Hello all

Firstly, let me tell you about Sophie's challenge. She has asked me if she can raise some money for Jacob by doing a bike ride. Not just a 10 mile bike ride, but a 30 mile bike ride!!!! She is going to cycle the WHOLE Cuckoo Trail, from Eastbourne to Heathfield and home again all to raise some much needed funds for a little boy called Jacob. Let me tell you a bit about Jacob:

Jacob is a gorgeous 7 year old boy who is full of smiles, but when he was a tiny baby he had a serious accident. He now has a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, scoliosis, epilepsy and breaths through a tracheostomy. He lives with his forever Mummy and Daddy, but his house needs a lot of adapting. Some of the work required includes an accessible bathroom on the ground floor, a specialist ceiling track hoist and ramp access at both the front and back of the house. The hoist alone costs £19,000 and a quote for the building work (widening doors, removing and rebuilding walls instillation of the bathroom etc) is £89,000. They have a grant for £40,000 but this is only in place until March 2019. (Jacob has his own just giving page at “A Space 4 Jakey and a charity number)

I'm sure you will agree that 30 miles in an incredible distance for a 7 year old to cycle and I am very proud of Sophie for wanting to do this and raise money for this amazing boy. If you can spare a few pennies I know Sophie would be super excited to make her target and I know how grateful Jacob and his family would be. We are planning to do this over half term but haven’t set a date as we all know what the English weather can be like! I will keep everyone updated on the day as to how she is doing, Sophie’s only concern was that she would like a few snacks on the way!

To help raise money, Jacob has made some very colourful 2019 calendars (£10) and packs of greeting cards (£5) using an ‘eye gaze’. You can see them on Jacobs facebook page ‘A Space 4 Jacob’. If anyone would like one, I would be more than happy to deliver them.