Love is the flower you've got to let grow.

John Lennon

06/05/07 : 09:30pm

Hi everyone, i've got to admit it's hard to keep up with everything at the moment. I cannot believe it's been 11 days since I last posted something here or even updated the web site.

During this time, my own work has had to take a priority, which has kept me somewhat busy even to a point that most of my spare time as been dedicate to this work.

The fundraising is still going strong and we can not believe that people are still sending us individual donations. We're more surprised by the amount of people who have generously offered to sponsored walks, runs, bike races, cake sales and also done other fundraising events (see out "Thank You" and "Fundraising" pages).

Sue herself has been busy organising the Fundraising Night (again see our "Fundraising" page. This was something we had set up way before the "Liverpool Echo" helped us with the Alex's campaign. This is going really well and there are only 30 tickets left, if anyone would like to obtain any of these last 30 tickets, please email us on walkingwithgiants@talktalk.net. In the next couple of days we'll post a information about the final arrangements such as the list of prizes for the raffle, auction items (we've got everything from a weeks holiday in Marbella, signed boxing gloves from Ricky Hatton, signed Everton Team shirt, signed Liverpool football, theatre tickets and much more) we'll also post the buffet menu.

Now a little bit about Alex, he's doing really well, still getting about in his walker but getting more frustrated everyday because he cannot get about as much as he wants to (by himself). The weather's been great for him and he's enjoyed being out in the garden. He loves sitting on the trampoline and letting Mike and Jess bounce him.

I cannot wait for the day he does learn to walk by himself. This will open up his little world and he will probably realise that life is even more fun! It'll probably make Sue and mine lives hell though, because even now he ignores us when we tell him off, knowing him he'll probably laugh at us and do a runner and hide. God, we're going to dread that day, he find every nook and cranny to hide, he already does it by hiding behind a dinning table or behind kitchen cabinets, he can hear us call him and when we do find him, he just laughs at us......

John - Alex's dad

08/05/07 : 11:30pm

Hi everyone, can't believe I'm doing another post in such a short space of time. Just thought I'll give you an update on a couple of issues and let you all know where we are with the fundraising.

Firstly Alex had another appointment in Alder Hey today regarding his testicles. They haven't dropped yet, so they did an x-ray to see where they are and found they are very high up in his groin. He will need two have a couple of operations but his surgical consultant has explained that he will leave them to next year (hurrah). His consultant is another special person, him and his team performed major surgery on Alex to stop him refluxing, without their skills and dedication I do believe Alex may not have been alive today! Since they carried out the operation Alex has come on in leaps and bounds and has never look back, All I can say is thanks Prof!!!

Some news from the Sunday and Monday. On Sunday we got a call from two ladies who offered to do some fundraising for us (Natalie and Nicola),. They did a bag packing event in Asda in Hunts Cross and collected over £700.00. We got a call from them on Sunday and I got to admit they blew me away with the news. Thanks girls and I cannot wait to meet you both on Friday.

On Monday we attended a Fun Day held on behalf of Alex. This was set up by Robbie and Annette the owners of The Fiveways in Ormskirk. We cannot thank them enough for what they did for Alex. We want to also thank the Staff in the funhouse for all they did yesterday and also want to say thanks to all the mums, dads and children who turned up. I will update the "Thank You" pages tomorrow with this information and also add some more information about up and coming events.

Right keep an eye out for the Echo this week as there will be an update on how our fundraising is going. There will be some pics also - Look out for the Gingerbread Men.

I'll leave it at that and will give you an update tomorrow - promise :o)

John - Alex's Dad

12/05/07 : 11:30pm

Hello everyone, the last 4 days has been hectic, we were finalising the plans for our fundraising event that was held yesterday at Our Lady of Sorrows club in Walton, Liverpool.

I originally started this this afternoon but the phone has stopped ringing all day, as people was ringing up to say how they enjoyed the night.

How did the event go, do I hear you ask?

Well the night was outstanding, over 230 people attended and, wait for it, £4,015.00 was raised via the sale of tickets for the night, the auction, the raffle and donations given on the night. We could not believe the amount when we totaled it up, we had to count it twice, first at 3am and then another at 8am this morning, just in case we got it wrong first time round.

When Sue and I first arrived, the first thing that struck us was the way it was arranged, every second table was had a fantastic balloon arrangement on it and the stage was adjourned either side with what i would call a modern art balloon arrangements, these were extraordinary. I've got to personally thank everyone at "Fancy That" the Florist (please visit their web site via our links page) for what they did here they turned an already wonderful looking room into something special.

At the same time both Sue and I were worried as people were already in the room, we had arrived a little later than expected, we still had to put a large banner of Alex and put some literature on the tables and say "Hi" to the band Searchin' who were setting up the last of their equipment.

