Hi lovely people, 

Most of you know that I have Cerebral Palsy affecting both my legs and I have learned to walk three times in my life - first at six years old and then twice more following major surgery and illness. I now use crutches or a wheelchair to move around.

I have decided to set myself the challenge of walking 5K (that’s 3 miles) in just one day - my longest, most intensive walk yet!

In 2020, many of you will remember me waking 40 miles in 40 weeks where I managed between half a mile to a mile at a time, often with several days rest in between. 

So this will be a huge effort for me! Especially given that I use around four times more energy to walk than the average person and I’ve NEVER walked that far.

However, I feel very lucky to feel healthier and more comfortable in my body than ever, especially after having Covid, and I really want to do something to help a local charity close to my heart.

Chailey Heritage Foundation is a pioneering charity, dedicated to enriching the lives of young people with complex disabilities and health needs, including Cerebral Palsy. 

Its vision is simple and clear: Every young person will be given every opportunity to make progress towards fulfilment.

Not only did I benefit from their services as a child, but my brother in law’s brothers, who both very sadly died of Muscular Dystrophy, were there throughout their short lives.

Chailey Heritage has supported our family through some extremely hard times, so your donations mean a great deal to us all and will allow the foundation to continue to provide much needed, life enhancing services to young people in our area.

For example: 

• £5 buys a sensory toy to help young people with visual, hearing or other impairments.
• £15 could buy a birthday present for a child living there.
• £140 could fund a switch activated device for table cricket and other inclusive sports, to enjoy the benefits of participating in team games
• £400 could fund an Aquamovers+ session for pre-school children, giving them the chance to participate in physical activity with support from therapists. It also allows social interaction for isolated parents in similar circumstances.
• £1,500 could fund a walker, for exercise out of a wheelchair.
• £2,000 could fund their on-site therapeutic horse riding service for a week, to allow excercise, building of muscular strength and development of confidence.

 Anything you can give makes such a difference.

To find out more about about the care and educational services CHF provide, please visit http://chf.org.uk

This is a big (perhaps a little crazy!) effort but hopefully I can do it and I’ll be sure to keep you posted through the next month as I prepare for the challenge.

I plan to walk the 5K on September 18th 2021 (weather permitting) and would love any support you can offer — and perhaps some of you might like to join me?!

Thank you so much. 

Anna x