As a team we have been reflecting recently as we are about to turn 5 years old on the 6th October. To think we are 5 years old is such a surreal feeling for me probably more than anybody. I remember when I came up with the original idea of Boredom Buster Bags seven years ago but life was hectic with uni and I thought I was to young at the time to manage and do something like that. Then when I was stuck in the hospital after surgery in 2012 I decided uni was over and I would take the leap of faith and do it.
I can still remember my parents reaction when I told them what I was intending on doing, there was definitely a mixture of surprise, fear and terror on their faces but you could also see they wanted to be supportive. I have to say my parents have always been supportive of anything I wanted to do especially when I was a child but this was not "Charlie wants to ride a horse" this was 'Charlie wants to run a company.' I was twenty one and at the time I thought I knew what I was doing but oh my days was I wrong. Muffin's did not just grow steadily as I had intended it to it exploded and the demand for it was much higher than anyone could ever anticipated. Within six months of us starting to send out the Boredom Buster Bags we had decided to start adapting activities, running tea parties and the end goal of Muffin's House was already starting to form. Within the year we had raised £5,000 and became a registered charity. Sometimes it all feels like a lifetime ago and sometimes it feels like it was yesterday. One thing I knew though was Muffin's no matter how tough things might get I loved it.
People often ask me 'do you enjoy your job' such a simple question but the answer is far from straight forward. I guess I think about it from two very different view points. Firstly I love my job, it is the best thing in the world to do and it hardly ever feels like I am actually working. But then I wish my job did not have to exist. Some people look at me like I am crazy when I say this but let me explain. I wish social services could do more, I wish the NHS had more money to help the children and families we work with. I wish we could live in a world where no illness or disability existed. I wish everyday the children we work with did not have to die. Sadly none of this will ever be the case and there's very little point in denying it. So Muffin's and other organisation have to exist to pick up where the other services leave. So my answer to the question is yes I really do love my job but I won't pretend that there are times when it gets tough. There are times when you cry, there are times of anger but most of all there are times of laughter, fun and happiness. And it's these times that keep you going when times are hard.
It's very strange to think that we have adapted so many activities over the years, gymnastics, ice skating, bike riding, rock climbing, doughnuting and the list goes on. People honestly do think we are mad when we tell them what we do and that we take children with complex needs to do all these physical activities. In reality it's not hard to actually do. And no we are not mad some would say we were stupid and off our rockers, we say we have faith in our Muffin's abilities. Although I won't deny there are not times when we wonder whether or not we have taken on to much but our attitude of 'it will be fine' always works out well in the end. Yes the physical effort once your doing the activity is hard going but to work out how to adapt things, it just takes a little out of the box thinking. Some of my fondest most heart warming memories over the past few years has been watching our Muffin's do things not even their parents would think was possible. Some of the funnest generally involve us getting messy in particular one of volunteers who had not worked with our Muffin' before was a little to slow and didn't get out of the way quick enough when one of the children launched shaving foam and paint towards him. He was covered head to toe in orange foam as-well as the walls and floor. Although I will admit clearing up wasn't quite as fun as watching that happen. None of the services that Muffin's has offered over the past 5 years is rocket science. Muffin's does not fit nice and neatly into a box and we never intend to. We will keep testing and crashing down the barriers that surround our wonderful Muffin's.
Muffin's has taught me so much in such a short space of time. I have always been thankful for what I have but Muffin's has made me even more aware just how precious life is and what a privilege it is to grow older. Some people hate the idea of getting old but I don't. Ok so I don't want the wrinkles but who does? But life is a gift and as you get older, you are given more life experiences. I think about our Muffin's who have passed to early who will never grow up, never get married and never see more of life and the wonderful experiences it brings us. Life is a privilege and it is denied to so many so early treasure it and never take it for granted.
Five years has nearly passed and it's been a crazy journey with low points and amazing highs and I would not change it for the world. The team who work at Muffin's dedicate so much time and poor so much passion into the organisation. They are what makes Muffin's and without them you would not have the incredible services that we are able to offer. I had the idea but they are what makes that idea a reality each and every single day and I could not be prouder to have such a wonderful team.
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Monday, 18 September 2017
'they can't do that'
We have been quiet on our blog lately, sorry about that but we have been so busy time has run away with us.
So what have we been doing? Well the summer holiday's were jam packed for us on top of our usual home visits, office work and meetings we had extra activities running keeping us a very busy Dream Team. All of our little adventures including visits to the farm and Thames Valley Adventure playground were certainly easier to do then our usual events. You see what people do not often realise is that we cannot just go and book any facility anywhere to do all of the activities that our Muffin's want to try. We have a very positive, happy attitude and believe our Muffin's can do anything and everything they want to do. But that's us and although we can see the potential that our Muffin's have shining out of them, sadly other people do not. Our mission has always been to make all activities accessible but this would be an awfully lot easier if we had everybody on our side. But sadly the world, facilities and venues are not often prepared for disability and illness. So what does that mean for us? It means our team spend large amounts of time looking around different venues, taking our positive attitude with us hoping that we can change people's way of thinking one by one.
