He’s doing it again...!  Two years on (yes really, already, two years on!) from his sponsored walk, which saw him walk the entire 102 mile Cotswold Way in three days, Simon et al are embarking upon their next sponsored adventure and challenge, in aid of Bristol Children’s Hospital.  Having already walked the 3 peaks and completed the Cotswold Way, what, I hear you ask, could Simon possibly be organising next...?

I shall tell you.  Simon and his friends are cycling a 200 mile route around the Severn Basin that starts at Gloucester and takes them through Hay on Wye, the Brecon Beacons, Newport, Chepstow and back to Gloucester, IN 3 DAYS...  Yes you did read that right – 200 miles in 3 days...! (Donations of spare doughnut cushions also gratefully received, in addition to sponsorship monies, by the way ....).

Why go to such great pains for Bristol Children’s Hospital?  Because it saved our son’s life.  In fact, both of our sons have received surgery there, but in particular we raise money every 2 years for Bristol Children’s Hospital to thank them for looking after Edward and saving his life with corrective open heart surgery when he was 6 months old.  He’s doing really well right now, but Edward will need further corrective surgery in his teens, most likely in Bristol.

If you are fortunate enough never to have needed to set foot inside the place, then you might not realise what an important, crucial and life saving place it is, or that at the moment, Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Wallace and Gromit Appeal is saving money to buy pioneering equipment rivalling some of the best in the world, for their Children’s Cardiac Theatre, which we may well need one day.

Bristol is an incredibly special place that mends children's broken hearts, day in day out, unbeknown to most:

The Calder Family (patients at the Clinic): "Sofia was born on 11 May 2011 with Tetralogy of Fallot (same condition as Ed Rose). 4 months later Sofia had her operation, and thanks to the amazing efforts of all the staff at Bristol Children's Hospital,  she has made a fantastic recovery.  We could never find a way to say thank you to BCH properly, so fundraising seems the best solution.  Good luck Simon!"

Friends the Hyde Family:Freddie (1 year old, also born with Tetralogy of Fallot) is due his second operation in the next 6 weeks in Bristol.  A fantastically strong little boy with equally strong parents.

The Webb Family (many of you will know Nic on reception at the clinic): Katie received her life saving heart surgery when only a few days old having been rushed to Bristol in an emergency.

Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal (http://www.grandappeal.org.uk) was established in 1995 and has since raised over £21 million to support a wide range of life-saving medical equipment, family accommodation, and patient comforts, along with a programme of arts, music, education and play facilities in the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

The Grand Appeal is entirely independent from the NHS and receives no statutory funding, relying entirely on the generous support of the local community, businesses, grant-making trusts and other philanthropic organisations and individuals. We are proud to be a part of that.  You can be too.

All you have to do is sponsor Simon and his friends on another one of his mad-cap ventures and sit back and watch....!  Couldn’t be easier!  It might even be mildly entertaining..... ! (More so for us than for them I daresay - although they always seem to enjoy themselves on these jaunts, despite the discomfort/pain/agony etc etc etc). 

So please, help us continue to support Bristol Children’s Hospital to provide world-class care to patients from all over the South West and South Wales. Help us to help them save children’s lives, provide the best possible patient care and keep families together, by donating to The Grand Appeal.

On behalf of all the mums who hold their families together on the outside whilst they crumble on the inside, on behalf of all the helpless and hurting dads, on behalf of the mind blowingly skilled consultants and staff that need state of the art equipment to do their best work, on behalf of all the very, very, special heart babies who receive treatment in Bristol, and not least on behalf of the team of cyclists who are about to unwittingly perfect their impressions of John Wayne whilst giving up their time and energy (and bottoms), for this massively worthy cause, I ask you - please,dig deep, give generously, donate as much as you possibly can (and I know for some of you it will not be for the first time - extra big thanks to you guys).  

Do it now – while you think of it, and help us to motivate this very brave and selfless team.

Thank you.  From Edward's Mummy.

You know the blurb: 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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Please donate now. Thanks Guys.