Hatty Greenway is my sister, she is 15 years old and she needs a new wheelchair. She has everything going for her. Hatty also has cerebral palsy, which for her means she is non-ambulant and is partially-sighted. In late 2013 she underwent major spinal surgery to correct a very severe scoliosis (a kinky spine) which she had developed, as a result of her palsy. She has come through it all amazingly.

Here is an incredible 3D picture of her spine before the surgery:

It has been a rollercoaster year but the operation went well, Hatty is 3.5 inches taller now. Hatty, her family, school and physios are all doing their bit to keep on with her aftercare, so that she will get the full, long term benefits of this operation.

But now she has outgrown her chair and really needs a new, custom made wheelchair, to account for and accommodate her snazzy; new; straight back. This chair should see her right into adulthood.

These specialist wheelchairs cost about £10k. We would like to provide Hatty with an all-terrain chair. This could be used both manually and electrically and would enable her to access every possible scenario, whist giving her the posture and support she needs. Hatty loves reading, singing, wheelchair dance, drama, getting out and about and comedy.

There aren't government or NHS funds to get a chair like this. But the trauma, skill and investment of the surgery, all of that work and acheivement, might not be fully realised and capitalised upon - if Hatty doesn't get a chair which properly fits her back. 

And we don’t have £10k… SO we’re going about a variety of exciting projects to help us coax you into helping us raise this money!

COMING UP: 

STAND UP FOR A CHAIR

This is a huge comedy show extravaganza! WEDS 21st JANUARY at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London.

A massive night of stand up to remember forever - all money from tickets sold will go towards this. Tickets are on sale now. Acts include Al Murray, Alan Davies, Josh Widdecombe, Susan Calman and Katherine Ryan. And there are many many more, including one very special secret guest. 

HERE IS WHERE YOU BUY TICKETS:

https://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/14044

Snap one up before they vanish. We are afraid there are NO MORE free tickets for those of you kind enough to donate £50 or more. But if you can't make it to the comedy....

PLEASE DONATE HERE FOR ALL THE THINGS ALREADY DONE BELOW!!!

On 22nd Dec, HATTY along with her friends went carol singing in Dorchester and raised a HUGE £520!!!! Woah.

On 21st Nov, Jess Fostekew (me) swam 6k in 2 hours and 24 mins.

BIG THANKS to anyone encouraging me with donations and to my lane counters, Rachel Stubbings and Hatty Ashdown and also to Glass Mill Leisure Centre in Lewisham for kindly giving me a lane to do it in.

Hatty’s surgeon Pradeep Madhavan has done it! He and Daniel Chan, a friend and spinal surgeon colleague from Exeter have CYCLED from JOHN O’GROATS to LANDS END! With very sore bums and knees they made incredible time. They set off on 30th August and arrived on 11th Sept. We are very proud and VERY grateful. GO PRADEEP and DAN! Thank you.

On 5th October the WONDERFUL SIMON GRIFFITHS ran the CARDIFF HALF MARATHON for Hats! 

Some of you film aficionados may recognise him as 'Governor Bentley' alongside Martin Freeman and Tom Hollander from BAFTA and OSCAR nominated short film The Voorman Problem

Here he is at the finish line! WELL DONE dude! And thank you SO much. xx

11th OCTOBER: Glorious film maker DEVA PALMIER has done a run for us!

Deva did the 'Thames Trot' for 5.5 km / 3.42 miles, her Garmin watch that links in to satellites proves it. She did it in 46 mins.

WOOP! Thank you Deva x

Here she is at the finish line!

ALSO IN OCTOBER

Absolute MEGA THANKS to MATT ROPER, DRUMMOND BOWSKILL and HOLLY THOMPSON for spending the entire, long, long month off the lash. Very VERY well done and thank you again from all of us. X x x