Story
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Dear family, colleagues, friends (and friends of friends!) </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Who is this cheeky Madam?!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Well, this is my youngest daughter, the lovely </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Florence</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">, who was born nearly 2 years ago with Down’s Syndrome, a condition that affects one in 700 babies born in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">UK</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. This was initially a great shock, as we didn’t know what this meant for us or her. Our little girl was going to need lots of help and support and we were too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We soon found out about Rutland House School for Parents, a small charity in Nottingham that offers early intervention support to help children with Down’s Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy. From six months old Florence has received weekly help with her communication and mobility skills. She is beginning to use Makaton signing and is learning how to feed herself. Her confidence and development have come on leaps and bounds. We are learning too and get support from staff and other parents who, just like us, were feeling isolated and worried for the future. School for Parents needs £200,000 per year and relies wholly on voluntary donations for funding. This where you come in...</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Myself, Luke (dad to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Florence</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">), my friend Charlie and Melinda (a Conductor at RHSFP) have risen to the challenge of pedalling 142 bumpy, bone-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">aching miles over 3 long days, from Workington to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Sunderland</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> for the Coast to Coast Bike Ride starting on </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">5 May 2012. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Please will you give what you can to support this amazing charity? A £10 donation will help to buy a book, or a feeding cup, or a chewy bar to learn how to bite or bubbles to help the child form the right mouth shape to help speech. Your donation goes straight to work at School for Parents. If you tick the Gift Aid box they receive a further 25% too!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Thank you, we’ll keep you updated on our progress!</span></div>
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<div>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div>So please dig deep and donate now.</div>
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