We finished the summer off by going doughnutting, now doughnutting when it first came up on our list of things the children wanted to try I had no idea what it was. I had to Google it, and the first thing I saw was a speedboat with a person in a inflatable ring attached to a rope speeding across the water. I will be honest my heart skipped a beat and my stomach sank. It was obvious doughnutting fell into the category of not just difficult to adapt but into 'we must be mad to be doing this' category. Ok so no need to panic or pretend that it had ever appeared on our new activities list. But instead a bit more research couldn't hurt. And that's when we came across doughnutting down a dry ski slope. An inflatable ring that the children sit in and they get pushed down the ski slope. After the shock of seeing the speedboat this was a bit of a relief if we are honest and suddenly my nerves went and our mission to adapt everything was shining bright again.
So 18 months ago we set about trying to find a centre that would be able to accommodate us. Oh my word it became clear after visiting two centres that the challenge was on for us to do this. At first glance of seeing the ski slope you might think how do you get children who cannot walk up that ski slope and down again? And honestly even with our 'can do' attitude renewed we were slightly stumped when we confronted with this. However determination and motivation certainly set in when one centre refused point blank to allow us to go, this sadly we are all to use to and we expect it when trying to adapt something new. The second centre agreed we could use their facilities, great we thought finally things were going in the right direction. But then came the bombshell as we were then told we should accept that 'some children just can't. What on earth is wrong with these people?! How can they offer for us to use the facilities but have this appalling medieval outdated attitude? Well they were told tactfully that we were not interested and suggested they should go on to our Facebook page and take a look at the videos and photos of the children 'who just can't.
It's funny just how this one comment made our team so angry and so disheartened but so passionate and determined all at the same time. How can people still in the 21st century still think this way? How can people still be so judgemental? It made us more determined than ever that we would adapt this activity and we would do it. We were going to show the world that our Muffin's, can!
After looking at several centres we were trying our last centre who finally got it. They admitted they had never really had a group like Muffin's use the centre before but they were up for the challenge. YAY we had found a centre with the right attitude, we had made it through the first hurdle. What a massive relief. Now came the second part how were we going to get our Muffin's up that ski slope?! Conversation's between the team came up with an answer that actually was pretty simple, the children can sit in the ring and we can drag them up the hill. All we needed is a team who were willing to do this? Could we rustle up a team who were up to the challenge? Of course we can! Dream Team to the rescue once again. I am always so ridiculously thankfully we have an incredible team who get stuck in and take on every challenge with a very happy and positive attitude.
With our marvellous Dream Team willing to put in the work we have just run our second doughnutting activity day and oh my was it worth it. The sheer joy, giggles and happiness shining from our Muffin's is incredible to watch. To of been able to give our families this opportunity and to of made memories makes us have the best job in the world.
Oh and to the centre who said "some children just can't" we have 3 simple words to you YES THEY CAN!!!
So what have we been doing? Well the summer holiday's were jam packed for us on top of our usual home visits, office work and meetings we had extra activities running keeping us a very busy Dream Team. All of our little adventures including visits to the farm and Thames Valley Adventure playground were certainly easier to do then our usual events. You see what people do not often realise is that we cannot just go and book any facility anywhere to do all of the activities that our Muffin's want to try. We have a very positive, happy attitude and believe our Muffin's can do anything and everything they want to do. But that's us and although we can see the potential that our Muffin's have shining out of them, sadly other people do not. Our mission has always been to make all activities accessible but this would be an awfully lot easier if we had everybody on our side. But sadly the world, facilities and venues are not often prepared for disability and illness. So what does that mean for us? It means our team spend large amounts of time looking around different venues, taking our positive attitude with us hoping that we can change people's way of thinking one by one.
We finished the summer off by going doughnutting, now doughnutting when it first came up on our list of things the children wanted to try I had no idea what it was. I had to Google it, and the first thing I saw was a speedboat with a person in a inflatable ring attached to a rope speeding across the water. I will be honest my heart skipped a beat and my stomach sank. It was obvious doughnutting fell into the category of not just difficult to adapt but into 'we must be mad to be doing this' category. Ok so no need to panic or pretend that it had ever appeared on our new activities list. But instead a bit more research couldn't hurt. And that's when we came across doughnutting down a dry ski slope. An inflatable ring that the children sit in and they get pushed down the ski slope. After the shock of seeing the speedboat this was a bit of a relief if we are honest and suddenly my nerves went and our mission to adapt everything was shining bright again.
So 18 months ago we set about trying to find a centre that would be able to accommodate us. Oh my word it became clear after visiting two centres that the challenge was on for us to do this. At first glance of seeing the ski slope you might think how do you get children who cannot walk up that ski slope and down again? And honestly even with our 'can do' attitude renewed we were slightly stumped when we confronted with this. However determination and motivation certainly set in when one centre refused point blank to allow us to go, this sadly we are all to use to and we expect it when trying to adapt something new. The second centre agreed we could use their facilities, great we thought finally things were going in the right direction. But then came the bombshell as we were then told we should accept that 'some children just can't. What on earth is wrong with these people?! How can they offer for us to use the facilities but have this appalling medieval outdated attitude? Well they were told tactfully that we were not interested and suggested they should go on to our Facebook page and take a look at the videos and photos of the children 'who just can't.
It's funny just how this one comment made our team so angry and so disheartened but so passionate and determined all at the same time. How can people still in the 21st century still think this way? How can people still be so judgemental? It made us more determined than ever that we would adapt this activity and we would do it. We were going to show the world that our Muffin's, can!
