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 

Up in the big smoke & raffle news

Some more exciting news to fill your boots with...

Carl Constanza (@stanzabodybuild) has kindly donated a raffle prize. The lucky winner will receive 1 months free personal training!

To counteract all that fitness, we have some scrummy chocolates from chocolatier Charlotte Brunswick (@Cbrunswickbath)

Here is a list of the amazing raffle prizes we have so far:

7 Night stay in an apartment situated in the beautiful old town of Kotor, Montenegro 

£250 to spend in Duo Boots

Hot air balloon ride in the Bath Building Society balloon

Make over by Maya Makeup

Pc service from Bath PC Repairs 

1 free nights camping and a discount of 30% for Longleat - Pitch Perfect

Signed books from Marian Keyes, Jill Mansell & Freya North

Limited edition HarryB beach towel

£10 voucher for Craft & More in Bristol 

Plus the personal training and chocolates mentioned above!

Now, don't try and tell me you don't want a ticket?!

To purchase a raffle ticket (£1 each) -  either speak to me in person (if you know me!) 

Or donate here  (you can split the donation between the two amazing charities) and send me an email at katiejanegroves@gmail.com with your name and telephone number. You can also choose pink, green or peach!!

The raffle is being drawn at our Send Off Event in Kingston Parade nr the Abbey on 3rd November 12pm. Come down to support us, eat cake with Velvet Teas and see if your ticket gets to see the light of day! 

In another news... Myself and Ella travelled up to London on Wednesday and met Katie Piper!

Everyone that speaks of Katie always says how lovely she is.. And she really is! She was able to give Ella some great tips at dealing with questions about her scars and how to stay positive. 

This meant so much to Ella and also to myself. To see Katie doing so well and being so positive gives me great hope for Ella's future. Katie has also announced that she is pregnant! I am so happy for her - what an amazing lady. 

This day highlighted what the foundation does best - giving hope and positivity to burns survivors. They are such great support. If you haven't done so already, I urge you to take a look at www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk to see how worthwhile they really are. 

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella 

Velvet Teas and B&Bs

I had a phone call from Ella the other day - a call to say how well she is doing in her Maths. I nearly fell off my chair! Not because I doubt she can do well in Maths, but that she was calling me with something positive about school!!

You see, she finds school quite tough, what with lots of things going on schoolwork wise, trying to fit in like all teens and then dealing with her burn injuries. She is the most inspirational 13 year old I know and I think it's about time I started to share that with her abit more! Anyway, lets hope this is the start of things to come and she becomes the next great mathematician! Or just keeps saying positive things about school! Either way, I'm happy. 

I have had confirmation that I am allowed to hold the Send Off Event in Kingston Parade by the Abbey in Bath!! This is amazing news - just need to rally up support now so I can sort the public liability insurance and also the risk assessment (Eek!).

I met up with Emma from Velvet Teas ( www.velvetteas.co.uk ) tonight to talk about the Send Off Event. Emma has kindly agreed to be our first sponsor and have a scrummy cake stall. We had a really good chat and I can honestly say that Emma is such a friendly and lovely lady. I only wish I discovered Velvet Teas back when I was getting married in May. 

I've also been sending emails like a mad woman and have all but one nights stay donated on our walk down to Cornwall. I'm pretty chuffed about this! Here is the line up..

Glastonbury - The Little House of Art

Taunton - Premier Inn

Bampton - Heron House

South Molton - Northam House (Updated!)

Torrington - Eastmond House 

Bude -  The Grosvenor 

In other news, the boots are still being "worn in" - much to the dismay of my right foot. 

I must now pop off to get my beauty sleep - I am taking Ella to London on Wednesday to have lunch with Katie Piper so I need my rest...

...yes you read that correctly!! How exciting! 

Onwards and upwards...

We have now changed our route and reduced the miles. We are still walking to Cornwall. We will be walking for 6 days straight - first day 26 miles followed by 5 days of just over 20 miles. This is still going to be a huge challenge for us, seeing as our 14 mile walk the other day floored us. 

We are off out walking tomorrow with Alfie Dog - we are going to take him through the Two Tunnels which is a revamped old railway line. www.twotunnels.org.uk We have only ever cycled through the first tunnel but thought it was pretty cool, so I'm looking forward to that.

