I set off to Gloucestershire last week to collect Joe for his half-term break.  Joe will have been away at college for just over 40 days, but it has been no wilderness.  We have visited Joe a few times and the staff at the college have been very generous and considerate with their communication, regularly updating us about Joe's progress.  So I can confidently report that he has settled happily into college life.  He has a busy timetable that includes: speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, aqua therapy, music therapy, course time, cookery with occupational therapy, development of life skills either out in the community or in his residence, time in the dance studio, and riding ... at Cheltenham race course! Read More

This time next week Joe will be on his way to the National Star College in Gloucestershire.  It feels just great to be able to write so positively about Joe's future.

I am grateful to our local authority for eventually agreeing to give Joe the opportunity to further his education.  However, the people who I am most grateful to are: my family, my friends, my local community and the many strangers who placed their trust in me by supporting the campaign with kindness and generosity.  Their trust helped me remain steadfast to what I knew was right for Joe.  Their trust reassured me and gave me the courage to keep going.  My heart-felt thanks to you all.

When our postman delivered the 'New Student Information Pack' from National Star College it was indeed a red letter day for Joe.  It meant that Joe was part of something.  In common with other 19 year olds up and down the country, Joe could begin making preparations for college life - he was included.

However, I am sure that many parents will recognise that there are mixed emotions felt when a child prepares to leave home for college or university.  For the child it is the beginning of something exciting, something promising new horizons ... but for parents the excitement is also tinged with a little sadness ... the right sort of sadness.  It is the sadness of letting go and allowing your child the freedom to lead their own life away from home.  Obviously for Joe it is not a straightforward transition but nonetheless he has every good reason to try.

The Joe Rae Trust will continue to fundraise but for the time being the pressure is off.  Money already raised will be used to enhance Joe's college experience.  Fundraising events are already planned and will take place over the next twelve months.  Joe still needs friends, so please keep an eye on the website for news.

Ten days ago I walked a challenging 53km across Scotland from Inverlael on the west coast to Ardgay on the east coast.  It was a long, tough walk through stunningly beautiful landscape.  My four hail and hearty walking companions made it a very special experience.  It has been an extraordinary year and the highland hike felt like physical punctuation ending the first chapter in the story of The Joe Rae Trust.  We are now at the beginning of a new chapter.


Good Luck My Dearest Joe.
 

Joe cannot speak so I am his voice.  Being Joe's voice does not mean putting my own words into his mouth.  Speaking on Joe's behalf is a responsibility I take very seriously.  So before I speak up for Joe, I give a great deal of respectful consideration to what Joe might say if he had a voice of his own.  I draw on my experience as a mother of three, my experience as a carer, I use common sense, occasionally a process of elimination, I use my intelligence and my instinct.  I also talk to Joe but above all I listen to him.

Joe leaves school in less than three weeks and I hear him saying, like any other 19 year old, 'What's next?'. Read More

A few weeks after Joe was born, Joe's dad and I were settling him back to sleep after one of the alarming choking episodes that would be a feature of the early months of his life.  As Nick, Joe's dad, cradled the now peaceful Joe in his arms I asked 'What will we do if Joe is disabled?'.  Without hesitation Nick replied, 'We will just have to love him more'. 

We soon realised that love is a 'doing' word and as any parent of a child with disabilities knows, there is never a shortage of things to do.  We would have to 'do' a great deal of loving to try and make Joe's life as good as it could be.

Since the launch of the fundraising campaign many people have been 'doing' for Joe.  People offering to climb mountains, walk the Ridgeway, run marathons, even write a children's book.  By Tuesday of last week I was quite simply lost for words - which has got to be a first!  Messages of support and encouragement continue to come in and we thank everyone who has been generous enough to invest in Joe's future by making a donation to the fund.  There is now £3700 in the account which is just great. Read More

Asking people, and more specifically, strangers, to donate money to a cause is tricky - not least because there are so many good causes.  It's especially tricky if, like me, you were brought up never to discuss money.  So if I intended to raise this vast amount of money for Joe then I needed to find a way to stop apologising for asking. Read More