Lauren was 10 days old and fast asleep when the audiologist took a drum and banged it as hard as he could next to her. She did not flinch and it was then that it was confirmed that Lauren was born profoundly deaf. That is a moment that my wife Jacqui and I will never forget. We were just trying to get used to having a newborn baby when we were told this shattering news, and a real sense of shock, fear,and bewilderment descended over us. Whilst we reminded ourselves that there are other people out there with far worse situations to cope with, we could not help but be devastated by this news.
That said, Jacqui and I are not the kind of people who sit on our backsides and wait for the world to come to us. Once over the initial shock we were determined to ensure Lauren has every opportunity in life despite her disability. We were introduced to a superb centre for deaf and hard of hearing children where we could get the expert assistance that Lauren and we needed.
Auditory Verbal UK is a national charity which teaches deaf babies and children to listen
and speak using Auditory Verbal Therapy, so that they can achieve their
potential in life. Run by an incredible team of experts in this field, they offer tailor-made therapy for each child and family depending on their needs. Lauren's first appointment was when she was just 10 weeks old and she had fortnightly sessions until the age of 3 when she 'graduated from the centre. Jacqui and I beleive that Lauren's incredible progress has a lot to do with attending the AV sessions. More information about AVUK can be found at www.avuk.org
My wife and I are grateful for everything this charity has provided both in terms of their professional and emotional support and we want to give them something back. This brings me neatly onto my charity challenge - the Ramshackle Rally!
For those that know me, I am a self confessed car-nut! If it has four wheels, some seats, runs on petrol then the chances are I will know something about it. So I thought why not combine my passion with raising some money for charity. Before you think I will simply be driving from A to B in a comfortable motorway cruiser, the Ramshackle Rally challenge is to drive from London to Valencia, Spain (2000km) in a car that costs no more than £150 (must be MOT'd and taxed). In this Top Gear'esque challenge my co-drivers are two long-time buddies and car enthusiasts Ashley 'funny boy, funny feet' Winston and Lee 'I can fly a stunt kite' Berridge. We pride ourselves on being a team with huge enthusiasm but very little competence...our wives all raised their eyebrows then groaned when we told them what we are doing! (www.ramshacklerally.com)
We sourced a Peugeot 405 estate that has done quite a few miles on ebay (nearly 200,000) and when we told the seller what we were doing, he VERY kindly gave the car to us gratis as his contribution to the challenge. Mark, thank you once again.
We set of on August 20th for 4 days of driving, breaking down, criss-crossing through France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain until we reach Valencia. The objective is to help other cars on the rally if they break down and vise versa and we will be set a number of challenges along the way...should be a lot of fun, I just hope that our european breakdown cover is comprehensive! We will be keeping a blog of our progress and of course the more money we can ran raise for AVUK the better!
Please donate as much or as little as you can, it all adds up. If any other families out there benefit half as much from this incredible charity as we have then that would be a wonderful thing.
Thanks very much for reading.
David
Raised:
130%
Raised so far: £2,615.00
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Donation by Gary Teper on 21/09/10 |
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Well done David!! All going to a great cause!! Best regards Jeremy Gorman Donation by Jeremy Gorman on 09/09/10 |
£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid |
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Well done Ash for your efforts, best wishes Donation by Abdul Hafeez on 09/09/10 |
£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid |
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Well done, guys. Great effort. Looking forward to seeing photos of the Ghostbusters car in front of the Colosseum. Love Gary, Gemma & Brady. Donation by Gary Hirsch on 02/09/10 |
£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid |
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Well done Bro. Ashley. "That not being detrimental....". I should say. True brotherly love. Well done mate. Fondest love to Lauren. Sim Donation by Simeon Osen on 02/09/10 |
£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid |
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Donation by Aarti Ramu on 31/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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Well done Guys! It's great to hear you had a fantastic time whilst raising money for such good causes! Donation by Del & Jacqui on 29/08/10 |
£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid |
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Well done Ghostbusters! Hope you had a great time raising oodles of cash! Donation by Ben Walsh on 26/08/10 |
£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid |
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Dear Ashley and Team Well Done for a tremendous effort ! Sherry & Lindsay Singapore Donation by Avtar Bilan on 24/08/10 |
£100.00 |
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Need some cash for a great cause.....who you gonna call? Well done ! Donation by Joanna Russell on 24/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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grandpa & I are so proud of your efforts and so proud of our darling Lauren and so very grateful to the staff at St Christophers Place for helping. Donation by Ruth Hilton Press& Victor on 23/08/10 |
£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid |
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Go get them Spanish ghosts! Dave & Alison Donation by David Taylor on 20/08/10 |
£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid |
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David, the very best of luck, enjoy the ride! from all the Co Sec team at Semperian. Donation by Kim Clear on 20/08/10 |
£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid |
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Good luck, just remember, never cross the streams, it would be bad. Donation by Jonathan & Samantha on 20/08/10 |
£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid |
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Good luck! Donation by Christine Baker on 19/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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Donation by James Davies on 19/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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Good luck David. Don't get slimed. Donation by Mike Vaux on 19/08/10 |
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Good luck David - I'm looking forward to hearing your stories. Donation by Chris Taylor on 19/08/10 |
£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid |
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Good luck ! Donation by nick malcomson on 19/08/10 |
£100.00 |
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Good Luck, I hope you picked the right car :-) Donation by Duncan Mitchell on 18/08/10 |
£100.00 |
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Good Luck and enjoy! Donation by Gerry Monaghan on 18/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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David - who ya gonna call? (The AA, very probably) Wishing you the very best of luck! Donation by rachel Tucker on 18/08/10 |
£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid |
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Donation by William Hardman on 18/08/10 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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Ash, it's not a V8 so be careful, have fun and try not to get into trouble. Donation by Bud Cuchet on 18/08/10 |
£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid |
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good luck - great charity Donation by Jillian Crowcroft on 18/08/10 |
£10.00 |
| * Total raised online: | £2,615.00 |
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| Offline donations: | £0.00 |
| Mobile donations: | £0.00 |
| Total Raised: | £2,615.00 |
| Gift Aid plus supplement: | £568.33 |
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