Story
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. As most of you know, I'm more likely to be found donning lycra astride my trusty road bike (or talking about it!) than in my running shoes. But I've decided to run the 2012 Virgin London Marathon to raise money for <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scoo-B-Doo, the charity that buys specialist equipment for Gloucester Neonatal Unit. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; background: white;"><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In December 2010, my partner Catrin had swine flu and our daughter Eve arrived nearly two months early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eve was whisked away in an incubator and spent the few weeks of her life <span style="color: #1c1c1c;">at Gloucester then Cheltenham Neonatal Units (now all based in Gloucester) before growing big and strong enough to come home. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s very hard to describe the mix of emotions you experience as new parents of a premature baby - the joy, the worry, but mostly the disbelief. It’s not quite how you picture the arrival of your first born... leaving the hospital on your own... a week going by before we could have our first cuddle... by the time Eve came home from hospital, my paternity leave had long finished.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; background: white;"><span style="line-height: 140%; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We are eternally grateful to the staff at the Neonatal Unit for the amazing care and support Eve and ourselves received. We now have a happy, noisy one year old and find it hard to believe just how tiny and fragile she was. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; background: white;"><span style="line-height: 140%; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We are also aware of how fortunate we have been. There was a cot for Eve on our local Neonatal Unit (we met parents who were over a hundred miles from home), and she had a straightforward, relatively short stay on the unit. Sadly, we know others who have not been so fortunate. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; background: white;"><span style="line-height: 140%; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Scoo-B-Doo is the charity that raises money to buy specialist equipment for Gloucester Neonatal Unit. With monitors costing over £3000, incubators costing over £15,000 and ventilators costing over £20,000, the money raised by Scoo-B-Doo really does make a difference, and helps give premature babies the best chance to survive and grow strong. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; background: white;"><span style="line-height: 140%; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In April 2012 I will be running the Virgin London Marathon. I hope to raise some money for Scoo-B-Doo so that babies like Eve can continue to receive the best care possible.</span><span style="line-height: 140%; font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I would be delighted if you could help me raise money for this great cause.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Thanks for your support,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 140%; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Vaughan</span></p>
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