Not how I planned to start the countdown to Kenya

So I fly in 3 days have been struck down with tonsilitis , not exactly what I planned when I'd already packed in 2 weeks of appointments for work into one week. (A call out to the team who work with me THANK YOU and sorry for being out this last week. Andrea, Mark, Cathrine, Justin,You're amazing! And Shani, you just getter better in SA, you're missed)

Thankfully the antibiotics have kicked in and although tired I did not see the need to sleep 18 hours over night which has been par of the course since last Friday..

There's so much to do on a personal front but we've an amazing team going who seem to be far more organised than me....I do however to to STOP being so harsh on myself....

I have accomplished some things for the trip Thanks to Derrick Williams @ KitAid (we have 3 boxes of football kit for the kids, including an entire football strip ( a Dutch Team). There was one CCFC shirt in the load (Ken Thorne as sponsor) which took me back to being a teenager again and kinda courted one of his sons for a bit. When we split up I think I played Victims by Culture Club about 30 times! Memories...

Which leads me nicely into what I believe will be a truly memorable experience in Kenya. We've raised nearly £15k against our target of £10k we're going to be able to install the solar panel systems in the school, build a home, build some new loos, give some guidance on the internet. Plus with the additional finance we've raised this money will go to building a much needed new classroom.

The donations from some people and companies have been totally overwhelming, I also think Philip Wright has another vocation ;-) I'll get a list of the companies who have contributed so much from Philip at the airport on Friday and update this post..THANK YOU ALL who have supported us. KitAid which have kindly supported is an amazing cause. Derrick WIlliams found the charity a number of years ago and has some amazing stories to tell. I hope to do some more work with Derrick in the future, whether it's boxing up shirts, trying to get some friends and kids to arrange a collection what ever it takes to help this amazing cause. You can see the joy on the kids faces when they get these shirts on the link attached to this post. Also any of you know some famous football stars or musicians who'd like to be an Ambassador please let me know ;-) here's a video from where Bobby Robson's son recently took some shirts out to the kids in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya Football Shirts being handed out by KitAid

After getting the kit, it then came to getting it over there cost free....a simple call into Virgin Airways and assistance from their community team and this was sorted- THANK YOU Virgin Airways. I've now in return bagged all my change ready to pass on to their flight attendants for their Change for Change initiative.

So where am I with my Stop, Start Continue thoughts? Stopping smoking is definitely there, though I'm going to see how I cope emotionally before making a decision on that until I get to the Orphanage. On the Continue side I picked up on the momentum of support from KitAit and Virgin and placed an email to CCFC and Cardiff Blues to try and garner some gifts for the kids when Santa visits the Children Hospital in Cardiff. I along other members of the Cisco Taffia will be setting up video equipment so the kids can talk to Santa over video... This annual event by my company will be visiting 9 hospitals across the UK and Ireland in December. This will be Our first visit in Wales so this is a definite Start!


I'm going to be joined on this trip by some brilliant people, some of whom I am lucky to already call friends :-) It's really amazing what we've achieved in such a short time and what we have achieved together. I'm truly blessed to be travelling with you guys..

John - thanks for organising so much!
Polly, Rachel - Brilliant Quiz Night
Mr & Mrs W - Awesome fund raising
Tony - Thanks for the pics and sorting the Lounge
Emma - Thanks for the group shopping, WP at last?
Meghan - Sister, this is going to be amazing, we did it!


Writing this, I've noticed how better I feel already, this could be very therapeutic, who knows? I've been inspired to write this blog after following one of the teams journey earlier this year in beating Cancer. T- you're an inspiration..I'm really looking forward to getting to know you on our trip.

I'll also be recording some video's whilst we are there so we'll be able to post these upon our return and I'm hoping to pick up some photographic tips from Tony (pre-warning!) thank the lord for digital!

Anyhow that's all for now, I'm feeling the need to rest. 3 days to go. I am now starting to get very excited. The one thing I'm going to miss is Dan Nolan, you give me so much strength. Thank you

Love
H x