John’s Ambulance man revived me at the side of the road because the cameraman asked him to move to one side so he could get a good shot of me. You will be happy to know that even though I was still quite groggy I had the presence of mind to point at the ‘Nescafe Made This Possible’ motto on my singlet.
    In view of this would you like to reconsider your decision not to sponsor me?
    Yours sincerely
    T Ravenscroft (Mr)
    ****
    Nestle
    Mr T Ravenscroft
    17 Lingland Road
    New Mills
    CHESHIRE
     
    001874970 1 May
     
    Dear Mr Ravenscroft
     
    Thank you for your recent