I'm really happy to say that the very kind owners at Hereon House

 ( www.stayhereonhouse.co.uk ) have donated a nights stay. The lovely B&B is located in Bampton in Devon and will be our third stop. 

Another amazing raffle prize has been added today by www.harry-b.co.uk. We now have a limited edition HarryB beach towel to win! Check out the website to see some nifty children's towelling shorts, handy pompon wraps and fun beach towels. 

My mum received a letter today from Fab Club inviting Ella to the national jamboree camp in October. This was exciting news, however the day Ella will be coming home is the day we are having our Send Off Event and our first day of the walk! What are the chances of that?! 

We are hoping to arrange for Ella to get picked up on the last night so she doesn't miss anything. If that's not possible, I think it's important for her to go anyway. After all, this is why we are fundraising!

Lets keep our fingers crossed that things move quickly from now. I'm still waiting to hear about booking a space in Bath for the Send Off Event. I have chased this but I have still not received any response! In the meantime, a marquee is still desperately needed. If anyone happens to have one, toss it my way please! 

Katiejanegroves@gmail.com

New boots and bad moods

So it's a disheartening day in my Fundraising Land. It's sad for me to write a negative post however I guess in the interest of keeping it real...

Me and Steve both work full time and like many couples, don't get to see that much of each other. We've had just over a week off together, which has been amazing. Cornwall was lovely and it was a good chance to get excited about walking down there.

It was our last day off together today and I thought I would try out my new walking boots. So we started off on our walk with quite a few hills, perks of walking in Bath, and I started off very positive.

After 10 miles I was in agony at the front of my feet just above the ankle. Oouch! We continued our walk and ended up back at home after 14.22 miles. I literally couldn't take another step. 

We treated ourselves to a nice meal. We sat there with our amazing dinner feeling very disheartened. What have we agreed to do?! Why did we choose such a distance?! I honestly never realised how hard walking could be, I mean its just walking right?!

We will be continuing our walking, building up our distance and see how we get on, however I'm not sure we can honestly walk 200 miles.. I still need to walk to Cornwall, however I'm thinking maybe not right at the bottom! 

On another bad note, the kindness and generosity we experienced from Glastonbury has not been seen from anywhere else I have contacted. It's a hard one as we have raised around £265 for our chosen charities. If we have to pay for our B&B's along the way we are looking at £500-£600 that we could have donated straight to the charities without taking time off of work, without purchasing expensive walking bits, without walking in agony, without a mamouth amount of time organising everything. 

On the brighter side, looking at the raffle prizes people have donated and all the retweets I have been getting on Twitter, I know we have amazing support which I am very grateful for. 

I need to rest my weary body and wake up on the right side of the bed.. 

Please click here if you would like to donate  

Cornish sunsets and more books!

Having just come back from a lovely time in Cornwall - cut short for grandad Frank's 80th party - I've realised that my love of Cornwall is instrumental in completing The Walk. It's quite exciting knowing we will be crossing through beautiful Devon and ending up in our favourite place.

I've shared quite a few important moments in my life with Cornwall. Mine and Steves engagement. My 21st. First time with a surf board! 

Now that I'm rejuvenated from all that sea air I can continue planning all things fundraising.  

I've been thinking and rethinking our route down.. As I've mentioned before I am asking kind B&B owners if they would donate a nights stay. We have been very blessed in Glastonbury with 4 people offering help! We have taken The Little House Of Art ( www.littlearthouse.co.uk ) up on their kind donation and this will be our first stop!  I'm having a little trouble finding help at our next stop. Hopefully a kind offer will come soon.

Ive had a thought that scared me a little - I've realised that we will be walking for over 20 miles per day. This is why it's so important for us to have a nice bed to sleep in at the end of a long day (and a cold bath apparently, Brrr!) I hope we can find kind souls willing to donate a night to us. 

In other news I am still waiting to hear back from Bath BID regarding booking the location for the Send Off Event. It's going a little slower than I was hoping for so fingers crossed we will hear something soon.  

Raffle prizes are still coming in, with my favourite authors helping. I've now also received signed books from Marian Keyes ( www.mariankeyes.com ) and Jill Mansell ( www.jillmansell.co.uk )These will go with the signed Freya North book I already have. Why oh why can't I keep them?! Oh yea..

