WELCOME to our JustGiving page …

We are four North East mothers of children & adults with Tourette Syndrome.   We are taking to the road from 30th September to raise awareness about Tourettes in every city in England.  We are Donna, 30, from Hartlepool, Liz, 40, from Ashington, Jac, 50, from Morpeth, and Eileen, 60, from Blyth.  

First and foremost - A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to the Awareness Campaign so far.  It means a great deal to us.

We are calling our drive to all fifty two English cities “The Tourettes Awareness Challenge -  Five-a-Day”.  This is because we are aiming to complete our mammoth road trip in just over ten days, averaging five cities a day.

We are writing to senior Councillors in every city and hope to meet with them to hand over high quality information packs about Tourettes Syndrome –covering health, education, work and social support. 

We are launching the tour in Newcastle upon Tyne on Monday 30 September, and will reach Carlisle 2,200 miles later, on Thursday 10 October.

Now we have less than 2 weeks to go!  Busy, busy, busy! …   We have been OVERWHELMED by the positive response from local authorities up and down the country to our request to meet with them to present our information packs.   From Durham to Lancaster, from Plymouth to St Albans, the “yes” replies have been pouring in. 

What’s more, we are DELIGHTED to tell our supporters that NISSAN UK has agreed to be our key sponsor and is providing us with a Qashqai car for our campaign.  We were so pleased that such a major company was prepared to recognise that people in its workforce will be affected by Tourette Syndrome, and was prepared to show support by backing our Awareness Campaign.

 “We intend to spread the word that there are people with Tourettes in every city in England – and they need understanding and support.”  said Donna. “It’s a simple message, but we want to people to know that it’s a complex and much misunderstood condition.”

We will be wearing the distinctive black and green T shirts of the charity Tourettes Action, and have nine children and eight grandchildren between us – including six with Tourette Syndrome. 

Eileen, who has both a son and a grandson with Tourettes and learning disabilities, said: “I think most people know that people with Tourettes make sounds and movements they cannot help called tics.  But what they don’t know is that more than ninety per cent of people with Tourettes have at least one other brain condition as well.  The most common include autistic spectrum disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and ADHD, but there are many other neuro-psychiatric conditions that often go with Tourettes.”

Every penny counts in this Campaign.   We have been raising funds for the information packs, petrol and accommodation, through this page, and through fundraising events in the North East over the last few months including a quiz, a beetle drive, sales of donated goods, and by contributions from our families and friends.  Thanks to everyone who has helped us. 

We hope that more people will help through JustGiving.  All funds raised over and above the costs of the Campaign will go to Tourettes Action’s support groups in England.  We are all volunteers so there are no staffing costs, and a pound goes a long way (literally!).

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.

 

So please, we are asking you to dig deep and donate if you can.