Within the next hour we had greeted over the majority of 200 guests who had arrived and the atmosphere was building up, you could sense an air of excitement, Charlie doing the disco has started and played the right songs at the right level to generate the atmosphere and both Sue and I started to feel really excited and at the same time scared. Over the next 30 minutes, more people were turning up and the night had started for sure. We just wanted the night to go well, we wanted people to enjoy themselves and then suddenly the band started playing, right from that point all our fears went away. People started to get up to dance and the night had truly started! Got to admit Andy and the lads in the band (Mike, Steve, Allan and Dave) are true stars, these group of musicians are the most unselfish people I have ever known. When we started our campaign over 6 weeks ago, Andy got in touch with us and offered the band's service in conjunction with an organisation called the Merseycats (please see our links page and visit their to find out more about them and the work they do). Over the last four weeks, Andy has been in contact and kept us sane with his wit and guidance and we cannot thank him enough for this. As a whole the Mersaycats have done a lot for us in a short space of time and we are grateful for their generosity, as I have said in an earlier post.

After the band had finished their slot, Billy Shine the comedian (another member of the Merseycats Organisation) was up and running before we knew it he had everyone in stitches, there was a tricky moment when one guest got a little bit out of had due to being slightly intoxicated (not because of Billy mind you) but Billy controlled the situation professionally and for the next 30 minutes his slot was something we're not going to forget in a long time (Thanks Billy).

After Billy had finished, all the guest raided the buffet which was devoured without a second thought and another highlight of the night had gone down well, very well to be precise. The club is renown for their buffets and there is one thing that stays in people memories forever is the quality and choice of food that is served here.

After the buffet I was asked to come and say a few words, to say thanks to all who had attended, talk about Alex and what all this meant to us in respect to the support we have been given as a whole. Got to admit as I walked up to the front of the hall my legs went as I realised that people were clapping wildly and I couldn't honestly understand why and when I eventually got to the front and looked at the size of the assembly in front of me, well I crapped myself, the clapping had stopped and an eerily silence had begun, I have never shook so much in my life, I had to fight back tears as I realised what Alex meant to people of Merseyside and Liverpool as it was reflected by the comments that we receive.

The Auction started, this got everyone buzzing, first up was a week's holiday in Marbella the first bid was £50 I think???? but before we knew it, a bidding war started and £100, £150, £200, £230, £270, £300, I couldn't look anymore and i tried to cut out all the voices casting the bids, by this time I needed a clean pair of underpants for the second time in a short space time, especially when Billy eventually said sold, the final bid being £450. The atmosphere this created was out of this world, the round of applause that the winner got was outstanding and the rest of the auction followed suit. In total the five items up for grabs (Holiday, EFC and LFC signed shirts, a pair of Boxing gloves signed by Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton and 2 VIP passes to the opening night of Big Brother 2007) went for £1,100.00, which was awesome.

Next up was the raffle, we had 27 prizes on offer which after a lot of hassle (our fault) eventually finished after 30 agonising minutes. The hassle wasn't that bad, it was due to the fact there was too many prizes and so many tickets were bought, £820.00 worth of tickets to be precise. I want to thank young Kirsty and Leanne Atlee (Sue's nieces) for going around the hall for the best part of 2 hours selling these tickets. Both Sue and I would like to thank everyone who took part in the auction, especially the winner's and all the people who bought tickets and I think that was everyone who came.

Next up was Searchin' to do another slot and by this time, everyone was in party mood and for the next 40 minutes they had the dance floor filled and again they did us proud. After they finished it was Charlie turn on the Disco and he generated and added more to the party mood, by this time (near 1pm) people had started to come over to us and say their goodbyes, say how much they enjoyed themselves and asked us when the next fundraising night was. I couldn't believe it, these people has spent a lot of money attending this night but they were willing to come again. This brought tears to my eyes, as again I realised how much Alex means to these people. Yes half of the people who attended were family and friends; and friends and families of theirs, neighours and work colleagues but half of them were total strangers who got in touch with us via the web site and bought tickets.

I would like to say a big big thank you to all the staff of the club, they worked hard all night and ensured that the night went smoothly. I want to say a bigger thank you to them because they donated their tips for the night to Alex which touched me and Sue in a big way. This was so generous of you, I apologise for not getting to see you and say thanks in person but I know Sue went and spoke to you.

So as you can see from our point of view the night was a total success.

I want to say a final thank you to Sue, she has begged, borrowed and stole to get this event up and running, she went round and emailed local businesses to ask if they would help with setting up the event either by donating prizes or by asking for discounts in respect to getting the tickets and banner created, T-shirts for other events. To pounding the streets of Maghull and North Liverpool asking businesses if they would put a flyer up to advert the night. It is a credit to her that the event was successful but a lot more people made this event

I am so proud of her for this, more so because she is my wife, the mother of our 3 wonderful children whom I am also so proud of and my best friend. I would be lost without her and I love her so so much.

It is a credit to her that the event was successful but a lot more people made this event, my next post will list these people individually, additionally, Sue is taking part in women's 10K tomorrow along with Katrina, Linda Diane, Emma and Kellie. I will you an update on how they fared.

John - Alex's Dad