Remembering Graham Walk - 3rd October

There will be a special Remembering Graham walk near Great Kimble, Buckinghamshire on the morning of Sunday October 3rd 2010. This walk was Graham's favourite local walk, and it is a very special place for the family.

The walk will start at 10:30 am and takes approximately 2 hours. We are asking for a donation from each walker, which will be split evenly between three charities - Winston's Wish, Teacher Support Network and the Child Bereavement Charity. We suggest a donation of £5 per walker.

If you would like to join Towe and girls on the walk, please email me on chris.saunders@talktalk.net with the number of cars and walkers who intend to come and I will let you know where to park and meet, and details of how to donate.

Memorial Afternoon at Stoke Mandeville Combined School

On 9th July, Stoke Mandeville Combined School held a memorial afternoon and picnic for Graham, and to celebrate the completion of many of the projects that Graham had started. Towe and the children were there, along with Ken and Betty Hollows. Here are some of their photos and Towe's own account of the afternoon.

It was incredibly powerful and emotional. It was a celebration of everything Graham had done for the school & the projects they have finished on his behalf since he died. The children were lovely - so welcoming and talked about Graham all of the time. They clearly adored him and he is a very big part of their school life even though he is not with them.

The projects they had completed were the library, the play area (the chaps brought the bench to school the week after Graham died and gave it to the school), the courtyard, the reception area and the stage lights (after he'd got the staging blocks last year).

There was a picnic for the whole school. The parents & grandparents arrived at 2 pm and had tours by the year 6s of the completed projects. Just before 3 pm everyone went down to the bottom of the field where there was a net of blue & white balloons - one for every child in the school in the school colours. Some words were said about all the lovely things Mr. Hollows did for the school and how much he meant to everyone in the school, there was a minute or two of silence & then the balloons were released. As they flew over the school everyone clapped and cheered for him.

Thame 10k results and photos

Congratulations and well done to all 20 runners who ran for Graham on 26th June in the Thame 10k, raising over £2,000 for Winston's Wish and Teacher Support Network. It was very moving to see all the Remembering Graham T-shirts, watch the runners release balloons and above all witness the supreme effort by lots of people, some of whom have not run before and took it up specially for this event.

There are official photos on

http://www.theracephotographer.com/Thame2010_10k/index.htm

but here are some of the team during and after the event.

Six months on

Today it is six months since Graham died. Graham loved the carpet of flowering bluebells in the Spring. This picture was taken in 2006 at Gravetye, West Sussex.

Thame 10k

Preparations are going well for the 16 people who will be running the Thame 10k in memory of Graham on Sunday 27th June. We believe that there are still a few places left, so be quick to register if you are still keen to take part. Towe is very grateful and appreciative to all Graham's friends who will be running.

It would be great to see as many people as possible to cheer on and support the team on the day. They will all be wearing a commemorative Remembering Graham T-shirt. The race starts at 09:30 at Thame Leisure Centre and finishes at the same place - we recommend that you go to the start/finish or Thame High Street (fairly near the start) to cheer on the team. If you would like to wear a Remembering Graham T-shirt, please contact Rick and Becca Bolt at rebecca.bolt@tiscali.co.uk by the June 2nd. The cost is not known but is expected to be in the region of £10.

The course route is on the following link: http://foot4ward.co.uk/2010/05/10/thame-10k-course-preview/

Some of the runners are raising money in Graham's memory for Winston's Wish or Teacher Support Network - if you would like to contribute, go to one of:

http://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Bolt for money to go to Winston's Wish, or
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/runforgraham for money to go to Teacher Support Network.

James Milne completes half-marathon

James Milne completed the Reading half marathon on 21st March in 2 hours 15 minutes, raising a total of £1,586 in memory of Graham for Winston's Wish and a further £1,020 for North Wilts Portage. All he has said so far is "that it was much harder than I anticipated but I managed to keep going, knowing that it was all for such good causes, and with thoughts of Graham driving me on."

Well done James, and he passes thanks to everyone who supported him.

Teacher Support Network - in memory of Graham

Teacher Support Network (TSN) has recently been in touch about how they plan to use the fund set up in Graham's memory. Graham donated regularly to TSN for 10 years - we don't believe he ever had to use their services but he believed strongly in the need to support teachers in their work. The recent court case of Richard Garner has also highlighted the need to detect and support issues with wellbeing in teachers, and the increasing importance and volume of support provided by the Teacher Support Network.

Using the funds raised in Graham's memory, TSN is launching an online guide to for headteachers to help them look after their own wellbeing and actively facilitate the wellbeing of their staff. You can look at the guide - which is still under development - at the TSN website: http://teachersupport.info/ by following the links to Lead By Example.

For more information about the Richard Garner case and TSN's role in supporting teachers see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/richard-garner-how-stressed-staff-soldier-on-for-fear-of-showing-weakness-1958687.html