Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Triathletes Past and Present,

Most of you will know me as the person who spent two boys’ school careers trying to persuade you to take part in the Blenheim Triathlon. I have been a parent at The Hall School since 2012. Well, this is the last time I send out an email regarding the triathlon. Please read it. This is my last clarion call.

This Sunday will also be my last Blenheim Triathlon. If you have ever taken part in it with us or the Tour de Godwin or if anyone you love has been inspired by it I urge you to sponsor me this year. I am swimming, cycling and running on Sunday in aid of a charity which I believe to be very important. It is a charity to help neurodiverse children and their parents get the support and advice they need and deserve. If neurodiverse children have early diagnoses and help within education then they can flourish. This is a charity with which I have a strong personal affinity - see my own personal story below. I am writing to ask you very directly to support me this year.

To remind you, over the ten years The Hall Triathlon team has been running we have encouraged over 125 first-time triathletes to take part in Blenheim. Many have gone on to take part year in and year out, and one of our members is representing GB in her age group this year at Triathlon. We have raised over £350k for local charities which have meant a lot to the school and our participants. I clearly remember a first-time triathlete whom I encouraged to take part sending me an email thanking me and saying that “the triathlon is the gift that keeps on giving.” She regained her pre-children fitness and verve and still, five years on from first taking part in the team, she is reaping the rewards.

When I started The Hall School Triathlon Team 10 years ago this year, I had no intention or expectation of it mushrooming into what it has become. My sole objective was to ‘do’ a triathlon and I knew that the only way I would achieve that was to join forces and do it with other people. I needed the goal but I also needed some accountability through comradeship.

What I didn't realise at the time was that I have severe ADD and that those factors - goals and accountability - are the lifeblood of motivation for ADDers.

I was diagnosed with ADD in December 2022 and have spent the last year and a half researching the world of neurodiversity. In fact I have hyper-focused to such a degree that I am now a qualified ADD coach.

Neurodiversity can severely hamper a child’s education, progress and life. There are many protocols that can be followed that can alleviate the issues BUT this requires education of the families, schools and communities who have neurodiverse members and neurodiverse pupils. This education is at early stages and much much more needs to be done to help these, often very talented, creative, special children to flourish. There is a lot of shame around neurodiversity. So much shame that a lot of people are nervous of admitting they have these conditions. Personally this is the first time I have openly admitted to having ADD. It is pretty vulnerable making.

I know this is a blunt request but if The Triathlon, or The Tour de Godwin, or the community that has built up around the events, has ever mattered to you or your family or given anything to a charity that you care about, then please understand it would not have started without my ADD. (please read my story below)

So please, please give generously. This is a cause which benefits a huge and growing number of people who need help. If you have ever encountered someone in need of support though their neurodiverse challenges, please dig deeply. I want us all to combine to raise as much as we can for a great charity. The link is here....... but please read on.

As I mentioned above I was diagnosed with severe ADD in December 2022. I did not go to university because I could not focus on my academic work enough to get my A levels. If I had known that I had ADD then, and had appropriate help, maybe my life would have taken a different trajectory. I am lucky that I came from a privileged background and move in privileged circles and found the perfect outlet for myself in documentary filmmaking and was accepted at The National Film & Television School. I so easily might not have done. And if I hadn't found that creative and fulfilling outlet, I would have been open to all manner of bad outcomes.

2024 celebrates 10 years of The Hall School Triathlon Team and the farewell ride of the Tour de Godwin. This is the grand finale to Chris and Sue Godwin's time at The Hall School. Please give generously to support this year’s important cause and help SEND help children gain access to the education they need to thrive.

This year's charity, SEND, was started by some formidable women whose children all have a neurodiverse condition of some sort. Having been through the mill of trying to get the right advice and help for their kids, they have been inspired and activated to start a charity to help others.

Thank you very much

Amanda xxx

Who we are

The triathlon team, an inclusive group of mums, dads, teachers, and friends of the Hall School, will complete a challenging Sprint Triathlon at Blenheim Palace on Sunday 2 June. Our friendly team have been juggling work and family life, training hard to get ourselves ready for action!

On the same morning, a group of intrepid cyclists will undertake the 115km from London to Oxfordshire, fondly named the Tour de Godwin (https://www.justgiving.com/page/tour-de-godwin-2024) to arrive at Blenheim Palace in time to cheer on the triathletes.

The Hall Triathlon is a huge personal challenge for each member of the team.

Many of our triathletes battle the winter months to build up strength and stamina to swim 750 in open water, conquer the London roads to prepare for the 21km cycle leg and finally drag themselves from the couch to train for the 5km run.

Support SEND Kids

This year we are raising money for the Support SEND Kids charity. (SEND defines a wide range of Special Educational Needs or Disabilities). These can be physical challenges but over 70% are ‘invisible’. This includes neurodiverse children, those with ADHD, Autism, dyslexia and other, often combined, learning difficulties.

We believe passionately in the right of every child to get a good education. This right is enshrined in law, yet, there are 1 million school age children with SEND who face desperate and often invisible struggles to access learning, navigate friendships, or just survive the school day. In too many cases, parents need to negotiate their way through a complicated legal system to ensure their child receives the necessary educational support. Support SEND Kids works hard so SEND children don’t get left behind, or left out of, education.

Imagine if all children facing the race to literacy and numeracy, stand in a row at the start of a running track, those with SEND face a long line of invisible hurdles which they must jump before they reach the finish line. The hurdles leave them exhausted, often demoralised with so many more ahead, and worst of all, most people can’t see them and can assume the child is lazy, naughty or not worth helping.

How heart-breaking if this is your child, imagine the stress and anxiety of not knowing where to turn and what to do. The stories of families whose children have SEND are desperately moving, because, despite the laws that are in place to protect these most vulnerable children and protect their right to education, the system is hard to access, chaotic and unnecessarily adversarial. For many parents, the barriers can feel insurmountable: confidence in navigating the system, confusion about their rights, cost of advice. Without the right support children can struggle to survive in school. And down the line, the consequences of not getting the most out of education is the risk of an adult always reliant on social services, or worse, over 30% of people in prison have a known neurodiverse diagnosis, with the total suspected to be far higher.

Every donation you make will have a big difference to helping SEND children gain the educational provision they need and reach their full potential .

How you and Support SEND Kids can help

£20-40k raised: We will reach an estimated additional 10,000+ families. Delivering on the urgent need for essential legal information in more accessible forms, such as step-by-step and audio guides. Giving more parents the confidence to navigate the process, making education accessible to more children.

£20-40k: We will reach an estimated additional 1,000+ lawyers. Online training to up-skill SEND lawyers to deliver much more pro bono support for a greater number of parents. We estimate this will reach an additional 10,000+ families.

£80-100k raised: SEND conference hosted by the charity. This would have a significant, sustainable and long term impact on the SEND legal landscape and accelerate much needed systemic change. Delivering fast-track training and information for lawyers, schools, and parents. Outcome, a possible 1000+ in person (with an additional 5000+ online) ready to deliver change for the SEND children in their care. Results for SEND children would be an accelerated improvement on delivering to their needs. Reach estimated an additional 20,000+ children.