After looking at several centres we were trying our last centre who finally got it. They admitted they had never really had a group like Muffin's use the centre before but they were up for the challenge. YAY we had found a centre with the right attitude, we had made it through the first hurdle. What a massive relief. Now came the second part how were we going to get our Muffin's up that ski slope?! Conversation's between the team came up with an answer that actually was pretty simple, the children can sit in the ring and we can drag them up the hill. All we needed is a team who were willing to do this? Could we rustle up a team who were up to the challenge? Of course we can! Dream Team to the rescue once again. I am always so ridiculously thankfully we have an incredible team who get stuck in and take on every challenge with a very happy and positive attitude.
With our marvellous Dream Team willing to put in the work we have just run our second doughnutting activity day and oh my was it worth it. The sheer joy, giggles and happiness shining from our Muffin's is incredible to watch. To of been able to give our families this opportunity and to of made memories makes us have the best job in the world.
Oh and to the centre who said "some children just can't" we have 3 simple words to you YES THEY CAN!!!
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Car's made of Dreams
Last weekend was our annual sport car's event with Sporting Bears. In case your sat there thinking "what is Sporting Bears?" allow me to explain Sporting Bears are an organisation who are made up of people who own a variety of sports cars and then go to events around the country doing Dream Rides where people pay to get in the cars and have a ride in them. The money that is raised is then passed on to various charities including Muffins. But last weekend was not about raising money but giving our families a very rare opportunity to ride around in these wonderful sports car, for free all day long. Sounds like a dream for our Muffin's and the parents right?
There were over 30 cars there on the day we had everything from Lambroghini's to Maserati's, now I don't know much about cars but they certainly looked impressive and were very shiny. Now you can imagine what an out of this world opportunity this is for our Muffin's and their families, it's not every day you get to say you were driving around in sports cars. Some adults might get to experience this once maybe twice in their whole life and here was our Muffin's getting to go out multiple times in a whole heap of sports cars, pretty amazing huh?
A lot of preparation went into the event several months prior to it taking place but it is so worth while when you see our Muffin's faces. Everything had been considered when it came to taking our Muffin's out on the road from making sure our hoist was there on the day so we could hoist wheelchair bound children into the cars to having support staff who could go out in a car with some of our more medically complex children. The joy from some of the children knowing they could get into some of these cars because we had a hoist available was just so wonderful to see. When you see children, siblings and parents just enjoying time out as a family and forgetting the situation they find themselves in for even a few minutes, you know you have not just done your job but it's a job worth while doing anytime, anywhere.
Before the event had started a police car turned up, I and the Dream team were slightly unnerved by this to start with as I was unsure as whether they were there to participate in the event or on official police business. Thankfully and very luckily for us they were there to participate and we had not slipped into a police drama where they were about to arrest somebody in an drama filled scene. The police car and motorbike did not go out on the road that much but did give children the chance to go up and down the run away on the air field and sit on the police motorbike. If this was not already an incredible event I mean at this point they had sports cars and the police you would think that would be enough and most of our Muffins' were in car heaven but it was made even better when the fire engine turned up. They let the children dress up in the fire fighters uniform and spray the hose. We stayed well away from our Muffin's spraying water for fear of getting very, very wet.. That being said I'm sure they would of found it hysterically funny to see the Dream Team soaked by the water hose. Perhaps the nosiest thing during the whole event was letting the children play with the siren and have the lights flashing. Now I say it was the nosiest part of the day because even having over thirty sports cars down there on the day which trust me are extremely loud you could still hear the siren over the top of all of them. Although perhaps it was not helped by the fact that the siren was being played with all day. However it was magical seeing the Muffin's faces getting the chance to do this. For some of our Muffin's it is a dream of their's as there obsessed with police and fire engines. So we know that a few Dream's came true that day for a few of our Muffin's.
Our Dream Team did not stop all day from 9am till 5pm and neither did the drivers with most of the drivers going out in there cars over ten times during the day. An incredible amount when you consider the route they were driving was about twenty to thirty minutes long. I have to admit even our Dream Team got a chance to go out in the cars which was a lovely extra bonus for our staff and volunteers.
It's a truly lovely event for everybody involved for our families they get a once in a life time opportunity and the chance to make some very precious memories. For our Dream Team and volunteers we get to see pure and utter joy on our families faces and that will never stop making us smile and keep us doing our job to the end of the earth. For the drivers of Sporting Bears they get to meet some of the families they raise money for which is an opportunity that do not generally get to do. Although we can never say what our families situations are we can say to the drivers of Sporting Bears that you truly helped make some magical memories for children and families who are going through some of the toughest situations life can throw at you so from the bottom of our hears and with all our Muffin Spirit we say THANK YOU!!
There were over 30 cars there on the day we had everything from Lambroghini's to Maserati's, now I don't know much about cars but they certainly looked impressive and were very shiny. Now you can imagine what an out of this world opportunity this is for our Muffin's and their families, it's not every day you get to say you were driving around in sports cars. Some adults might get to experience this once maybe twice in their whole life and here was our Muffin's getting to go out multiple times in a whole heap of sports cars, pretty amazing huh?
