On Monday 26th March Alice and myself (Josie) had the pleasure of returning to our old secondary school The Abbey, in Reading. We were invited back to hold an assembly for the current students age 14-18 about why we were undergoing the swim itself and how we were going about doing it.
Niether Alice nor myself had been back to school since picking up our A Level results there in 2010 and 2009 respectively and neither or us really new what to expect. Had the school changed much? Would we recognise anyone? Had assembly format been altered?
Fortunately we were received very warmly by the staff and students who patiently listened to our plans and what we have been up to so far, as well as what is going to happen in the near future. It was lovely to be back in school again, which we can now safely say hasn't changed dramatically, and we still recognised a few staff members which was also lovely! In fact the whole experience made us somewhat nostalgic of school life again, especially when we heard the school bell go!
Alice and I would like to thank all the staff and students for making us feel so welcome and for allowing us to come in and speak to them. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to be back soon!
Lots of news on forthcoming events to come in the next few days so watch this space....
About Me
- Challenge 5:21
- 5 people : 21 miles We are 5 girls from Reading who are swimming the English Channel in the summer of August 2012 to raise money and awareness for Cancer Research UK. Follow on here our progress in training and organizing our challenge!
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
A Prestigous Invite
Last week we receieved an invitation to attend the Young Achiever's Trust awards ceremony. It was to take place on Monday 19th March at the Speakers House. This was the extent of the information we received and so armed with an overwhelming sense of intrigue and a variety of outfit choices, Amy and I (Poppy) made our way to the Houses of Parliament. We asked the friendly Policeman outside the gate where Portcullis House entrnace was and were directed away from the Houses of Parliament. Luckily we found a group of people stood outside what Amy described as "Tesco Express offices" and in true British style, we joined the queue! We were ushered in to a reception area where our bags were checked and we were subjected to airport style security. After receiving our security passes, we waited in the crowded atrium of an extremely large greenhouse. We were then ushered down staircases and through corridors until we emerged into the courtyard of the actual Houses of Parliament!
Amy and I were still bewildered and confused as to exactly why we were there and what on earth was happening but we smiled graciously as they gave us name tags and showed us into a very grand room. Not quite a champagne reception but the OJ and apple juice went down a treat! We were told to "make ourselves at home" in a set of rooms which would not have looked out of place in a period drama. We oohed and aahed at the magnificence of the suite and giggled at our incompetence to mingle with anyone other than each other!
There followed a few quick speeches, one of which was given by Sholto Moger, our mentor from the Mark Evison Foundation who helped us through our application. The awards ceremony was short but sweet and both Amy and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the calibre of the young people who were receiving the prestigious awards. Once all of the awards had been given out, we managed to pluck up the courage to talk to Margaret Evison and her daughter Lizzie. Margaret then introduced us to Sholto and it was nice to finally be able to put a face to the name. We also met some of the previous recipients of Mark Evison Foundation awards and the chance to talk to them about their achievements and future plans was awe-inspiring!
As the dignitaries and award winners had left, Amy and I took our leave. After a false start on the tube we finally made our way to Paddington and eventually home again. We'd like to thank the Young Achievers' Trust and the Mark Evison Foundation for the wonderful opportunity and generous hospitality.
But after all this partying, it's sadly back to the training plan...
Amy and I were still bewildered and confused as to exactly why we were there and what on earth was happening but we smiled graciously as they gave us name tags and showed us into a very grand room. Not quite a champagne reception but the OJ and apple juice went down a treat! We were told to "make ourselves at home" in a set of rooms which would not have looked out of place in a period drama. We oohed and aahed at the magnificence of the suite and giggled at our incompetence to mingle with anyone other than each other!
There followed a few quick speeches, one of which was given by Sholto Moger, our mentor from the Mark Evison Foundation who helped us through our application. The awards ceremony was short but sweet and both Amy and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the calibre of the young people who were receiving the prestigious awards. Once all of the awards had been given out, we managed to pluck up the courage to talk to Margaret Evison and her daughter Lizzie. Margaret then introduced us to Sholto and it was nice to finally be able to put a face to the name. We also met some of the previous recipients of Mark Evison Foundation awards and the chance to talk to them about their achievements and future plans was awe-inspiring!
As the dignitaries and award winners had left, Amy and I took our leave. After a false start on the tube we finally made our way to Paddington and eventually home again. We'd like to thank the Young Achievers' Trust and the Mark Evison Foundation for the wonderful opportunity and generous hospitality.
But after all this partying, it's sadly back to the training plan...
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Just Giving Page now open!
After what has been a flurry of activity this week I am very pleased to announce that we have just launched our Just Giving Page.
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
Please give what you can - it is for a very worthwhile cause and the money donated via the link will go straight to the charity and will start benefitting millions of cancer sufferers throughout the UK.
All of this has been made possible this week by the very generous donation from the Mark Evison Foundation. Due to the donation we are now able to focus entirely on raising money for charity so any donations given are very appreciated.
We will be back with more news when we have any... lots of things in the pipeline!
ps for anybody in Reading be sure to check out p.42 of the Reading Evening Post, or look at their website
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2108072_five_pals_take_on_channel_swim
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
Please give what you can - it is for a very worthwhile cause and the money donated via the link will go straight to the charity and will start benefitting millions of cancer sufferers throughout the UK.
All of this has been made possible this week by the very generous donation from the Mark Evison Foundation. Due to the donation we are now able to focus entirely on raising money for charity so any donations given are very appreciated.
We will be back with more news when we have any... lots of things in the pipeline!
ps for anybody in Reading be sure to check out p.42 of the Reading Evening Post, or look at their website
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2108072_five_pals_take_on_channel_swim
Friday, 10 February 2012
Fantastic news!
Today we have made two huge leaps forward in our channel swim project. Firstly came the news that we had been included in The Reading Post with a very flattering article and slightly less flattering picture of us all! We are hoping this will help to generate some more interest in the challenge and may even lead to some more fundraising opportunities. Either way, it is excellent exposure for us and we really hope this is just the beginning of our publicity campaign - This Morning here we come!
We are also very pleased to announce that we have been awarded an extremely generous £2000 from the Mark Evison Foundation. Three of us made the trip down to Dulwich, South London last Friday for an interview just days after we'd put our application in. It was quite an informal process, though stressful nevertheless. We were asked all about the project, our motivations, evidence of our dedication to the challenge and also the practicalities of the swim itself. I think most of all we showed our overwhelming enthusiasm for the whole thing, from the planning, to the training and all the way to the completion of the challenge. They have given us some leaflets and posters to use whenever we talk about the project and we are hoping to receive some t-shirts to be worn at future events, so look out for lots of Mark Evison Foundation information coming your way in the next few months!
We have also been told by Izzy, our resident slave driver, that we all have to commence structured, specific land training. I think we've all said at some point that it's easy to forget about the actual swimming part of the project when you're all caught up in the fundraising, but I think it's going to be completely unavoidable
from now on! I'm definitely not starting on the regular cold showers just yet though!
We'll keep you all updated on any more progress, thanks already to everyone who has supported us so far!
We are also very pleased to announce that we have been awarded an extremely generous £2000 from the Mark Evison Foundation. Three of us made the trip down to Dulwich, South London last Friday for an interview just days after we'd put our application in. It was quite an informal process, though stressful nevertheless. We were asked all about the project, our motivations, evidence of our dedication to the challenge and also the practicalities of the swim itself. I think most of all we showed our overwhelming enthusiasm for the whole thing, from the planning, to the training and all the way to the completion of the challenge. They have given us some leaflets and posters to use whenever we talk about the project and we are hoping to receive some t-shirts to be worn at future events, so look out for lots of Mark Evison Foundation information coming your way in the next few months!
We have also been told by Izzy, our resident slave driver, that we all have to commence structured, specific land training. I think we've all said at some point that it's easy to forget about the actual swimming part of the project when you're all caught up in the fundraising, but I think it's going to be completely unavoidable
from now on! I'm definitely not starting on the regular cold showers just yet though!
We'll keep you all updated on any more progress, thanks already to everyone who has supported us so far!
Sunday, 22 January 2012
January Planning!
Lots of different emails and letters being sent out this week so we should have some news very soon about upcoming events!
In the mean time training has started again as we only have 7 months to go until the swim itself. We all need to get our fitness going again, especially as a practise open water swim will be happening in the not too distant future, I get the feeling it will be a shock to all of our systems!
Anyway back to the planning for fundraising and we promise any exciting news as soon as we have any!
In the mean time training has started again as we only have 7 months to go until the swim itself. We all need to get our fitness going again, especially as a practise open water swim will be happening in the not too distant future, I get the feeling it will be a shock to all of our systems!
Anyway back to the planning for fundraising and we promise any exciting news as soon as we have any!
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Happy New Year!
Apologies it has been far too long since the last update - hopefully with the new year my resolution to update this more will survive!
Huge day of planning fundraising activities today - trying new contacts and bigger events. I will keep you posted with details of upcoming events on here as and when they happen.
Training is starting again shortly, I may regret all that turkey now!
Update again soon...
Huge day of planning fundraising activities today - trying new contacts and bigger events. I will keep you posted with details of upcoming events on here as and when they happen.
Training is starting again shortly, I may regret all that turkey now!
Update again soon...
Sunday, 9 October 2011
To keep everyone updated!
Hey again!
No we haven't disappeared!!! It's been a while since our last update. Since then we have all gone back to our respective universities, been settling back in and certainly in the case of me realising how much more work there is in final year!
As for the swim itself training is occurring individually thanks to Izzy's amazing training sessions. The one I did a couple of days ago was tough but manageable so maybe positive effects are starting to shine through already?!
As for fundraising plans for Christmas time events are currently underway and details will be made available asap!
Back with more news soon ....
No we haven't disappeared!!! It's been a while since our last update. Since then we have all gone back to our respective universities, been settling back in and certainly in the case of me realising how much more work there is in final year!
As for the swim itself training is occurring individually thanks to Izzy's amazing training sessions. The one I did a couple of days ago was tough but manageable so maybe positive effects are starting to shine through already?!
As for fundraising plans for Christmas time events are currently underway and details will be made available asap!
Back with more news soon ....
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