WE DID IT! Stay tuned for videos and pictures of our adventure. It was an amazing experience. Thank yo all so much for your donations! Its still not too late!
I cannot thank you enough for your generosity and support! We had an amazing and eye opening 24 hours. Dressed as giant babies in a team name entitled, "The Babez", we set off from School. On board the easyJet flight from Gatwick to Gothenburg, we raised £103 pounds. I was lucky enough to go to the front of the plane, still in my costume and make an appeal and tell the other passengers what we were doing.
We experienced generosity and kindness at its highest level once we had arrived. As we were boarding the bus from the airport to the city, the bus driver told us he did not accept cash. Not one of us had a credit card with us. Out of the blue a man walked down the bus isle and told the driver he'd pay for us. This anonymous man spent 80 Kronor (£46) on us and refused our money and numerous thank you attempts. At the end of the journey he got off and we never saw him again. Our adventure continued as we left Gothenburg and sped towards Oslo on our 4 hour train journey which took us through breathtaking scenery. The further we got out of Gothenburg, the more snow, rock faces and frozen lakes appeared.
Oslo was definitely the most interesting, terrifying, fun, stressful......part of our experience. We arrived at 9:45 PM. Getting off the train we met a Swedish group of people in their mid 50s and 60s who wished us good luck, donated some money and said "good luck in Oslo, people here are crazy". She was right. We met some extremely friendly people in Oslo. We also met some terrifying people. I have never seen so many homeless people in my life. Where ever we went, people were sleeping. Little did we know we'd end up like them by the end of the night. We walked round in the freezing cold, visiting as many places of interest as we could in the time we had. At about half past midnight we decided to call it a night and spend our final 200 Norwegian Kronor on some food. That bought us a few bags of chips from Mcdonalds and some onion rings. £22 pounds.
At about 2am we were asked to leave due to the fact we were all falling asleep. We walked past the main Cathedral and asked if we could sleep in there with the homeless. In the end, after being kicked out of the train station, we found our way to the bus station and tried to get some sleep. At 4am our bus finally came to take us to the Airport. It was heaven. Warm, comfortable and just long enough to shut out eyes.
Leaving Oslo was amazing. I stayed up as the others slept on the floor of the terminal and watched the sunrise. (I'll post the video soon). At long last we were called to board and we all walked out, like zombies, with our eyes drooping, across the tarmac to the stairs of the plane. We flew over a frozen country which we had had the ultimate homeless experience in. It was magnificent, shining in the early morning sun.
The pilot of our plane nearly killed us coming into land. He must have thought we wanted to experience zero gravity with the way he flew. We were met at Stansted airport at 8.10 am. With no time to lose, we piled into the car and sped towards home. We arrived back at school just in time for breakfast. In exactly 24 hours and 19 minutes we had traveled 1,702 miles without spending any of our own money.
All this is to raise money for the Child Brain Injury Trust who supported Tom Brenchley and his family during his accident and after his tragic death. This charity is very close to us and we hope to raise lots of money which could save lives.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
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