Hi there folks, Here's the deal:

I have a young son Ruairi who has down's syndrome and also work with people with learning disabilities at an arts centre called The Gate. The guys at The Gate are keen fundraisers and have over the last few years raised thousands of pounds for various charities. This year they have kindly agreed to make their chosen charity Small Steps, a charity who does great work with Ruairi and other children with developmental difficulties. I've decided to start the ball rolling and put my money where my LD advocating mouth is by getting a sponsored tattoo of Ruairi (and his younger brother). The tattoo has been designed by Mary (see above), one of the attendees of the Gate who herself has a learning disability and will cover most of my lower back (edit: Became upper when I realised how big the design was). Please dig deep as i shall be explaining this for the rest of my life and so really want to make it a worthwhile endevour. I expect to be getting the tattoo done around the end of July to allow time for the pennies to come rolling in.

Many thanks in advance from all of us here,

Arlo & the guys at the Gate.

Tattoo done 26th July 2012 - Thanks to all those who donated so far and please consider this page permanantly open to further donations and many thanks to Forevermore Tattooist's on Shepherds Bush Green who ended up doing the tattoo for nothing.