Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am gathering a team of 6 climbers to complete the Ben Nevis Climbing Challenge which will take place at Climb Quest MK on Monday 26th June. This page is for the team and myself to use for our fundraising efforts. I hugely appreciate their participation in this, which is my first effort at fundraising for the absolutely wonderful charity ‘Red Balloon’

My reasons for wanting to fundraise for this small but dynamic charity are very personal and go back quite a few years! It started with me being something of a hopeless dreamer! I had an ongoing dream / aspiration which I had no idea how to make into a reality, yet spent many many hours of my life thinking about. I imagined it all out in great detail and had a constant stream of ideas. Since those early days, I started to take action and put some hard work into making things happen. There have been some remarkable encouragements during the journey.

I wanted to start up a tiny school in the area where I live, for teens who are too ‘academic’ for traditional SEN schools yet can’t cope with mainstream school either. These young peoples’ lives and opportunities often become very limited due to having been severely bullied in school or traumatised for a whole range of reasons.

My pet name for this crazy dream was ‘not-a-school’. I wanted it to be set in a large but comfortable house, full of wonderful, caring adults whose jobs were to mentor, support, counsel and teach individuals and very small groups. I could go on at great length, but to cut a very long and complicated story shor…actually….slightly less long and complicated…..

In November 2022 I was introduced to the Charity ‘Red Balloon’. I met with the leaders and was absolutely bowled over by their passion, drive and commitment to restoring the well-being and education of young people attending their centres. I discovered to my amazement that 25 years ago, their founder had started up a tiny school for victims of bullying in a single house in Cambridge. Since then, the Charity has expanded to six houses / Centres around the country, each of which helps young people to rebuild their lives, improve their mental health and envisage a brighter future.

Back in November 22, I soon realised that my vision for a desperately needed new provision in my local area aligned perfectly with what this charity was already doing! Incredible! I affiliated my dreams and my year’s worth of tangible efforts with their expertise and have been made so welcome! Together we have been collaborating for the past 6 months and are making great progress towards our plan for a 7th Red Balloon Learner Centre!

As you can see, the reasons behind this fundraising effort mean the world to me. I made the decision some time ago to leave mainstream teaching to chase my dreams and have spent a good part of this past year gaining relevant experience through volunteering.

I‘m not super confident to be asking people who I know as friends to dig into their pockets, especially when there are so many amazing causes in this world to support. But, I’m going to ask you despite my reluctance, because I believe every child should have a chance in life, no matter how tough things have been for them and no matter how desperate they and their families have become.

Please support.

SO much appreciated,

Jane and her team of climbers!!!

https://www.redballoonlearner.org/about/what-we-offer/