Wet leaves, dark roads and a poorly leg

If you don't already know, we have had to stop in our tracks.

It had been raining nonstop for hours, there were piles of wet leaves everywhere and we were walking through flash floods on roads in lanes. Have I set the scene? It's was horrible! 

But first let me start at the beginning..

The Send Off Event was fantastic! We had loads of help from The Fab Club volunteers, our families and my friends. The raffle was a huge success. All the prizes went down well. My favourite win was two of my clients who are married. Husband's ticket was called for (one of my favs) a signed book by Freya North. His wife exclaimed that Freya was her favourite and husband gave it to her with a big kiss! She was so happy :) 

Peppa Pig (who was donated by Chew Valley Inflatables) was a HUGE hit with children and adults alike. I must admit, I had my fair share of cuddles with her ;) 

Now over to the food.. The soup was like liquid gold. I have never enjoyed a soup more, together with a dunked bagel, pure heaven! A huge thank you to Eat 5 Star for the soup and The Whole Bagel.

Emma from Velvet Teas was a huge help with her beautiful cake stall. I indulged in a lavender biscuit or two.  

A huge thank you to our sponsor Keylime Design Ltd of Bath, who donated the money for our insurance for the event and walk.

So we set off in the sunshine with high spirits. Off out to the top of Bath and beyond. The rain was on and off but we still had huge smiles on our faces. We were talking, singing and laughing as we walked along. We even took some pics along our travels.  

As the hours passed, the rain was getting heavy and just wasn't stopping for a minute. Our clothing held out well and we were mainly dry and warm. Feet were starting to hurt but we were expecting this, so we were trying to get as far as possible before it got dark.

The darkness settled around us and we donned our stylish (!!) head torches. We did a lot of walking down to Wells on the winding road through flash floods. At this point we were both finding it so hard. It was sometimes quite scary with cars coming quite close and fast! We trudged on until Steve took a tumble and fell hard down on his knee. With a huge gash in his new trousers and some blood, Steve tried walking on. 

There was too much pain. Steve is normally very good with pain (he slipped a disk just before we got married!!) so when he was saying how much pain he was in, I knew we had to get it checked. We popped into a small hospital who cleaned Steve up. They told us we were a long way from home and were surprised when we told them we had walked there.  Whilst Steve was being seen, the receptionist came over with a £10 donation! Alas, the crutches came out and we were told an ex-ray was needed. 

We have the news that Steve has ruptured a ligament. He has also sprained an ankle and bruised the other knee. With heavy hearts we awoke in our own bed this morning. We were working so hard to battle the darkness, rain and roads. 

We will be postponing until the Spring, where we will carry out our walk and earn all of the kind donations that have been given. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us. You are true stars! 

The Day Is Here!! Walking For Ella

Morning everyone!

The day is finally here. I have mixed emotions sat here writing this. I'm excited - everything has been building up to this point. I also feel slightly sick with nerves at what I am about to do! I packed my bag last night and my clothes for the next 6 days are sitting looking at me.

I will be updating you on twitter (@KatieGroves_) and on here. Please please feel free to send messages/comment along the way. I have a feeling we will need it.

For now, it's goodbye. Wish us luck!

Katiejanegroves@gmail.con

If you would like to support us by donating, please click here

Impending Doom... I mean Walk!

With only 4 days to go until the Send Off Event and our first day of the walk, things are getting a little tense.

We have spent our last day off tying up loose ends (and buying more socks!). We have also spent our last day off saying things like "oh no, it's so close" and "eeek, 25 miles on the first day!!!" 

I think it's pretty obvious to say, we are getting very nervous about the walk. I've spent this week confirming the B&B's along the way and at least we will be greeted by kind, caring people at the end of the walking day. 

I am swimming in soup cups, staring at a huge bottle of gin and wishing I could buy a raffle ticket so I can have tea with the Mayor! My life has taken a very different turn but I have enjoyed every step of the fundraising way. 

Our raffle tickets have been printed and are selling like hot cakes.  Thanks again to Minute Man! 

