School's out!

I've finally finished my GCSEs! It's so nice to be able to sit back and not have any exams to worry about. Plus, I have an extra month of holiday before the rest of the school even break up! I've been to some parties, met up with some friends and now I have the whole day to relax. Not much has happened this week in terms of scoliosis, but finishing my exams is a huge triumph.

That being said, there have been a couple of events which have taken place. On Saturday we had a stall at the Party on the Pitch at the Sawbridgeworth Football Club. My cousins had flown over from America and they were very eager to help out with running the stall and making slime. We arrived around 12:30 to set up and we already had a couple of customers come over before the event even started! Overall we sold lots of slime, squishies and bags of sweets and raised around £230. It was a lot of fun and the event was brilliant. The live music was amazing and the food was delicious. I hope we can go again next year!

Also, yesterday the local Brownies did their three-park challenge astonishingly quickly - half their predicted time! We came down to one of the parks to watch them and they looked like they were having a lot of fun despite being very tired after so much running around. They all managed to complete every piece of equipment in the park without giving up and I'm very impressed by them all. We're not yet sure how much money they raised as they have to tally up their sponsers but I'm sure it's going to be a very substantial amount considering the amount of work and effort they put into completing the course.

We're so close to our goal now. We've raised roughly £22,000 and it looks like we may reach our goal by the deadline! It's astonishing how far we've come; last christmas we had nothing. I can't believe how many people have done so much for the cause. You've helped change my life and I can't begin to express how grateful I am. This August is going to be tough for me, but my whole life would have been tougher if it wasn't for you. Thank you.

If you haven't noticed, we've added a follow tool to the blog so you can keep up with my story without having to search for it! It would mean a lot to me to see some people who are interested in hearing me throughout my journey with scoliosis. I hope it helps!

The only way is up!

This week has been half term and so I've had a chance to take a break from exams and catch up with some friends. It's been really nice to have a more relaxing week, especially as I know that it's all going to start up again tomorrow. We've done some really fun things, for example on Monday we went on a surprise trip to the seaside. I absolutely loved walking up and down the pier and paddling in the sea. Also, one of the little cafés sold iced coffee; perfect for such a hot day! We were only there for one night, but I could have stayed there for weeks and would have never got bored. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.

There has been a lot happening at home too though. The Brownies have offered to do a 'three park challenge' where they have to complete every piece of apparatus in three playgrounds in two hours. This will require them to complete a whopping 62 activities in just 120 minutes! This is on top of the £30 they've already raised doing the bra pong at our football match. I used to be a Brownie myself and so it means so much to me that they will support me and help to raise funds for me at such a crucial time in my life. I am very thankful and hope that they all do very well in their three park challenge!

Also everyone in Sawbridgeworth can expect to get a picture of me through their door soon! This is thanks to Kings Estate Agents who have promised to support us throughout my fundraising. They're going to donate a hundred pounds to the fund everytime someone rents out their house or somebody rents a property via the leaflets being posted around Sawbridgeworth. This is in addition to the £3000 they've already given us. We're extremely grateful for this generous donation - it is incredibly humbling to see how lovely people truely are. Thank you.

It's amazing. We've just broken the £20,000 mark which is astonishing. If anyone happens to have a spare £10,000 lying around, now would be the time to send it...! 🤣