..because I'm so excited to be raising money for two amazing charities!  

If you haven't already, please take a moment to swing by these websites so you can see what the charities are about.

www.Katiepiperfoundation.org.uk.  www.fabclub.org.uk

Perhaps most excitingly, my brother in law has agreed to dress up as Peppa Pig for the Send Off Event!  Just need to find Peppa now. 

I have also set up text donations. So now it's easy peasy to donate. 

Text KPFD77 £1, £2 or £3 to 70070

Text FABC77 £1, £2 or £3 to 70070

Must dash .. Off to try and find 

6 nights of donated stays at B&B's.

Peppa Pig

Raffle prizes

Marquee

Walking clothes 

Food stalls......

You don't ask ladies and gentlemen, you don't get.

Signed books a plenty..

Since I last wrote Ella has received an exciting parcel in the post...

She was over the moon with the book and also really touched with the little card that Katie Piper had written her. 

Seeing her face light up was a great reminder as to why I'm putting all this hard work into organsing the Walk and The Send Off Event.  

I coloured Ella's hair today - I try to keep it a natural colour but as she's getting older she wants to express herself. She's always talking about piercings etc - she's not old enough yet and hopefully she will change her mind a little once she can do it! It's so hard to advise her, I can see why she wants to take control over her body after everything she has been through, however I don't want her to do anything she will regret. 

Anyho here is the end result...

I popped in to the Jack Wolfskin store in Bath today and spoke to Phil who was very helpful. I learnt all about Minerva wool socks and waterproof boots. Me and Steve are heading to Cornwall on holiday next week, so I want to get my boots before then to test them out!  Im still not sure which ones to get, they are a pretty important purchase!

Twitter has once again done me proud. I have been in touch with some of my favourite authors (you may have guessed by now, I love escaping into a good book). Marian Keyes and Jill Mansell have said they will send me a signed copy of a book. Whoop! I'm so excited about the signed book prizes.

Im still looking for someone to help me with a marquee. I'm hoping for a dry crisp November day, however just in case it rains I want somewhere for everyone to stay dry. It doesn't even really have to be a marquee, just some shelter. 

Raffle Licence will be purchased tomorrow so from then we can officially sell raffle tickets. 

Let the selling commence..

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella

New prizes and tees!

Greetings from Charity Fundraising Land. I can't think of anything else at the moment - it's taken over my life!

The raffle prizes are still coming in from very kind local businesses/people.

Added to the prizes we now have a pair of boots from Duo Boots in Bath, to be chosen by the lucky winner up to the value of £250!! 

www.duoboots.com

(I wish I could enter)

I can't quite believe I'm going to write this next section..  If you fancy a trip to the beautiful town of Kotor - Montenegro, then you better get buying a raffle ticket and keeping your fingers crossed!!! We have a 7 night stay in an apartment situated in the very heart of Kotor's old town. 

Flights, which will be the winners responsibility, go direct from Gatwick to Tivat and take just under 3 hours - then just a 15 taxi ride away awaits the stunning destination. 

www.owen-roberts.co.uk

Whoop!! 

I have also received through the post today a signed copy of Freya North's book. Freya is one of my favourite authors, so it was pretty amazing opening it up!  The signed copy of Secrets will join the other raffle prizes. 

www.freyanorth.com

I will be having a coffee and a chat with Velvet Teas soon. It will be a fantastic chance to see what the company offers and we will be having a think about whether they will offer a raffle prize or be there with a yummy cake stall on the Send Off Event. Yum either way! 

www.velvetteas.co.uk

Our Katie Piper Foundation Tshirts have also arrived!! 

On the walking side of things - I am aware that all my effort is going into arranging the Send Off Event and raffle, so today we factored a little walk into the day. Me and Steve both had a day off and spend around 4 hours walking. Needless to say I'm pretty exuasted and am now starting to realise what a mamouth goal we have set for ourselves. Hmm.. Next day off we will be aiming to walk for around 6 hours. Considering the shortest walking day over the Walk To Cornwall is around 8, I think it's important to get the hours clocked up soon! 

Off to my fitness class now.... *yawn*

Balloon Rides & Logos

Things are developing pretty quickly here.

