Karen Knowlton
28km Thames Path Challenge for The Grand Appeal
Fundraising for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal
Story
50km. I’ve done it twice, both times it was so tough. Leg pain (prior to my op), dizzy spells and fainting…but…I was lucky then to have my friend Lucy walk it with me, getting me over that finish line (and tolerating my stubbornness at wanting to finish!) & this time Marc and I are tackling it together but for the slightly shorter distance of 28km.
The Grand Appeal is a charity known by many and one that has supported lots of families I know. For us, it’s all about our brave son Thomas. He has chosen my charity for the challenge and wanted to continue supporting The Grand Appeal because of the incredible work that the play therapy team have done with him over the past 24 months. Thomas was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in February 2020 and has been on a rollercoaster of investigations - all at Bristol Children’s Hospital, Puzzlewood ward. He has been in a flare all this time but has been slowly making moves in the right direction (towards the goal of remission which he is nearing as of March ‘22). He has grown in his confidence with the hospital trips and is now much more relaxed about the infusions he receives by IV every 6 weeks - and that is massively down to the wonderful team of staff on Puzzlewood and his amazing play therapist Sam.
Play therapy at Bristol Children’s Hospital is funded by The Grand Appeal and I cannot thank the department enough for the endless guidance, distractions, laughter and continual support for both Thomas and myself. Supporting children through scary investigations, procedures and appointments is tough, but add to that children with high anxiety and then the stresses of Covid/lockdown/masks all whilst being poorly and it’s an even bigger challenge. The creativeness that Thomas’ fantastic play therapist employed to help with those initial investigations has never left our minds. Thomas looks forward to seeing the team on Puzzlewood and the play therapy team on his regular visits. We both would love to raise money for a second Nintendo Switch console and some games, as the infusions that IBD children receive on Puzzlewood can take a very long time. Having a game to play on a Nintendo switch is such a great distraction - especially with the trauma of cannula insertion and removal. Thomas managed to raise £350 last year that was spent on a console, 2 games and lots of other fun activities - many of which we’ve enjoyed on our frequent visits!
I hope you can support our efforts with any little donation so we can continue to pay forward the care and warmth we’ve had since Thomas started his Crohn’s treatment journey.
Thanks for reading all this!
Karen (and Thomas) xx
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
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.
The Grand Appeal is a charity known by many and one that has supported lots of families I know. For us, it’s all about our brave son Thomas. He has chosen my charity for the challenge and wanted to continue supporting The Grand Appeal because of the incredible work that the play therapy team have done with him over the past 24 months. Thomas was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in February 2020 and has been on a rollercoaster of investigations - all at Bristol Children’s Hospital, Puzzlewood ward. He has been in a flare all this time but has been slowly making moves in the right direction (towards the goal of remission which he is nearing as of March ‘22). He has grown in his confidence with the hospital trips and is now much more relaxed about the infusions he receives by IV every 6 weeks - and that is massively down to the wonderful team of staff on Puzzlewood and his amazing play therapist Sam.
Play therapy at Bristol Children’s Hospital is funded by The Grand Appeal and I cannot thank the department enough for the endless guidance, distractions, laughter and continual support for both Thomas and myself. Supporting children through scary investigations, procedures and appointments is tough, but add to that children with high anxiety and then the stresses of Covid/lockdown/masks all whilst being poorly and it’s an even bigger challenge. The creativeness that Thomas’ fantastic play therapist employed to help with those initial investigations has never left our minds. Thomas looks forward to seeing the team on Puzzlewood and the play therapy team on his regular visits. We both would love to raise money for a second Nintendo Switch console and some games, as the infusions that IBD children receive on Puzzlewood can take a very long time. Having a game to play on a Nintendo switch is such a great distraction - especially with the trauma of cannula insertion and removal. Thomas managed to raise £350 last year that was spent on a console, 2 games and lots of other fun activities - many of which we’ve enjoyed on our frequent visits!
I hope you can support our efforts with any little donation so we can continue to pay forward the care and warmth we’ve had since Thomas started his Crohn’s treatment journey.
Thanks for reading all this!
Karen (and Thomas) xx
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
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.