Children In Need
Starbuck [13:00]
Comments: 3
[] OK, so British readers may cringe at the very thought of Pudsey Bear (anagram "USE BAD PYRE" - oh, I wish...), and the telathon for the BBC's annual fund-raising appeal for charities working with children in the UK tends to turn into a uneasy mix of self-promoting celebrities and big businesses making the most of the opportunity to advertise on the publicly-funded BBC.
But that doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile event.
And with that in mind, I'd like to do my tiny bit by publicising the following on behalf of my friend Salsky, editor of the wonderful WeddingPath website.
Hope no one minds me forwarding this on from my good friend Sujay. I know it's late notice, but if you or a company you know are in a position to pledge a tiny bit of money for Children in Need via the WeddingPath forum on or after Friday (as detailed below), it'd be hugely appreciated.
Sarahx ----------- BBC Children In Need Friday 18th November 2005
2005 has been an eventful year for my wife and I, full of amazing highs and lows.
In February I left my job in the City to concentrate on an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for some time. I was proud to launch the online wedding portal WeddingPath.com on Valentine's Day.
Meanwhile excitement about something altogether more important was growing - my wife was expecting our first child on June 11th!!! Baby Tara arrived out of the blue, just a few days earlier on 26th May - a day which has profoundly changed our lives.
After being rushed to Hospital on a hot summer's afternoon, my wife delivered under emergency C-Section and our beautiful little girl arrived into this world. Sadly, it was over 14 minutes before Tara took her first breath. As you can imagine, this meant extensive damage to our child's health.
Baby Tara has a very short life expectancy. She spent the first four and a half months in St. Thomas Hospital where we experienced an enormous amount of support from the Neonatal Staff and Chaplain.
My wife and I knew that, however much we wanted to, realistically we could not cope with bringing Tara home as she requires 24 hour care. However we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. We were amazingly fortunate enough to be told about, and be offered a place at Richard House Children's Hospice. Richard House Children's Hospice is a charitable organisation based in East London, and a few short weeks ago Baby Tara moved in.
Our aim now together with the fantastic staff at Richard House, is to give Baby Tara as much love, comfort, and support as we can for the rest of her life.
Many people think that charity is something given to other people, and not something they may ever need themselves. It's a very humbling experience to be told that you will be unconditionally supported throughout your darkest hours.
My wife and I feel that now is the time to give something back. After brainstorming with members of the WeddingPath community, this is what we?d like to do:
On Children In Need day (18th November) we will be asking the WeddingPath community and all our friends to ask as many people as we can to come to the site and leave a message of support for Baby Tara and other Children In Need. For each message left we will be asking companies to pledge 10 pence to the BBC Children In Need appeal. Of course the companies can put a cap on the maximum donation they can make. As a thank you we will add the names of the companies sponsoring these messages of hope to the 'Baby Tara and the Children In Need' area on the site. We will also put banners on the site for the rest of the year acknowledging the support of each company.
Please ask your company if they will consider offering support at whatever level they can. There are many children and families whose lives will be changed by this simple act. Companies (or individuals) able to support the BBC Children In Need appeal in this way should email childreninneed@weddingpath.com and let us know the name of the company, the contact person's email address and the maximum donation (this donation amount will not be made public unless specifically requested). Donations will be collected by WeddingPath shortly after November 18th, and will be forwarded directly to the BBC Children in Need appeal http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/index.shtml
