Mr. Julian P Hampshire – Durham

Congratulations to you!

Our team will be in touch with you to arrange your prize.

Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets. Please be assured all monies raised go directly to the charity –  providing FREE conductive education to children with cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities in the North East.

The team – Mandy, Jane, Tina, Laura, Mick and Steve completed the trek after 3 nights of camping on the mountains and 4 days of hard trekking.

A quick training trek before the start of the trail? well why not!

The Porters who provided the tents and equipment and support

The team and some new editions to the group

The Start – Day 1

The journey begins

Our Team were joined by – Jennifer, Janet & Sherri from the US and Elaine, Tim & Andy from The Wirral

Can you see us?

Yoo hoo!

Climbing high

Go Team Go!

Look at all those stairs

More Stairs!

The entrance to the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

We made it!!

The team members are still trying to hit their fundraising targets so please sponsor them, they did so well.

We are very proud of them all!

Jane - Heel & Toe Development Manager

Mandy - Heel & Toe & Parent & Fundraising Coordinator

Laura - Heel & Toe Parent & Trustee

Tina - Warrington Youth Worker

Michael - Gestamp UK

Stephen - Gestamp UK

Click on their name to donate to their Just Giving/VirginMoney Giving pages.

Watch  our video to see how the team prepare for their trek - Vimeo Video or Youtube Video.

Newcastle Law Firm Muckle LLP handed Heel & Toe a cheque for a staggering £8,397.54 recently after appointing us as their chosen charity for 2012-2013.

Senior Partner and Head of the Charity Committee for Muckle LLP, Hugh Welch visited our Centre with Karen Young from the Client Services Team and met some of the children who will benefit from their fundraising efforts over the last year.

Hugh Welch commented:

“Through our Charity Committee we appoint a chosen charity every year and like to choose a local charity, where we can see for ourselves the difference our money is making.  As part of our commitment to supporting local charities, Muckle LLP also match-fund all money raised by staff members, thus doubling the donations and raising even more for charities on our doorstep, who so desperately need it.

 “Our staff members really enjoyed supporting Heel & Toe this year and were keen to take part in the charity’s own fundraising events such as the Zipslide, Skydive and Firewalk, as well as organising their own events which included a Sponsored Ramble, Recipe Book Sale and Harvest Festival.  One of our staff members went so far as dying his beard bright pink to raise £340 for the charity!

It really has been a fantastic team effort and we were delighted to visit the Centre to present Heel & Toe with a cheque for £8,397.34.”

Doug Long, Heel & Toe’s Chief Executive Officer added:

“We really appreciate everything Muckle LLP has done to raise funds for Heel & Toe over the last 12 months and have been over-whelmed by their enthusiasm and commitment to raising as much money as possible for Heel & Toe.”

We are delighted to announce British Formula Ford Racer – Ashley Crossey has been appointed as an Ambassador.

Bristol born Ashley has had a keen interest in racing since the age of 4 years old this led on to his first race at the age of 11 years old.

Ashley, who has a sister with cerebral palsy, understands the importance of the free service Heel & Toe provides and is passionate about spreading awareness. The charity provides free conductive education therapy to children with cerebral palsy or dyspraxia without any government funding.  Ashley said “My sister was born will Cerebral Palsy of the brain, leaving her entirely dependent on others. My parents have always been there to support her as have I, I understand what others are going through in terms of further complications further down the line in her life. I was doing some background research as to who was supporting these disabilities and came across Heel & Toe, which immediate sounded like something that I could support.”

Ashley is looking forward to testing at Silverstone on the 15^th February with his racing season starting on the 1st of April at Castle Combe, Wiltshire.

Development Manager Jane Long said “Ashley is an ideal sports person to become an Ambassador as he has first-hand knowledge of what both the children and parents who attend Heel & Toe are going through. We are very proud to have Ashley raising awareness of what we do and we are fully supportive of his career in racing.”

Visit Ashley’s website to follow his career and updates

Follow Ashley on Facebook 

Follow Ashley on Twitter

One of the North East’s leading suppliers of automotive parts, Gestamp Tallent  Ltd. Newton Aycliffe Plant has nominated us as one of their Charities of the Year 2013.

