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Tom BrakeLiberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington |
My Olympic Gold Challenge for Bliss
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This year I'm taking part in the Olympic Gold Challenge in aid of Bliss, a charity that offers free advice and support to families of babies born sick or prematurely. It is estimated that over 80,000 babies, or one in every nine, are born this way every year.
Before Christmas I was invited to the Bliss Sutton Support Group Christmas party and had the opportunity to meet face to face with some of the parents and children who had received support from Bliss. Just last week I had the privilege of visiting the neo-natal unit at our local St Helier Hospital to see first-hand the quality of support offered by the charity. Bliss does fantastic work not just in our area, but all over the country.
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The Challenge involves trying my hand at ten Olympic sports before the start of the London Games. I completed the fourth stage just a couple of weeks ago when I joined the members of the Rosehill Table Tennis Club for their usual Friday evening training session. After speaking with members of the club committee and learning more about the club, I took the opportunity to challenge some of their more talented junior members to a match, which I later regretted.
My Challenge started back in November when I headed down to Carshalton Athletic's FA Trophy match against Cirencester Town and, at half-time, faced penalties from some of the club's youth team players and fans.
I followed that up later in the month by making the trip to Twickenham for a visit to the Thames Handball Club. There I took advantage of a great opportunity to speak to the club's Chairman, Frank Wuggenig, a man who has personal experience of the difficulties that face the parents of premature babies.
And last month I completed stage three of the Challenge: an early morning open-air swim at the Tooting Bec Lido. Needless to say, it was very cold!
The rest of the Challenge will see me compete in another five sporting events, including running the 100m sprint at the brand new Olympic Stadium on April 1st, before finishing with the gruelling Blenheim triathlon in early June.
Both Bliss and I would really appreciate all the help that you can give us, and with all your help I've currently raised over £470. By donating just a small amount you'll be going a long way towards helping the thousands of sick babies who are born each year, as well as their families. If you would like to donate, you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/tombrakegoldchallenge.
Thanks
Tom
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