A lot of preparation went into the event several months prior to it taking place but it is so worth while when you see our Muffin's faces. Everything had been considered when it came to taking our Muffin's out on the road from making sure our hoist was there on the day so we could hoist wheelchair bound children into the cars to having support staff who could go out in a car with some of our more medically complex children. The joy from some of the children knowing they could get into some of these cars because we had a hoist available was just so wonderful to see. When you see children, siblings and parents just enjoying time out as a family and forgetting the situation they find themselves in for even a few minutes, you know you have not just done your job but it's a job worth while doing anytime, anywhere.
Before the event had started a police car turned up, I and the Dream team were slightly unnerved by this to start with as I was unsure as whether they were there to participate in the event or on official police business. Thankfully and very luckily for us they were there to participate and we had not slipped into a police drama where they were about to arrest somebody in an drama filled scene. The police car and motorbike did not go out on the road that much but did give children the chance to go up and down the run away on the air field and sit on the police motorbike. If this was not already an incredible event I mean at this point they had sports cars and the police you would think that would be enough and most of our Muffins' were in car heaven but it was made even better when the fire engine turned up. They let the children dress up in the fire fighters uniform and spray the hose. We stayed well away from our Muffin's spraying water for fear of getting very, very wet.. That being said I'm sure they would of found it hysterically funny to see the Dream Team soaked by the water hose. Perhaps the nosiest thing during the whole event was letting the children play with the siren and have the lights flashing. Now I say it was the nosiest part of the day because even having over thirty sports cars down there on the day which trust me are extremely loud you could still hear the siren over the top of all of them. Although perhaps it was not helped by the fact that the siren was being played with all day. However it was magical seeing the Muffin's faces getting the chance to do this. For some of our Muffin's it is a dream of their's as there obsessed with police and fire engines. So we know that a few Dream's came true that day for a few of our Muffin's.
Our Dream Team did not stop all day from 9am till 5pm and neither did the drivers with most of the drivers going out in there cars over ten times during the day. An incredible amount when you consider the route they were driving was about twenty to thirty minutes long. I have to admit even our Dream Team got a chance to go out in the cars which was a lovely extra bonus for our staff and volunteers.
It's a truly lovely event for everybody involved for our families they get a once in a life time opportunity and the chance to make some very precious memories. For our Dream Team and volunteers we get to see pure and utter joy on our families faces and that will never stop making us smile and keep us doing our job to the end of the earth. For the drivers of Sporting Bears they get to meet some of the families they raise money for which is an opportunity that do not generally get to do. Although we can never say what our families situations are we can say to the drivers of Sporting Bears that you truly helped make some magical memories for children and families who are going through some of the toughest situations life can throw at you so from the bottom of our hears and with all our Muffin Spirit we say THANK YOU!!
Monday, 17 July 2017
To the stranger who said 'only 7?'
The blog takes an unusual turn this week and is not as happy as previous entries. However it is so important that this get's said and hopefully the one person it is aimed at might see it.
At Christmas we do a gift wrapping marathon for two weeks straight in our local Toys R us Store. "Are you crazy? Two weeks of wrapping presents just before Christmas?" Hmm well yes we might be a little bit mad, but by this point in the year we have done our Christmas Party and most activities with our Muffin's have finished for the year so we are in the Christmas spirit and need something to keep us busy and fulled by sugar and the Christmas spirit we embark on coin collecting and wrapping presents for the public. The atmosphere down there is lovely, that staff are really welcoming, we have tubs of chocolate which we give out and there's Christmas music playing, all be it the same album on repeat everyday for two weeks. Yeah OK, that bit does drive you loopy, along with the Toys R us Christmas jingle the plays periodically through out the day. Now I will just pause here in case your thinking "Oh my I don't want to read, watch or think about Christmas, it's only July." I might just add that the rest of this blog is not going to be about Christmas, I promise.
We meet a lot of lovely people whilst we sit there year after year and meet people who always come back to get their presents wrapped. We have lots of time to chat with the public and we get to spread the word about what Muffin's does and every year without fail we will find a family who are in need of our support which always makes us happy as it's one more family who will now get the support they need to. Last year I was sat there with my coin bucket having had a fun day wrapping a few presents with a couple of other volunteers that had been down to help us. A person approached me about Muffin's asking lots of questions and I sat telling them about the work we did and what we hoped to achieve. They were rather interested in our Surprise Dreams where we help our Muffin's who are terminally ill or life limited have a day where they can do whatever they want just for the day. I sat explaining all of the memories we had helped create over the years and they then asked "how many children have you lost?" there was nothing strange about this question for we are asked it all the time and to be honest I now don't think anything of it when people ask. I replied "sadly we have lost 7 children." There response to this statement rather cheerfully with a great big simile on their face was "oh only 7? Seem's a bit much for just 7 children" This reply even seven months on I fail to comprehend. In that moment I was left utterly speechless and froze thinking desperately of something to say to back. But what could you say?!
