Guy 

 

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UPDATE 29th November 2010 - 1 week to go!!

 

Just 1 week to go and I’m still on target to achieve the challenge.  Despite a couple of setbacks, I’ve got 7 days left to complete another 20 miles on foot, 4 miles swimming and 35 miles cycling – it’s going to be a gruelling week but it’s achievable and I’ll get there.

 

Please, please, please sponsor me if you can - seeing the sponsorship money come in will help me through this final hard week and you will be donating to an extremely worthwhile cause.

 

Thanks you so much to all of those who have sponsored me already and in advance to those who are just about to !!  Don't forget to tick the Gift Aid box.............

 

I hope to update you all in a week having successfully completed the challenge and having raised a lovely Christmas donation for The Elizabeth Foundation.

 

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UPDATE 27th October 2010 - Halfway (kind of.....!!)  6 weeks down and 6 weeks to go and so far I've completed 26 miles (of 76) on foot, 7.5 miles (of 22) swimming and 40 miles (of 170) cycling.  So halfway in time but only about a third distance wise...... will be turning up the pace to meet the challenge.

Please donate if at all possible to help me meet my target and don't forget to tick the gift aid box.....

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  Following last year’s Aspire Channel swim challenge I thought it was about time to put another challenge in place……. but who to raise money for this year??

 

The answer to that came when I was out with a good friend and colleague of mine.  While supping a few ales I got chatting to his friend Christian who told me how he and his wife Helen had recently been informed that their young daughter Isabelle is deaf.  Isabelle, born in May this year, had contracted Cytomegalovirus (CMV) whilst still in the womb and is one of the 10% of babies born with CMV that go on to suffer hearing loss.

As many of you will know, our family have lived through a similar experience when my younger brother Saul was diagnosed as profoundly deaf, also at an early age, though in his case this was not due to CMV.  Saul, now 23, has learned to live with this ‘invisible disability’ amazingly and it is safe to say that he copes equally well in the deaf and hearing communities.  Having completed a degree at Sheffield Hallam University Saul went around the world for 6 months with 3 of his deaf friends, taking in various countries through South America before heading off to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.  He has now qualified as a Personal Trainer and has both hearing and deaf clients as well as taking on a new full time job as a residential carer in London.

Chris and I chatted for some time about Saul’s experiences and also some of the challenges, and joyous moments, that we as a family all went through and that he, Helen and Isabelle have yet to come.  During this conversation the Elizabeth Foundation was mentioned as a possibility for Isabelle; we know this wonderful facility in Portsmouth as Saul attended when he was very young and this is where the  foundations for his future were laid - in fact at one point Saul’s picture was used for a lot of their posters, leaflets etc.

The Elizabeth Foundation was set up in 1981 after the founder’s daughter Elizabeth was diagnosed as deaf.  Using techniques learnt from the John Tracy Clinic in California, (a facility we were also lucky enough to visit thanks to local support), the Elizabeth Foundation provides support and encouragement to pre-school deaf children and their families.  They believe that every deaf child should be given the opportunity to learn to listen and talk, and they help families explore the best techniques available for their child.  Please see their website at www.elizabeth-foundation.org to learn a little more about the fabulous work that they do.

So this autumn I’m hoping to do my little bit to say thank you for everything the Elizabeth Foundation did for Saul, and to raise some money so that they can give Isabelle, and other deaf children, the best possible start in life.

Having swam 22 miles last year I thought I’d better push myself a little further so over the next 12 weeks, (13^th September to 5^th December), I am going to complete the equivalent of a London to Paris triathlon.  I will be covering the 76 miles that is the equivalent of London to Dover on foot, swimming the 22 miles that would be required to cross the Channel, and cycling the 170 miles that is Calais to Paris.  I’ll be doing something pretty much everyday for the next 3 months around work and other commitments so please, please, please dig deep and give anything you can.  

 

 

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.