Miles this week: 0
Money raised this week: £36.00
Running Total:£357.00
Still
to go: £1,143.00
I
thought it’s time that I reminded you guys why I am running the Virgin London
marathon for Sense this coming April… And what better way to do this than by
telling you about the Sense family Christmas day I had the pleasure of volunteering
at last Saturday.
When
I was first accepted by Sense to run for them, I asked whether there would be
any opportunities where I could see the work they do first-hand by volunteering
for them at some point before April. To my surprise, I was asked whether I
would like to volunteer at their Christmas family day.
I jumped at the chance for two
reasons… Predominantly it was to see the work they do, but secondly because it’s
Christmas! And who doesn’t love Christmas?!!
To
be able to volunteer (this goes for anyone who wants to volunteer) I had to
provide a lot of information about myself, but it was worth it. First, I had to
fill out an online application form to say I was interested in becoming a
volunteer. Once this was completed, Sense contacted me to ask for a full 10
year history, which I could do in a couple of ways. I did this by providing them a
copy of my CV, but the other option was to fill out another form…….. Once this was
done and Sense were happy, I was sent an Enhanced Disclosure form, which, once
completed, they sent off to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) on my
behalf.
You
may think this is a lot of hassle just to do some volunteering. But I can tell
you guys now, the time you give up is not just volunteering, it could be a much
needed break for the parents! It’s also a time for siblings of the affected
children to let off steam, as being disabled doesn’t just affect the one person.
And anyway, in terms of the paperwork, I’m sure you’d agree that nothing is
more important than the safety of everyone involved.
So
what is Sense’s Christmas family day, I hear you ask. Well, it’s a fun-filled
day for everyone involved, where volunteers are on hand to help visiting
families enjoy the activities on offer, and to enable them to make the most of
some much needed down time.
On
the day there were four different rooms, which consisted of the following:
Activities
in Room One, located on the ground floor, were where all the arts and crafts
took place. In the morning we had snowman making, face painting, and there were
Christmas tree shapes for painting and decorating with glitter and stars. In
the afternoon the activities changed to play dough sculpturing, though because face
painting was so popular in the morning session, we decided to continue it into
the afternoon. Below is some of the master pieces we created, check out my teeny-weeny penguin in front of the Christmas tree!!
Room
Two, which was situated upstairs, was simply a room full of festive fun! There
were Christmas songs playing all day, and was also the stage for our little
production number… But more on that later!
The
third room was accessed through the back of the second room, and the aim of
this area was to stimulate the kid’s senses. It was, I have to say, very
peaceful! The room had projections of shapes and colours on the walls, which
would encourage children to try to follow the changing lights and shapes in
order to stimulate them. In addition, there were toys that lit up and toys that
worked to stimulate a child’s touch. Also found in this room were two large bubble
tubes, which are amazing!!! They’re basically massive tubes with bubbles
flowing upwards that changed colour (similar to a lava lamp, but not). These
tubes are incredibly beneficial to children with sensory impairments,
especially those affected on a multi-sensory level, as it’s definitely a
multi-sensory piece of equipment. As this was a peaceful room, it also hosted
the massage story. I’m gutted I missed this experience, but I believe it
involved a story being read out while volunteers/parents drew shapes on the
child’s back. For example, the first sentence had the volunteers/parents draw
an outline of a Christmas tree.
Finally
the last room, that was available all day, was the hydro pool. A hydro pool is
a pool of water which varies in degrees, and is normally used for hydrotherapy.
The pools are different from ordinary pools, mainly because the temperature,
pressure and movement of water are controlled and changed, according to who's
using the pool, and why.
There
was also a table football, which I played Sonny at, but I think he liked
putting the ball into the table more than playing it! Have you ever tried to
play table football with two balls on the pitch?? That was tough!!
You
can’t have a Christmas day without a visit from the main man himself, can you?!
Santa was able to take time out from his hectic work schedule to come and visit
all the children, even managing to sneak a sack full of toys past his hard
working elves.
On
Saturday 7th December I had a much earlier than usual start to my
day, as I needed to be in Luton for 9:30am, ready for the volunteer briefing
(provided by Hannah, our team leader for the day). This outlined the day and
what to expect, as well as being a chance to get to know all of the volunteers. I think they all deserve a name check for their hard work and
dedication on Saturday so in alphabetical order we have Alicia, Beckie, Bex,
Daniel, Eva, Janice, Khalil, Leila, Marie, Natasha, Sabrina, Siobhan, and
Stevie.
The
fun got underway with the volunteers painting each other’s faces. I think a
special mention has to go to Beckie for her wonderful work creating the
reindeer faces.
I
held off from having my face painted until some of the families turned up, just
in case the children needed encouragement to have their faces painted… But
mainly because I didn’t have a clue what to have done!
And by the way, kids do not
need encouragement to have their face painted.
I
eventually decided on a reindeer, but as we already had a Rudolph (aka Sabrina),
I asked for my nose to be black. A couple of the children named me Dancer to
start with, and then it became Prancer. But then they realised they wanted to
be called those name themselves, which then made me Vixen, but that’s mainly
because we couldn’t think of the rest of Santa’s reindeer.
I’m
just glad I drove to the venue and didn’t take the train as I initially planned.
Having said that, I did keep my face paint on well into the evening… I think it
was on for something like 12 hours - that’s got to be some kind of record.
Here’s a test for you: Can you
name all of Santa’s reindeer? Hint: there are 9 of them!
Not
many families turned up at 10:30. I was expecting a rush of people, but then on
reflection I remembered it was a day for the families and there was no ruling
saying they had to be here for 10:30! Besides, it was in a new location.
There
was a lovely cold buffet laid on for lunch, not to mention quite a few mince
pies.
So,
in the afternoon, five of the volunteers (including me) put on a show in front
of the remaining parents and the volunteers. Now, I’m not one for this acting malarkey,
but you can’t really say no when requested by two little children, can you?!
The show was called “The Christmas Thief” and was so good that we even had a narrator!
The whole thing was thought up by two of the girls visiting with their
families.
The show was recorded and, if I can get a copy, I
will post it up here for you all to see. BUT ONLY IF YOU GUYS GET MY
SPONSORSHIP TOTAL PAST THE £500 MARK BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR! Now if you
didn’t already have enough reason to sponsor me, that’s got to be an incentive,
right?!!!
Time’s
ticking, tick tock… I have even helped you out this week by adding another £36
from ebay sales. So the ball’s in your court!!!
Oh
and if any of you still struggling with naming the nine reindeer, I’ve listed
them here for you (seeing as it’s Christmas).
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,
Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (Donner), Blitzen, and, of course, Rudolph. Well
done if you got all 9, I could only think of 5!
At
the end of the day all the volunteers were given a little chocolate gift to say
thank you. I had such a good day being a volunteer, I really didn’t need
anything to say thank you, but it was a nice touch.
Hannah
asked me if I would ever do volunteering again, and I can say, without doubt,
that I would. I was honoured and humbled to be given the opportunity to take
part in Sense’s magical Christmas day, where I got to meet and work with fantastic
people, from volunteers and parents, to the inspiring children. This is what
will be helping me get round the streets of London come April time.
I
have seen the amazing work Sense do and I can honestly say any amount of money
you can spare is vital and is put to good use, so please sponsor me even if you
can only manage £1. After all, it’s Christmas!
Merry
Christmas!
Leigh
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