Did this person have any idea what they had just said? Or realise how they had said it? Probably not. Had they ever worked with a family who just wanted to make a few more memories before their child passed away? Things as simple as a photo shoot to have a few more precious snaps of them as a complete family. Had they perhaps organised events for a child or young person which is there final one wish of something they want to do and memories they want to create? Most of the time nothing major things that were not over the top and rather simple to do like, pottery, afternoon tea, meeting their favourite cartoon character, Has this person ever seen a child or young person battle with everything they had and put up a fight unlike anything you will ever witness? Each of our Muffin's have a spirit and strength that as staff we admire so much and get to wittiness each and every single day working with our families. It is this spirit that when we maybe going crazy with paperwork or stressed over some other trivial matter that pales in significance that makes us pull ourselves together and get on with the job. Had the person I still could not bring myself to reply to sat with a family consumed by grief? Had they ever been asked by a grieving parent 'why my child?' whilst you sit there unable to answer them, knowing there is nothing you could ever say or do that was going to make this situation better. Was it just a throw away comment that nothing was meant by? Were they just ignorant? Perhaps. I finally took a deep breath and thought 'my reply to this is simple.' "7 is to 7 to many for us and we will do our job until there are no more children to be helped.' They looked a little shocked when I replied quite sharply to them having been this friendly, sweet nature person a few minutes ago.
You see to the person I was talking to they could not see the benefit of Muffin's and why families were being helped because they could not put themselves in their shoes. They were unable to see past their own little bubble where nine times out of ten life ticks along with a few hiccups but overall life works out reasonably well not a world where everything gets turned upside down because you are told your child has a disability or illness or that they will pass away. I hope they went away from Toys R us that day feeling a little more informed and thankful for what they did have. I left the store that day bewildered by the conversation I had been apart of and hoped beyond hope that the message of what Muffin's does and continues to do got through to them.
To the person that said 'only 7' I hope you are never in the position of any of our families, I hope your child never suffers illness or disability, I hope you never have to sleep in a hospital bed looking after your sick child, listening to the machines that are keeping them alive beep through out the night, I hope you never have to hand your child to a doctor in the hope they can save their life, I hope you never face the heartbreak of losing a child.
Monday, 10 July 2017
Winning the race
This week we are going to give you a little insight into fundraising for Muffin's and how it has led us to put on our most exciting and biggest fundraising event ever for us. So grab a cuppa, get yourself nice and comfy and read on.
We love our job and Muffin Life but it does take money to run all of our services and to let Muffin's grow and achieve it's future aims. Like many charities Muffin's are not funded by the government. You might be surprise about the amount of people we meet in our daily lives who assume that the government and local council pay us to do the our job, "so you rely on donations?" is the common reply whilst people look at you slightly quizzical and you can see their brain going "why on earth would you chose to do it?" The short answer is "well, yes we do rely on donations and we put so much time into it because we genuinely love our job" The soul reason Muffin's is able to run is because we have dedicated, loyal staff who work ridiculously hard. One of these amazingly hard working members of our Dream Team is Jo, whom I cannot speak highly enough off she is incredible and we are very blessed to have her as our amazing funding officer. Jo's job is to apply Muffins to grant's such as Children In Need, Sun Life of Canada and so on who very kindly fund some of our services. So she is the poor person who gets to spend hours reading all the guidelines and work out what we can and cannot apply for. It is not a job for everybody, some might think it's boring I would not say it was boring but it is a highly challenging job which requires a large amount of skill. On top of the work Jo does we get people, some of whom know us and some whom do not offering to run marathon's and taking on crazy challenges to raise money for our Muffin's. But the rest of the money we have to fundraise ourselves.
This means taking every single opportunity we have to raise a few pennies which can be quite tough going when you spend most of your free weekends when your not meant to be working, working. But it is so worth while when you not only know but actually see where that money is going and what it is able to do. I mean when you go from standing in a field with a change bucket to seeing our Muffin's go up a rock climbing wall how you can not feel that it is not worth giving up your day off? Give me a change bucket any time, anywhere.
As we do so much fundraising a few year's ago in the middle of the night I awoke quite suddenly as I often do now that I have Muffin's in my life and an idea flew into my head, the Muffin Mile. A fundraising event where the children we work with i.e the Muffin's could do there own race and the public can hopefully be 'inspired' by the fact that these children most of whom cannot walk are doing their best to complete a race. I remember picking up my phone and making a note of it. Ok it may not of been something that would happen that year or even in the next ten but I had learnt to make a note of everything that comes to mu mind, any little idea I note down. In any case it was my little mad idea but again Muffin's was growing at such an astonishing rate that I did not have the time to arrange such a fundraising extravaganza. But I knew that one day the Dream Team could achieve it.
It remained a little fantasy of mine for a few years that if I am honest I did not devote anytime to developing or even thinking about I just knew it would be wonderful to do. Well that was until early last year when I and the team sat down and decided we were going to do the Muffin Mile. Oh my days what had we just committed ourselves to? Well month's of planning paid off and at the end of August last year Muffin Mile was launched. It was an amazing day apart from the fact it rained all day, I mean we had a heat wave the whole week and the one day we needed it dry it tipped it down. Typical British weather but what can you do? The weather did not stop us or the public joining in what was a fantastic day and a rather emotional Muffin race where we saw our Muffin's racing to the finish line, there were tears all round! How amazingly wonderful it was to watch our Muffin's crossing that finish line, some running, some wheeling in their chairs and some crossing the line in their little walking frames. Those children made us so unbelievably proud and it goes to show, do not put these children in a box, do not say they can't and do not say it is impossible. They truly will show that impossible does not exist and will challenge anybody who tell's them they can't because these kids can!
