FUNDRAISING
VERSION
TH IS I S
REPRO OP SUBS ART CLIENT
L
WORDS EMILY RODWAY
ucy Taffs and her daughter, Sophia, make a great team. The little girl has seen her mum go through a lot: Lucy experienced several years of near-continuous flare-ups in the years around her daughter’s birth. Then, when Sophia was just 17 months old, Lucy went into hospital for a proctectomy; two years later, she was back for a total colectomy. Since having her ileostomy, Lucy hasn’t looked back. She’s in good health and, alongside her young sidekick, lives an active life. So, when she heard about the opportunity to raise money for Crohn’s & Colitis UK through a sponsored walk in her area, Lucy seized the chance. Taking part in My WALK IT 2020 enabled Lucy to help raise awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis among her social network, drum up money to help other people living with the
conditions, and keep six-year-old Sophia entertained during a year in which children’s activities were few and far between. Over two days at the end of June last year, Lucy and Sophia managed to notch up over 13 kilometres. “We walked around a local reservoir, which was about 8 kilometres, and then took a long walk from our village through the countryside,” recalls Lucy. “It was nice to get out in the fresh air, and good to know you were raising money at the same time.” Lucy was delighted to raise an amazing £935 for Crohn’s & Colitis UK through the walk. “I put my story on JustGiving and shared it on my Facebook page. A lot of the mums at my school had no idea about my ileostomy and I think they were quite surprised. Maybe that made them donate a bit more!”
“It was really nice to get out in the fresh air and know that you’re raising money at the same time” 12 • SPRING 2021 | CONNECT
BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN
JAMIE GRAY
PRODUCTION
As we look forward to this year’s events, three of last year’s participants in My WALK IT discuss their successful 2020 fundraisers