We have had a fantastic donation from Bath Building Society of a Balloon Ride!! 

www.bathbuildingsociety.co.uk

The Balloon Ride will be added to our other prizes for the raffle, for which we are still scouting for more! So if anyone has any ideas please feel free to comment or tweet! Katie_J_Marley

Twitter has been a good source of support for The Walk. In particular BathCoUk have been great at retweeting and helping me out! I wanted a Logo and BathCoUk pointed me in the direction of their parent company. Created in Bath then very kindly offered to make me one!  How amazing does it look below?!!

 
www.createdinbath.co.uk

I have been in touch with the helpful Bath Council to talk about which space would be suitable for our Send Off Event and need to wrap my head around things like Public Liability Insurance (?!)

Having never organised anything other than a wedding, this is a whole new experience for me. It's really made me realise how many hoops there are to jump through to get things going! It's all a positive experience though and everyone that I've spoken to has been so helpful.

I have also updated our Just Giving Page to include The Frenchay After Burns Club - you can now choose which charity to donate to - or hopefully split the donation and give a little to both.

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella

Kindness and free sleeps!

Ella has been at camp with the FAB Club for a couple of days now and they have been raft building and racing, followed by windsurfing! Sounds like she's having an amazing time, although I think my mum and Alfie the dog are missing her.

So the List is growing and we have also decided to add a charity raffle into the mix!

I have had some very kind people in Bath help me with some prizes for the raffle..

Maya Make Up has donated a make over.

Www.Mayamakeup.com

Bath PC Repairs have donated a laptop/pc service.

Www.Bathpcrepairs.co.uk

Pitch Perfect Camping have donated a nights camping and 30% off of Longleat tickets.

Www.Pitchperfectcamping.co.uk

Flowers of Bath have also said they would like to help in some way. 

Www.Flowersofbath.co.uk

Thank you so much guys!

The council have been contacted to hopefully help provide a space for the Send Off Fun Day! 

The girls in work have come up with some great ideas - anyone fancy a Mohawk?! 

I am now working on sending many many emails to hotels in Street to see whether our first night of The Walk could be donated!

Whilst I type this I'm currently sat around our table with Jess thinking of places to contact for big raffle donations.. Current thoughts -  a car!! Theres nothing like Thinking Big! ;)

  

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella
www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk 
www.fabclub.org.uk/

Thinking of Fun & Money Making!

Who knew there was so many things to think about when trying to raise money for charity!

I have been thinking of ways to get our story out there and have relied on social media so far - possibly the easiest way! Lots of my friends have shared my blog page, which has been very helpful.

Ella went off on Camp today with the Frenchay After Burns Club (FAB Club) which is a charity that helps inject Fun into the lives of children and teenagers with burn injuries. She has been looking forward to the Camp for ages and will have a great time.

Whilst waving Ella off I realised that our 200 mile walk to Cornwall wasn't enough.

I also need to do something Fun for everyone!

I have decided to organise a small Send Off Event in Bath to help raise funds for the Katie Piper Foundation and also the FAB Club.

Currently looking for venues in Bath. Any ideas?

I've always loved a good bouncy castle...

Ella having Fun with Donald Duck when she was younger. Time Flies!

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella
www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk
www.fabclub.org.uk/

The Plan

I don't know whether we are mad or just determined individuals, I like to think the latter!!

Me and my husband Steve are planning on walking to Land's End in Cornwall.  We are starting our trek from the beautiful City of Bath.

We will be covering approximately 200 miles and will be doing it within 1 week! 

We are doing this long walk to raise money for The Katie Piper Foundation and Frenchay After Burns Club. They are both amazing charities which are close to our hearts.

When my beautiful niece Ella was 3 years old, she suffered burn injuries which have gone on to affect her and the way in which she lives her life.

Ella has had numerous plastic surgery operations throughout her life to help the appearance of the injuries.

She is now 13 years old and is turning into an incredible young woman. However, she has been through and continues to go through a lot day to day.

As you can imagine appearances are everything to a 13 year old and The Katie Piper Foundation gives strength to people in similar situations with burns and scars. 

I will be sharing our story along the way. From organising the event through to walking!!

Please follow us on here and also take a moment to pass by our Just Giving page, where you can give a little money to such a worthy cause. 

www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingforella
www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk
www.fabclub.org.uk