Almost a year on and we are a few weeks away from the Muffin Mile event again, taking place on the 29th July 12pm-4pm at Chineham Village Club. We have worked solidly for months on the event. There is going to be an ice cream van, BBQ, games galore, bouncy castle, tea room and of course the Muffin Mile race which will take place at 2:45pm, the Mayor will also be attending. We have our fingers crossed for dry weather this year but should it rain we have indoor cover so no getting soaked this year, hooray! So thinking of coming along? Please feel free to join us. Many members of the public ask us "does the work you do with the children really work?" well if you are sat there at the moment thinking the same thing then we encourage to come down and meet our Muffin's and Dream team and I promise you will not regret coming along.
We love our job and Muffin Life but it does take money to run all of our services and to let Muffin's grow and achieve it's future aims. Like many charities Muffin's are not funded by the government. You might be surprise about the amount of people we meet in our daily lives who assume that the government and local council pay us to do the our job, "so you rely on donations?" is the common reply whilst people look at you slightly quizzical and you can see their brain going "why on earth would you chose to do it?" The short answer is "well, yes we do rely on donations and we put so much time into it because we genuinely love our job" The soul reason Muffin's is able to run is because we have dedicated, loyal staff who work ridiculously hard. One of these amazingly hard working members of our Dream Team is Jo, whom I cannot speak highly enough off she is incredible and we are very blessed to have her as our amazing funding officer. Jo's job is to apply Muffins to grant's such as Children In Need, Sun Life of Canada and so on who very kindly fund some of our services. So she is the poor person who gets to spend hours reading all the guidelines and work out what we can and cannot apply for. It is not a job for everybody, some might think it's boring I would not say it was boring but it is a highly challenging job which requires a large amount of skill. On top of the work Jo does we get people, some of whom know us and some whom do not offering to run marathon's and taking on crazy challenges to raise money for our Muffin's. But the rest of the money we have to fundraise ourselves.
This means taking every single opportunity we have to raise a few pennies which can be quite tough going when you spend most of your free weekends when your not meant to be working, working. But it is so worth while when you not only know but actually see where that money is going and what it is able to do. I mean when you go from standing in a field with a change bucket to seeing our Muffin's go up a rock climbing wall how you can not feel that it is not worth giving up your day off? Give me a change bucket any time, anywhere.
As we do so much fundraising a few year's ago in the middle of the night I awoke quite suddenly as I often do now that I have Muffin's in my life and an idea flew into my head, the Muffin Mile. A fundraising event where the children we work with i.e the Muffin's could do there own race and the public can hopefully be 'inspired' by the fact that these children most of whom cannot walk are doing their best to complete a race. I remember picking up my phone and making a note of it. Ok it may not of been something that would happen that year or even in the next ten but I had learnt to make a note of everything that comes to mu mind, any little idea I note down. In any case it was my little mad idea but again Muffin's was growing at such an astonishing rate that I did not have the time to arrange such a fundraising extravaganza. But I knew that one day the Dream Team could achieve it.
It remained a little fantasy of mine for a few years that if I am honest I did not devote anytime to developing or even thinking about I just knew it would be wonderful to do. Well that was until early last year when I and the team sat down and decided we were going to do the Muffin Mile. Oh my days what had we just committed ourselves to? Well month's of planning paid off and at the end of August last year Muffin Mile was launched. It was an amazing day apart from the fact it rained all day, I mean we had a heat wave the whole week and the one day we needed it dry it tipped it down. Typical British weather but what can you do? The weather did not stop us or the public joining in what was a fantastic day and a rather emotional Muffin race where we saw our Muffin's racing to the finish line, there were tears all round! How amazingly wonderful it was to watch our Muffin's crossing that finish line, some running, some wheeling in their chairs and some crossing the line in their little walking frames. Those children made us so unbelievably proud and it goes to show, do not put these children in a box, do not say they can't and do not say it is impossible. They truly will show that impossible does not exist and will challenge anybody who tell's them they can't because these kids can!
Almost a year on and we are a few weeks away from the Muffin Mile event again, taking place on the 29th July 12pm-4pm at Chineham Village Club. We have worked solidly for months on the event. There is going to be an ice cream van, BBQ, games galore, bouncy castle, tea room and of course the Muffin Mile race which will take place at 2:45pm, the Mayor will also be attending. We have our fingers crossed for dry weather this year but should it rain we have indoor cover so no getting soaked this year, hooray! So thinking of coming along? Please feel free to join us. Many members of the public ask us "does the work you do with the children really work?" well if you are sat there at the moment thinking the same thing then we encourage to come down and meet our Muffin's and Dream team and I promise you will not regret coming along.
This event is of course to raise money so that we can continue to provide our Muffin families with as much as we possibly can and it will help us reach our future aim's. "What are they?" Well I will explain more about our future ambitions another time but they certainly are big but very, very exciting. For now if you check our website www.muffinsdreamfoundation.org you will be able to read all about it.
For now we are in the busy lead up to the event sorting out a hundred and one different things but we know all the stress, sleepless nights and evening meetings will all be worth it come the 29th July. The children we work are the reason we are so passionate and why we put so much time into Muffin's' they do definitely have it tough in life and everything you take for granted, can be a challenge for our Muffin's but they in our eyes have most certainly already won their race.