Listen out for me on BBC Radio Somerset 95.5 FM on Friday at around 11:40. Hopefully I don't sound too awful! I've learnt a lot of things along the way and one of them is not to go into a radio station interview without notes.

Lets raise money guys!!! 

katiejanegroves@gmail.com

Do you want a new piece of art for your wall? I know just the thing!

It's been a a busy time in my fundraising land! I don't know which part to start with..

I met up with a couple of the volunteers from FAB Club for a cup of tea and a chat on Sunday. We spoke about the walk, the Send Of Event and I left with a bunch of FAB goodies to help me raise money. I'm so pleased to be raising awareness for such an amazing charity. The people who run it really are stars.

Tuesday, I tried to get in town early enough to take a look around the new Cotswold Shop on Abbey Gate Street, before work (with no help from my invisible Park & Ride bus) and was greeted with goodie bags for our walk! These bits will keep us warm and toasty along the way. I was very impressed with the standard of the shop and Alex, the manager, was very helpful. 

I also popped in to Stag (4 North Parade) to talk about a donation for my children's table. I can honestly say, I have never loved a shop more! They had the loveliest stationary items, beautiful scarfs, amazing section of children's books and the list goes on. I came away with a HUGE donation in the form of items to sell at our Event. The children's craft table is going to be amazing - lots of great Christmas presents. 

Here is a pic of a small selection of the items donated

My flyers have been printed by Minute Man and can be seen in a few shops around Bath. Please email me at katiejanegroves@gmail.com if you would be willing to display our Event Flyer. (I would really appreciate it) 

Here is a pic of the flyer

Our lottery license has been issued so watch this space for our raffle tickets! I can't wait to get them sold. At this moment in time, whoever buys a ticket is guaranteed a prize!!  On that note, David Dixon (Lib Dem Councillor) has arranged another raffle prize. The lucky winner of this one, will be having tea with the Mayor of Bath in the Parlour! Oh I say! 

I took a walk in to the wonderful Guild Hall Market today and spoke to Mike and Jane in Funtastic. They will be providing some colourful balloons for our Event - what lovely people! 

I contacted Harvest on Walcot Street, Bath. I know from experience that they do delicious take away soup, so I asked if they would donate soup cups for our Event. They have kindly agreed! Check them out - lovely food and some great products. 

I also had a call from Higos Insurance today and spoke to someone regarding a quote for our event and walk. They said they are going to see whether they can help us out with this, depending on how the quote comes back. Fingers crossed its positive as this would really be a huge help.  

Phew!! I think that was all..  Quite an eventful day really and I also had time to get my hair done! 

If you could all keep your fingers crossed for weather like today to happen Sunday 3rd November. Peppa Pig likes clear blue skies! 

Two Weeks & £1,000 to go

I cannot believe we only have two weeks to go!

We are already half way to our target having raised a whopping £1,000!

The lovely Mark from Chew Valley Inflatables has donated Peppa Pig. My brother in law Mike will be pleased we've got that sorted ;)  Peppa will be there at the Send Off Event for pictures

I have been learning the ropes regarding press releases and you can see our first online feature here

I managed to get in to see Mike at The Whole Bagel in Bath the other day and he has kindly donated bagels for the Event. I also have a tart from Sams Kitchen. There will certainly be enough to eat!

One of my lovely clients has let me borrow a (HUGE!) rucksack, which will be perfect for Steve, and also a smaller one for my shorter self.  I also have a nice new coat donated from Jack Wolfskin in Bath.  Lovely shop - Phil is a guy in the know! 

The only night we were waiting for, donation wise, was South Molton. We have been blessed with kindness from Isabel at Northam House B&B. We now have a full house! I was advised today that I will need to take a nice long soak in the bath after each walking day - I'm starting to get a little worried now! If anyone has any tips, feel free to send me them.

