Kirstys 50 walks to success.

As I begin writing this blog; I am in a much more optimistic place compared to the last time I published a blog. I woke up yesterday to a post Dr Ann Limb had shared on LinkedIn in which she had tagged me and others drawing attention to my fundraising, which was a very lovely moment. From that I did get others wishing me good luck and of course I became noticed. A lady which had been tagged in the post said to me in a comment ' we see you' which cheered me up greatly, then she donated which was really kind and wonderful of her.   I had a unexpected delivery of orange roses and a bottle of wine also delivered that day; from someone I work with. I thought about in those moments how very lucky I am with the kindness and support I have with some of those around me and I needed to get dressed, shake the covid misery off and start a new day.  Yesterday I received a good luck message from Shahida at the foundation because I was having a TEAMS meeting with Karen from the radio station

On the 30th March 2021 I decided to do a lateral covid test because I had a sore throat. Normally I would have ignored this but because my children had Covid, I thought better.  Unfortunately the test came back positive. I did feel very unwell and had a couple of days where getting out of bed was impossible. Luckily my husband did pretty much everything in the house.  Fundraising was not far from the forefront of my thoughts. I had already delayed the walks to the 6.3.21 because of the original ending date of isolation. However my ending date for isolation is the 10.4.21. I decided that I was just going to have to push on and start the walking. The walking had to take place in my back garden. The last two days have taken place in my garden but I have not walked the full two hours solely. My family have helped with the walking as we split the time between us.  The pain in my joints and muscles meant I wasn't fit enough to do it alone. I also have terrible fatigue, not helped by the

This blog really is a mix bag of news; from positive developments and ideas, through to a unavoidable and  disappointing situation. I will start with the latter first, therefore ending on better vibes.  Both my sons attend Secondary School; during the last week, three year groups had been sent home because of positive covid tests.  Yesterday I asked my youngest son to take a covid test as he had developed a sudden cough. The test came back positive and to be certain he took another which provided the same result. By the end of the day my whole household had been tested with three people having tested positive ,the household was in a state of shock. We are now in full isolation for ten days.  This means that the original launch walking date has had to be postponed until the 6.4.21. The amount of anxiety and guilt I felt was just awful. I  felt that in some way it would influence the effectiveness of my fundraising in the long run negatively. The guilt was because the donations to date h

Hello All Progress has been fabulous and the generosity of others has been wonderful.  I contacted one of my friends, her son has a confectionary business called Bee Sweet.  I wanted to purchase a 1kg tub of sweets to raffle off. I thought it would be a popular concept amongst staff to raffle  off a big tub of sweets, so I also purchased some fun Disney scratch cards for the raffle too.  The response I received was not expected but so lovely. The young business owner donated a large 3kg tub of sweets for free. He went further than this an stated that he would donate a percentage of all his sales; such a generous thing to do.  I felt humbled by his kindness as I have never met him before. A friend of mine has recently started  a  new business called Craftee-Monkee Handstamping. I contacted her, she was happy to help and agreed to raffle off a personalised set containing a bracelet, necklace and keyring on her business Facebook Page. Both businesses are donating all proceeds made and I

                       Coming on nicely                                                                                                        Yesterday (12.3.21)  I woke up with the focus of getting to work early to collect the key for the display board . The day was particularly busy meaning that I had thirty minuets to get the board done because of my work schedule with classes and meetings.  I have to admit I am a planner and so the process really had started the previous day. I had been in most of the staff rooms asking staff to give me  some edging for the display. It was wonderful that I eventually found a department willing to provide me with the edging as it came out of their budget . That evening when most staff had left the building I was stood near the printer, printing many posters off ready for the next day. I went around the college blue tacking the poster on walls  that Shahida  had kindly made. I placed the posters down every corridor of the building and in each staff

 So many good things have happened in the last twenty four hours.   I have walk route number one thanks to my lovely friend recruiting her fantastic husband. I am not very good with reading maps or recalling street names.  I just walk and know where places are and where I am going. The map drawing has been a massive help and its easily understanable. He worked out on average I will need to do four miles a day, which works out at twenty eight miles a week. I love the thought behind the drawing of the map and appreciate the effort that has gone into it. Only forty-nine more to go!  I have been in my creation station the last few evenings, by this I mean on Microsoft word choosing borders, fonts and shades of purple. Several posters for the HKF display have been created which will be going up on Friday at East Riding College. The posters feature previous award winners and elements of their stories.  Importantly I have located the gate keeper of the display boards and have been given permi