Monday, 3 July 2017
Muffin's go to the ball
Recently it has been a particularly crazy time for us with some truly amazing and magical things happening, just over two weeks ago our corporate sponsor Rosemount Financial Solutions held their annual charity ball in aid of Muffin's. Now before I tell you about the amazing night we had let me just introduce you to Rosemount who are a big part of our Muffin life. Rosemount became our corporate sponsor three years ago and have been played a huge part in getting us to where we are today. They have helped pay for some events, they have enabled us to buy our own hoist, they have helped grant wishes of some of very poorly muffins,j they also donated us a massive office printer, I mean it is seriously massive,they had to take it apart to fit in the office. but it has helped us so much. So yes they as a company raise us money but they also do so much more. They are in constant emails and phone calls with us through out the year to find out how they can help and what they can do for us. They support has been out of this world.
The night of the ball arrived, I was slightly rushed getting into my dress as I had to arrive earlier than others and had been at prior engagement that afternoon but I made it on time and there we all were in our finery, having made our way to the venue, our brand new van was sat in the car park, wrapped up with ribbons and filled with balloons. I, Sam, Julie and Alex were beside ourselves with excitement. There was definitely a moment of "Oh my this is actually happening!!!" You might think but it's just a van? But it is not just a van, it is a van with our logo on and covered in spots who couldn't love that? Besides the fact that it look's incredible it will transform our life at Muffin's. People do not often realise that to put on the events we do we have to move a HUGE amount of stuff. Everything from the food, to the toys to the crash mats come out of storage and it takes a great deal of planning weeks before hand normally as to who will move what and when. So the van meant that we know longer have to fill our cars with paint, play dough, musical toys that turn themselves on when your driving around that make you jump a mile. Finally after four years we could all have our cars back. Oh the the pure relief and joy of such a simple thing.
Once everybody had arrived and been given the obligatory glass of champagne the speeches begin. The CEO of Rosemount Ahmed makes a speech where you can really tell as he talks how passionate Rosemount are about Muffin's and the work we do. He's also very good at encouraging people to give those all important donations which of course is why we are all there. Then it's my turn, and oh the nerves, it is the biggest speech that I make of the year. People say I am good at public speaking and have a good voice to listen to. People's lovely comments aside it's not actually a part of my job that I enjoy doing but it is a necessary part, when you are a Chief Executive it does come with the territory. So now it's my turn to take the microphone, there is always a moment when it is feels slightly surreal to be standing in front of a packed room about to speak being acutely aware most of the people there I don't even know and they have paid good money to come to a charity ball for something that literally started in a bedroom. I remembered to put my drink down as trying to carry to many things and speak will just end in disaster where I am concerned, I take a deep breathe and begin to talk. To my relief my speech gets much applause and people come up to me congratulating me on delivering a 'powerful and inspiring speech. Well I don't know about it being powerful and I am not a fan of the word inspiring but what I can say is my speech is delivered from the heart, it's honest and truthful and I do not sugar coat the harder parts of our job.
We all enjoyed a delicious meal with a few bottles of fine wine, per table I might add not just to ourselves and then the auction begins. Ooh the anticipation is building it's the highlight of the ball and I know one of the prizes is an all expenses trip to Dubai. You cannot say that the prizes are not amazing but will people bid and will their bids be high enough? Well oh my days what a thrill it was to watch all these people bid, with bidding wars breaking out across the room. The auction raises a jaw dropping £6,000 and that did not include the ticket sales and raffle that Rosemount had also run. The total was a mind blowing £9,503!! All we did was turn up, make a speech and eat some food. How mad is that?! But the night was not over yet the DJ starts and we danced the night away until midnight when exhausted we finally called a night and went home.
I got into bed that night almost unable to process just what a wonderful night I, the team and Muffin's had just had. I and our team truly believe in our Muffin's and their ability to do whatever they can but to think we now had serious sponsors who also believed it. It almost didn't feel real. We had come so far in such a short space of time and I was more in love with my Muffin Life than ever before.
Monday, 26 June 2017
How did we get here?
Hello everybody
Welcome to the Muffin Life blog, where you will be able to read all about Muffin's, our life and everything in between.
I (Charlie) am going to tell you a little bit about what led Muffin's to be created and how we got here.
When I was born I had an unexpected birth defect called Spina Bifida and another condition called Hydrocephalus. Huh? Never heard of it? I will explain, medically it means my nerves are damaged and I have no feeling in my legs and feet. The most common answer to this statement is, 'well how do you walk then?' To be honest, I do not know and neither do any of my doctors, a mystery that will never be solved. I am just forever thankful that I can walk. I also have fluid on my brain which does not drain away by it's self and I need a special device called a shunt to drain it away. What did this mean for the rest of my life? errr well.... the doctors were not entirely sure about that one, the picture they painted was a bleak one and the future was very uncertain.
Nothing in life is straight forward and I seemed to set out on that path literally from the day I was born. I grew up with a care free life, yes there was a lot of medical stuff going on with many hospital stays but I was a happy go lucky, cheeky little girl and have very fond memories of my childhood. Even when at the age of 9 I suffered a stroke and was paralysed I still never saw myself as different and did not want to be treated differently by anybody. Even after my stroke I took part in sports days, did ballet, horse riding and so much more. My parents never let my disability stand in the way of doing what I wanted.
