If you want to see kindness in others, do an event for charity!
I recently completed the London to Paris Cycling Challenge so I could raise funds for Leukaemia Care, at first I thought the £1,100 target was going to be impossible, but with the help of my family, friends and work colleagues I managed to raise over that amount.
Doing an event such as this one requires a lot of work, there is the fundraising, the training – which the English weather didn’t always make pleasant, and then there is your own personal fight with your inner doubt and lack of self belief that you can actually do it.
All the hard work aside, the rewards of completing such a task are worth every single effort.
More importantly knowing that the money you have raised is going to help people who need it the most, is an overwhelming feeling.
Why did I choose Leukaemia Care? My sister Jessica was diagnosed with a rare type of the disease when she was just 9 months old, the years which followed were extremely difficult for the whole of my family, especially for my parents, who had to learn how to put feeding tubes into a crying baby who just didn’t want the tube to be there, they had to deal with her not eating, not sleeping, then all the visits to the hospitals, on top of that the uncertainty of whether or not she would eventually be free of the illness. Luckily as a family (Jessica is the youngest of 7 siblings) we all managed to support each other and stick together. The older children would do the babysitting, help with the housework and cooking, and the other small toddler seemed to have a sense that something was wrong and was always on her best behaviour; in fact it was this same toddler who is now 13, who was imperative in the fundraising campaign, managing to raise £100 with an event she organised and had held at her High School. Other people who were equally paramount in helping me raise the funds were my Mum and one of my other sister’s Laura, as well as all my work colleagues and my agency APL.
To know that the money is now being used to help other sufferers and their families is an immensely gratifying feeling and I am happy that I have been able to contribute in this way. I would advise anyone who is looking to do something of this scale to first make sure they train, so they can really truly enjoy the experience, but, mostly I would advise them to have fun and really enjoy what they are doing.
I plan now to try and do some volunteering work with the charity and hopefully be able to do the Paris to Geneva cycle challenge next year.
I recently completed the London to Paris Cycling Challenge so I could raise funds for Leukaemia Care, at first I thought the £1,100 target was going to be impossible, but with the help of my family, friends and work colleagues I managed to raise over that amount.
Doing an event such as this one requires a lot of work, there is the fundraising, the training – which the English weather didn’t always make pleasant, and then there is your own personal fight with your inner doubt and lack of self belief that you can actually do it.
All the hard work aside, the rewards of completing such a task are worth every single effort.
More importantly knowing that the money you have raised is going to help people who need it the most, is an overwhelming feeling.
Why did I choose Leukaemia Care? My sister Jessica was diagnosed with a rare type of the disease when she was just 9 months old, the years which followed were extremely difficult for the whole of my family, especially for my parents, who had to learn how to put feeding tubes into a crying baby who just didn’t want the tube to be there, they had to deal with her not eating, not sleeping, then all the visits to the hospitals, on top of that the uncertainty of whether or not she would eventually be free of the illness. Luckily as a family (Jessica is the youngest of 7 siblings) we all managed to support each other and stick together. The older children would do the babysitting, help with the housework and cooking, and the other small toddler seemed to have a sense that something was wrong and was always on her best behaviour; in fact it was this same toddler who is now 13, who was imperative in the fundraising campaign, managing to raise £100 with an event she organised and had held at her High School. Other people who were equally paramount in helping me raise the funds were my Mum and one of my other sister’s Laura, as well as all my work colleagues and my agency APL.
To know that the money is now being used to help other sufferers and their families is an immensely gratifying feeling and I am happy that I have been able to contribute in this way. I would advise anyone who is looking to do something of this scale to first make sure they train, so they can really truly enjoy the experience, but, mostly I would advise them to have fun and really enjoy what they are doing.
I plan now to try and do some volunteering work with the charity and hopefully be able to do the Paris to Geneva cycle challenge next year.
Pictures are taken of the event, Tammy with her sister Jessica and sister Donna who helped with the fundraising.
For help information or support with a leukaemia, lymphoma or a myeloma call 0800 169 6680 or visit www.leukaemiacare.org.uk
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