Lots and lots of tremendous stuff going on.  Last 2 weekends have seen three fabulous events delivering over £18,000 for O2e and our great causes this year!!

The tour de Monmouthshire aka Posse Welsh Weekend was a rip-roaring success; perhaps the most beautiful scenery, magical routes up, down and over the Wye and Usk valleys in almost perfect weather and with a merry bunch of O2e cyclists pounding the miles.  Some very demanding hills, a total of some 115 sweaty miles over two days and wonderful company.  The Posse were magnificent, the organisation was magnificent, the support was magnificent, the BBQ at the end was magnificent; perhaps the largest series of fines ever (what was that drink?) and at the end of the day, when the dust settled, a fabulous £8k towards the O2e coffers.  Magic.  Well done to all the cyclists and to the organisers and support (Jamie and Yvonne – great bbq – Tudor, Roger, Tish, Mark, Richard, Olwyn – the super posse, JT, Avers and Sniffer Doug for the support and huge amounts of cake, Kate for admin and perpetual smiles, Not so Beardy Al for the t-shirts, the Sparkle ladies for the spectacular tea stop at Tintern Abbey on Day 2 and not forgetting the big man at the centre or it all, Nick “we need more fines” John, who kept us all safe and well-watered.  Great weekend full of super memories and that bloody hill.  Still smiling…Sparkle’s  guiding principle is that children with disabilities are fully supported and able to participate in valued childhood experiences, and have access to the same range of opportunities, life experiences, activities and community services as any other child.  They have a fantastic centre in South Wales that hosts medical care and all sorts of activities in specially adapted facilities for profoundly disabled children.  How good is that?

Last Saturday, 45 people took part in the second Thames Path Challenge for O2e and it was another fantastic day! Setting off from Putney Bridge, people chose one of three distances - 12, 20 and 26 miles for the hardiest; the weather was perfect, the routes were beautiful and the atmosphere amazing. A huge thank you to everyone who took part; so far the event has raised over £7,000, absolutely incredible!! Massive thanks to Sue and her team for all the organisation.  Next year’s walk is already in the diary – Saturday May 24^th 2020 - so please save the date if you’d like to join Sue and the team for this popular event!

Perhaps one of the endearing themes of 2019 is going to be Sponge and his 60^th birthday celebrations.  Can he be 65 next year Sue?  Not content with doing all 26 of the Thames Path Challenge, Sponge was packed and ready a couple of days later to fly out to Biarritz in France to cycle the 900km Camino Trail to Santiago de Campostela on the far North West tip of Spain (see map).  Sponge is joined by David Caney and Richard and Nigel Purlin, but the boys are otherwise unsupported on this epic trail.  They will be riding, pushing and carrying their bikes all the way, come rain or shine and it rains a lot in those parts this time of year; no mean feat for young whipper snappers, but bear in mind these four have a total age of 1,220 years.  Look after yourselves boys, come back safe and well.
 All and any donations gratefully received; click here or go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/davidscamino

Jo and the team at Florries organised a group of brave and hardy souls to walk the entire length of the Aylesbury ring – some 32 miles – in a day.  A huge challenge undertaken for O2e by one of our cherished charities.  Florries organises home support for children up to 18 years of age with life limiting conditions such as cancer, working alongside the families to provide individualised care for each child. This enables the family to have space and time for themselves in the ongoing role of caring for their sick child at home. I’m sure you’ll agree this is a wonderful charity whose work is right at the core of all we work for. And over £3,000 raised for O2e coffers, well done Jo and the team and our very own Caroline Smith (Cazzer) who helped with the set up.

So just to recap, he’s done over 250 park runs but this challenge is to run 100 park runs in 100 different locations.  Last weekend was number 95 in Dundee, this weekend he’s giving his hammys a rest; he’s planning to do his 100^th in Yeovil in August. Go Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnn xxx