I never realised how hard it was to get a lottery license, so I haven't been able to get my amazing professional tickets from Minute Man yet! I left it late as I just thought it was a case of paying £40, but I'm hoping I can get this sorted early next week. I will also be getting a quote for public liability insurance soon and I really hope this will be reasonable. There is so much to think about when raising money for charity - it's isn't as simple as it seems! 

You guys can do the easy part though, come along, have fun on the day and donate by eating food, cuddling Peppa and waving us off..

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella 

More support than you can shake a stick at

We have raised over £900 and we haven't even taken one step towards Cornwall yet! A massive chunk of this came in the form of an anonymous £500 donation. I want to send a huge thank you out to you, whoever you may be. Also, of course, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated and supported us.

The raffle tickets are selling well and I have some amazing news.. You now have the chance to win a helicopter ride for 3 if you buy a raffle ticket! You will get to see the beautiful sites of Bath whilst whizzing around in a chopper!

Also added is a photoshoot and prints from www.neilhedgerphotography.co.uk

The prizes are really stacking up.

One of my lovely clients had a bake and book sale at her place of work this week. To help support our fundraising, she spent all Sunday baking and tweeting (@bakingbree) scrumptious pictures of her treats! Once again Brigitte, I cannot thank you enough.

InBath Magazine have let us have a small feature in their winter edition, so keep your eyes pealed for this. This will be out when we are half way through our walk so its great timing. Also, I was contacted by BBC Somerset radio and asked if we would speak to them about our fundraising. I'm a little worried my voice is abit squeaky for radio! (You know when you hate the sound of your voice on an answer phone, you may not be made for radio)

As you all know, I work full time, so am finding it hard to get round to seeing people who have expressed support. I still need to pop in to see The Whole Bagel Shop, Bath Stag Shop and John's Bikes. All of whom have asked me to pop by to have a chat.

Hopefully I will get a chance to see them tomorrow. I am viewing a house in the morning, as we are hoping to buy our first home (exciting!), so will try and go by after then. 

I watched The Pride of Britian Awards tonight and was, once again, struck by the kindness and courage in the world. In a world filled with war,debt,abuse, a program like this is really needed.There is so much good in this world, we just need to keep our eyes open for it!

I have experienced a lot of it on my fundraising journey and it's inspiring. 

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella

Warm Soup to start The Walk

Clear your diaries on 3rd November and come join us at Kingston Parade nr The Abbey! You will now be able to support us whilst eating a delicious soup from local caterers Eat 5 Star.

The lovely Our Name Is Mud are sponsoring our nights stay in South Molton. This is the only stop of the 6 nights that we haven't been able to secure a donated night, so this is very welcome. They are website whizzes! Take a look!

Another signed book has arrived through the post - JoJo Moyes, Me Before You. This is going with a number of other signed books to form a great raffle prize!

We have also received amazing support from local printing company Minute Man. We are now the proud owners of a huge banner with the logo that Created In Bath designed. Thanks again to you both.

In other news, I had a meeting with Ella's school the other day. I feel very strongly that a child with burn injuries/disfigurements need to be treated with extra attention in school.  Teenage years are tough enough without the added pressure of looking different.

I tried explaining how I feel positive encouragement works best, rather than simply being told off. I've noticed as Ella is growing she is becoming more and more strong willed. I believe this survival mode has protected her throughout the many difficult times in her life. Sadly the school seem to view this in a negative way and thus the path being trodden is also very negative.

I feel that schools in Bath need to realise the impact that having a burn injury/disfigurement has on a child psychologically. I believe the school feels they are doing everything they can, however I wonder if they have the right resources/training to handle this. Even sitting in a crowded class room can be hard for a child who feels self conscious, not to mention for those who have burn injuries/disfigurements.

I don't think I would like to go back to teenage land. I found it pretty rough at school and was bullied quite badly - even a small spot on my face ruined my day!
My hat goes off to Ella for getting through the school days - never mind the learning side. Ella's favourite subject this year is Maths!! For someone who has always struggled with Maths, this is huge. We have realised how much she loves her teacher, which just goes to show how important the right attitude and support is.

 My many thanks to Ella's Maths teacher :)

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella