Hello, and thanks for visiting my page, further on you can read about what I am doing to raise money, but first of all I'd like to tell you a little about the reasons why.

I am very fortunate to be grandad to five beautiful grandchildren, Thomas, Isabelle, George, Poppy and Harry who all bring loads of fun and happiness into our lives, but sadly, with our Isabelle who suffers from severe complex epilepsy, sometimes that happiness can turn into heartache and pain that no parent or Grandparent should ever have to experience. 

Our Belle's story began over 6 years ago when she was first diagnosed  and since then she has gone through many life threatening moments due to the severity of her seizures, undergone operations to have a Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) fitted and also a portacath to help with getting meds into her quickly. She's been prescribed so many different types of medication and combinations of, in the hope that her seizures can be controlled more effectively.

Her condition has also meant that her development has been severly hampered, and at 7 years old now, she still has an almost none existent vocabulary, but does manage to communicate a lot through gestures and noises. All this being said she is a beautiful, extremely lively little girl with the biggest smile you could ever wish to see, she loves to run free and has an obsession with twigs, grass and zip ties and must have the largest collection in the UK. 

Our Belle now receives respite through Birtenshaw, which gives her mum Toni, a much needed break as Belle is hyper from the minute she wakes up to the minute she goes to sleep with very little change in between and this amongst many other reasons is why I have chosen to do what I am to raise funds for them, for our Belle and all the other children and young adults they help.

So, on the 9th of July 2017 I will be attempting to run across England in 7 days following Wainwright's original Coast to Coast route, you can read more about the route on my website www.7in7.co.uk. 

Please remember I am raising money for two charities so if you are thinking of donating please think about splitting your donation between them both, that way both charities can do even more to help children, young adults and their families. You can visit my team page at https://www.justgiving.com/teams/7in7coast2coast