THANK YOU!

Well.... we did it, well I did it but the support you all gave me helped....massively!!!! It was cold, it was windy, it was choppy and it was actually a great deal of fun. I drank my own body weight of the Lake, all I can say is that it is just as well that it rained so hard leading up to the event or there would be precious little of Windermere left for the tourists to enjoy!!!

It was hard work too but I really mean it when I said that you all helped me, you and especially those two incredible boys of mine, that I thought of constantly during the 2 and half hours that it took....ooo and did I mention that I came 20th for my age and gender over the whole 3 days (it may well be that there were only 20 female 51 year olds swimming but if you ever find that our for a fact...please don't tell me!)

Kevin and I also wanted to say thank you to everyone of you that has given so generously to us, it has really helped to get us on the right track to getting the car that we need and for enabling us to continue to support Action Duchenne. Please for those of you that we don't see enough, come and see us soon and for those of you that we hardly know, your generosity has especially blown us away.

I am swimming ... wait for it .... 3 MILES in The Great North Swim in Lake Windermere in the 9th June!!! Why do such madness, as you all know I am not made to exercise, it is Kevin that runs marathons and cycles LEJOG! Well, for those of you who don't know, our son Kiran is 11 years old. When he was 3 he was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare degenerative muscle wasting disease. Kiran is a strong person, kind, caring and always eager to throw himself into life. He lives each day in pain and sometimes this gets him down. He can become very frustrated because he can't do what he sees his younger brother and friends doing so easily but he does not give up and has such a strong sense of humour. We are very proud of him and all of his achievements. As he grows older he is starting to need more help to get around and keep independent, this includes a motorised wheelchair, so we need to change our car to accommodate this. We may get help from Motability but need to raise about £5000.

We need to ask for your help again now. We know it's hard to keep giving and we know that all of you already give so much to the important charities in your lives so please don't feel pressured. If you can and would like to, we are of course incredibly grateful but we want you to know that we are very aware of all of the things that you do for us and how much, as our family and friends, you enrich our lives and importantly, Kiran's too. Thank you!

We have been involved with Action Duchenne, a parent led charity since Kiran's diagnosis and have been helped by themes much, we cannot thank them enough. The charity tirelessly works to raise money for research for a cure, to raise awareness and improve the quality of life for those boys and men living with Duchenne. From the money we raise we will also make a donation to Action Duchenne to help them to continue this work. If by any chance we manage to raise more than we need for this then we will ensure that any additional money will be spent in ways that enrich Kiran's life and enable him to maintain his independence.