Mr and Mrs Collins' Alpine Adventures for the William Harvey's NICU
With the holidays finally finished, the children returned to their better places of productivity, and giving Mrs Collins, the ability to work properly, again, we thought it about time to update on our joint charitable venture. You see, at the end of July, Nick and I did something quite mad - to thank the William Harvey's NICU/SCBU.
In June 2014, our little boy kicked his way into this world 10 weeks before he should have. He was taught to breathe and survive by miracle-workers, who do this sort of thing, daily, in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent. We have been wanting to do something, for some time, to thank them.
Often, I take bits and pieces to them for use in the family room - colouring books, stickers, etc., - we had a sibling who needed entertaining too! However, we wanted to do something that took a lot of effort and commitment - to show our appreciation and to raise money for them.
So, Nick entered the Alpe d'Huez long course triathlon; and, I did the shorter - but, very intensely fast - Alpe d'Huez Duathlon.
And, wow! Beautiful events but, very, very, VERY tough terrain.
Training for these events did take a lot of energy - mentally and physically. However, as the sponsorships increased, our commitment had to, too.
We did complete the events! I was, amazingly, the 10th woman overall and 1st female Brit. That warranted quite a large glass of wine. Nick's event was tougher - much tougher - and still, he was a top 10 British finisher.
Above all, we have raised over £600 for East Kent Hospitals Trust - with the focus being on NICU and SCBU. We have not yet closed the Just Giving page and won't until the end of October ... I have one more thing I want to try to boost the funds ... Watch this space!
If you would like to help by donating, click here - our link to our JustGiving page.
In addition, we are hoping to become official sponsors of the new Tiny Toes charity, launched this year.