Story
- Hi,
In less than two weeks I will attempt to run all the way from Newcastle City Centre to the seaside. The so called 'Great' North Run. Well it is in the north at least. Anyway it's 21 and a bit kilometres and has some nasty uphill bits towards the end. 52,000 people are doing it and to be honest I don't expect to win.
However, given that I won't win, maybe I could raise a bit of money for a charity that has supported me and my family over the last three and a bit years, CLAPA.
My son Keir was born with a partial cleft of the palate.
A cleft palate occurs when the roof of the mouth has not joined completely. The back of the palate (towards the throat) is called the soft palate and the front (towards the mouth) is known as the hard palate. If you feel the inside of your mouth with your tonge, you will be able to notice the difference between the soft and the hard palate. A cleft palate can range from just an opening at the back of the soft palate to a nearly complete separation of the roof of the mouth (soft and hard palate). Keir had a cleft of the soft palate.
Keir was lucky. Children who have a full cleft will have to have a serious of operations up until their teens as they have bone grafts and so on to reconstuct their jaw.
This leads to difficulties feeding, breathing, learning to speak, hearing and so on. After his birth CLAPA's help and advice was invaluable in understanding the condition and what we could do to help Keir feed, speak and so on. The reassurance this provides is fantastic.
For full details check out the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleft_lip_and_palate
This leads to difficulties feeding, breathing, learning to speak, hearing and so on. After his birth CLAPA's help and advice was invaluable in understanding the condition and what we could do to help Keir feed, speak and so on. The reassurance this provides is fantastic.
Additionaly they have been superb in fostering a sense of community amongst parents of cleft children. They have both summer and winter parties at the hospital where Keir had his reconstructive surgery and are active in contacting parents are helping spread information.
The clapa website can be found on: http://www.clapa.com/
I am sure most people who read this will be familiar with JustGiving, if not here is their speil:
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.
I picked a purely arbritrary target of £500. Given that there is a week to this may be optimistic. Prove me wrong folks!
ps, how hard is the great north run? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/4257630.stm