THE CHALLENGE:

As I am turning the BIG 40 this year, for 40 weeks from the 4 January until the 11 October not A single drop of alcohol will pass this Mama’s lips, and trust me as my friends who came up with the challenge quite rightly said “this is the toughest thing you could personally do” and they are not wrong. I never went that long even when I was pregnant….I still treated myself to the odd glass of red savouring it for 3 hours at a time, so to do this when I’m not is simply utter madness!! I have thrown myself out of planes & off bungee jump cliffs for fun and so for me personally this is THE biggest challenge of my life.

The reason I am going to find this SO hard is because:

My name is Lisa Garner-Morgan, and I love to drink.

I love to drink at:  the end of a very long day working from home with the kids, watching the footie, on the balcony in Puerto Banus after a day in the sun, with friends round the kitchen table, with family reminiscing, in a bar with work mates for “just the one”, and  BIG nights out “on the lash”.

My very fav drink is wine…. I’m talking loving the feel of drinking a very nice glass of Shiraz or Sauvignon Blanc enjoying the flavour & looking forward to the second glass. In fact my favourite time to have a drink is at the end of a madly busy day & pouring a glass whilst I cook the dinner, it makes me instantly relax….I don’t need the bottle just the one, maybe two and I’m happy.

That feeling is what I will miss the most and find the hardest about this challenge……..

SO…….why am I doing this?!

Two reasons:

Nicholas George Glyn Garner & Danny Grimes. Both affected by conditions of the brain and who both mean the absolute world to me.

DAD - Click here to read more: http://www.justgiving.com/boozefreefor40weeks

DANNY

February 2002:   My best friend Ing gave birth to Danny, the first bambino in our lives and ‘made up’ is an understatement about how happy I was for her & husband Mike.

The article attached tells the story of Danny better than I ever could, so it is just left for me to say that as Sturge Weber is a relatively unknown condition and as a very proud Auntie Lise I am determined not only to try & raise money to help this amazing charity but also to raise awareness of the condition and how it affects the people who have it.

Danny has surpassed expectations of what was diagnosed in his first few months of life and this is down to a combination of his amazingly strong parents, wonderful doctors, the support of the charity, love of their friends and mostly, Determined Danny himself…every day he astounds me and I love him to the moon and back.

I imagine Danny will be amazed if I manage this challenge as the first question he usually asks me when I see him or he texts me is “is it wine o’clock yet Auntie Lise?”…the boy knows me well! For the joy he brings into my life and everyone and around him, and to show him in my own way that I to believe we can all do anything we put our mind to, as he has shown me, for him, I will do it.

DONATING

If you think that what I am undertaking worthy of a lil drink or two you can click on the following link & sponsor me. With Just Giving you can do one off donations OR as this is over a long period of time & I may crumble before the time is up (though I will try with every ounce in my body not to), you can set up a direct debit to pay monthly and to make it a tad more interesting I was thinking of ideas for donations of the following:

Pint of Strongbow £3

Glass of Shiraz: £5

Box of Soave £12.50

Bottle of Sailor Jerry’s £20

And if you are feeling REALLY generous a bottle of Veuve Cliquot £35

Don’t forget to add Gift aid as the government will add on a further 28% to the donation…HAPPY DAYS!!!

 Both Dad & Danny have taught me in their own ways that nothing is more important in life than the health & happiness of your loved ones, not a bigger house, nicer car, more holidays….nothing.

And so for any amount you can donate & the encouragement that this will bring me knowing you understand how hard I am going to find this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.