Terri's Walk Turns Up the Heat

[caption id="attachment_6547" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Terri and Hayley's trek report from August 6th's Swindon Advertiser :)[/caption]

Anyone who committed themselves to a physical challenge in the heat of July deserves an especially huge medal for their efforts! This particularly applies to Terri Baylis of Rowan House, who trekked for 40 miles along the Ridgeway on July 13-14, with her friend Hayley Rogers.

Like the Magnificent 7, who Terri provided support for in their National Three Peaks Challenge recently, she has proved the supporters of the Joshua Flynn fund are challenging themselves in all kinds of ways to reach their ambitious fundraising target. Terri and Hayley walked for eight and a half hours each day, on one of the hottest weekends of the year - phew!

I see from Terri and Hayley's JustGiving Page they've raised over £1,140, thus exceeding their target of £1,000.

Young Readers Try Some Mixed-up Fairy Tales

Here's a fantastic newspaper clipping from Norwich's Evening News about the Mixed-up Fairy Tales day supported by Young Readers Programme volunteers from Bertrams :)

It would be great to give a name-check to those involved - leave a comment below with the names and I'll update the post.

Update: And here they are :)

• Emily Cater


• Bernadette Nyulasz


• Catherine Rix


• Frances Plant (thanks for letting me know, Frances!)


• Tracy Branford


• Kiara Hawker


• Amy Martin

Sue's Ready to Zumba

Sue Skillen of Rowan House had an energetic time on March 16th as she took part in a Zumbathon held at Commonweal School in Swindon. The picture shows the report of the event in the local paper.

The 3 hour event was arranged to raise funds for Prospect Hospice, who looked after a member of Sue's family recently.

Overall, the 60 ladies who took part raised around £2,500 and Sue's share was an impressive £150.

Apparently an hour's Zumba burns around 500 calories. Therefore, I can see Zumbathons becoming a popular event!

Newport Get Funraising

[gallery type="rectangular" link="post" ids="5208,5207,5205,5204,5203,5202"]

Newport made sure they had plenty of funraising last week when they held a two-day extravaganza in aid of Comic Relief! Hover your mouse over the pictures for more information and a who's who :)

As well as zipwire, wiggy, biking and onesie action, they sold bacon and sausage baps to warehouse staff on Thursday, together with cakes made by Connor Yalland. Connor is the 10 year-old son of Michelle who works in the office (she's pictured in the middle of the front row in the group photo).  They also held a sweepstake to choose the hairstyle Jessie J would choose after she had her head shaved.

It looks like a lot of fun was had by all! A total of £82.70 was raised for Comic Relief.

Newport haven't forgotten the cause closest to their hearts either. Some of the above pictures also introduce their latest activities in support of St David's Foundation.

On Sunday, there was a 28 mile cycle ride from Caldicot to Newport and back. Saturday sees more zipwire action in Chepstow – a 800ft zip slide over a 250ft lake! Finally in May there's a 'onesie walk' across the Severn Bridge - a total of 11 miles.

Their efforts have also caught the attention of their local newspaper, who report the team has raised over £4,000 so far.

Look out for more Friday funraising later in the week as we're expecting further reports of red noses seen from around Smith News ;)

NB The watermarked pictures are courtesy and copyright of South Wales Argus.