It was always my dream to go to university and gain a degree. My parents were keen to see me pursue it and after finishing my A levels I gained my place and went off to university to do a degree in psychology. It was the summer after I finished uni that I began to think about the future. What was next for me? What did I want to do? For me at the time the choice seemed obvious I wanted to go and do my Masters and then go into medicine or neuroscience. It was my dream to help people and make a difference. I applied to do my masters and gained places at three different universities But life has a habit of throwing you in a different direction when you least expect it and things never do run smoothly. That summer I found myself in hospital needing major reconstructive surgery of my feet, I was going to be in a cast, bed bound and unable to walk for several months. Well that certainly put my PHD plans on hold but I was not giving up without a fight.
So there I was lying in hospital, bored stupid and I had a moment where I remembered a few years ago I had come up with the idea of 'survival kits' for children in hospital, something fun and exciting to help them survive the boredom of hospital. But I had done nothing about it at the time because I was at uni and who really would care about such a simple idea? I came out of hospital and felt inspired to do something. Yes I should have been resting but as I couldn't leave my bed technically I was. All I needed was my laptop and phone to get started. To me it did not matter what life had thrown at you it was what you did with it that counted and I saw an opportunity to use my experiences to help others. I came up with a name almost instantly Muffin is a nickname of mine so Muffin's Dream seemed perfect. I remember one evening my parents and I sat down to dinner and they asked what I had been up to that day and I told them my grand plan to send out these Boredom Buster Bag's to poorly children, They looked slightly scared and apprehensive as at the time I was awful at organisation and hear I was talking about setting up and running my own charity. But as they had always done they gave me there unwavering support in my mission.
So on the 6th October 2012 whilst I should have still been resting Muffin's Dream became a reality and we started out on our Muffin Life journey and mission to help children with illness and disability across the area. I had no idea that day would change my life forever nor did I realise at the time how wonderful and enchanting Muffin life was going to be.
Welcome to the Muffin Life blog, where you will be able to read all about Muffin's, our life and everything in between.
I (Charlie) am going to tell you a little bit about what led Muffin's to be created and how we got here.
When I was born I had an unexpected birth defect called Spina Bifida and another condition called Hydrocephalus. Huh? Never heard of it? I will explain, medically it means my nerves are damaged and I have no feeling in my legs and feet. The most common answer to this statement is, 'well how do you walk then?' To be honest, I do not know and neither do any of my doctors, a mystery that will never be solved. I am just forever thankful that I can walk. I also have fluid on my brain which does not drain away by it's self and I need a special device called a shunt to drain it away. What did this mean for the rest of my life? errr well.... the doctors were not entirely sure about that one, the picture they painted was a bleak one and the future was very uncertain.
Nothing in life is straight forward and I seemed to set out on that path literally from the day I was born. I grew up with a care free life, yes there was a lot of medical stuff going on with many hospital stays but I was a happy go lucky, cheeky little girl and have very fond memories of my childhood. Even when at the age of 9 I suffered a stroke and was paralysed I still never saw myself as different and did not want to be treated differently by anybody. Even after my stroke I took part in sports days, did ballet, horse riding and so much more. My parents never let my disability stand in the way of doing what I wanted.
It was always my dream to go to university and gain a degree. My parents were keen to see me pursue it and after finishing my A levels I gained my place and went off to university to do a degree in psychology. It was the summer after I finished uni that I began to think about the future. What was next for me? What did I want to do? For me at the time the choice seemed obvious I wanted to go and do my Masters and then go into medicine or neuroscience. It was my dream to help people and make a difference. I applied to do my masters and gained places at three different universities But life has a habit of throwing you in a different direction when you least expect it and things never do run smoothly. That summer I found myself in hospital needing major reconstructive surgery of my feet, I was going to be in a cast, bed bound and unable to walk for several months. Well that certainly put my PHD plans on hold but I was not giving up without a fight.
So there I was lying in hospital, bored stupid and I had a moment where I remembered a few years ago I had come up with the idea of 'survival kits' for children in hospital, something fun and exciting to help them survive the boredom of hospital. But I had done nothing about it at the time because I was at uni and who really would care about such a simple idea? I came out of hospital and felt inspired to do something. Yes I should have been resting but as I couldn't leave my bed technically I was. All I needed was my laptop and phone to get started. To me it did not matter what life had thrown at you it was what you did with it that counted and I saw an opportunity to use my experiences to help others. I came up with a name almost instantly Muffin is a nickname of mine so Muffin's Dream seemed perfect. I remember one evening my parents and I sat down to dinner and they asked what I had been up to that day and I told them my grand plan to send out these Boredom Buster Bag's to poorly children, They looked slightly scared and apprehensive as at the time I was awful at organisation and hear I was talking about setting up and running my own charity. But as they had always done they gave me there unwavering support in my mission.
So on the 6th October 2012 whilst I should have still been resting Muffin's Dream became a reality and we started out on our Muffin Life journey and mission to help children with illness and disability across the area. I had no idea that day would change my life forever nor did I realise at the time how wonderful and enchanting Muffin life was going to be.
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