Staff at the Aycliffe Plant will be raising funds throughout the year with events such as a sponsored walk and selling charity merchandise from their plant.

We are also being supported by Operations Manager at Gestamp Tallent, Washington Plant, Steve Jackson and his colleague Michael Cairns as  they are part of Heel & Toe’s Inca Trek team and will be taking on the challenge in Peru in May with our very own Development Manager – Jane, and parents Laura and Mandy.

For more information on Tallent Automotive Ltd. visit their website.

We are delighted to announce two well-known Metro Radio Presenters and two well-respected North East business people have been honoured for their support of Heel & Toe, by being appointed charity Patrons and Ambassadors.

Metro Radio Presenters, Stuart Elmore and Kelly Hinch accepted the role of Charity Patrons after Kelly got involved with Heel & Toe over a year ago and conquered her fear of heights by doing a zipslide live on air, from the top of the Baltic in Gateshead.

Kelly said:

“I first met the team at Heel & Toe when I was invited out to the Centre at the beginning of last year, to meet some of the children there who have cerebral palsy and benefit from weekly conductive education sessions.  I was brought to tears by how passionate the Conductor Therapists were when working with the children and how dedicated the Fundraising Team were, to continuing to provide this FREE service to children across the whole of the North East. 

“The children worked so hard in their sessions, but were so positive and a real inspiration to me.  After that first introduction, I was determined to not only raise funds for Heel & Toe, but also help them raise their profile as much as possible. 

“Stuart joined me in visiting the Centre a second time and we took part in a ‘Boys versus Girls’ assault course challenge with the dyspraxia group.  It was a lot of fun, but we also saw the importance of them taking part in sessions like this, to help improve their co-ordination and their confidence. 

“We were so over-whelmed when we were asked to become Patrons and hope that we can continue playing a part in helping the charity grow, so that more children can benefit.”

Angela Kirtley, Senior Partner at Irwin Mitchell became an avid supporter of Heel & Toe after the Newcastle based Solicitors appointed the charity as their chosen charity in 2011.  Angela and the team visited the Centre in Durham and continued to raise funds throughout the year, presenting the charity with a cheque for over £7,000 at the end of their year of fundraising.

Since then, the firm have also supported Heel & Toe in kind by printing promotional stationery, attending fundraising events and also sponsoring their Annual Charity Ball in 2012, and then again this year.

Angela commented:

“I was thrilled to be invited to be an Ambassador of Heel and Toe. I am so impressed by the work the charity does providing therapy for children who often have devastating disabilities. I have seen the conductors at work and have seen firsthand the difference they can make to the lives of children with cerebral palsy. The work of Heel and Toe is particularly important at the current time when funding cuts mean that therapy which is so desperately needed is sometimes very difficult to access. I will continue to work with the charity to help them raise much needed funds to ensure the support they provide continues.”

Last year Andrew Scott, Director of local travel company Stanley Travel, ran the Paris Marathon for Heel & Toe, again after seeing first-hand how the charity improved the children’s quality of life, increasing their mobility and movement and also their independence.  Andrew raised over £3,000 from the Paris Marathon and then his family followed suit, with son Gavin taking part in the Great North Run and daughter Megan doing a zipslide for Heel & Toe.

Andrew said:

“I really am very honoured to become an Ambassador of Heel & Toe.  It is a fantastic charity that is very close to my heart and has been my main focus over the past year.   The fact that Heel & Toe is the only charity in our region to offer free conductive education and that they actually receive no government funding, makes me more determined to help them in any way I can.”

“Stanley Travel is a local family-run business and we feel it is important to show our support, not only to a charity on our doorstep, but also to one where we could see we were making a difference.  I am looking forward to becoming even more involved in the charity and to carry on doing whatever I can, whenever I can to support them.”

Douglas Long, Heel & Toe’s Charity Manager added:

“We had a very good year in 2012 and gained a lot of support from the business and local community.  In particular we were over-whelmed by the level of dedication and enthusiasm from Angela, Andrew, Kelly & Stuart.  So we felt it only right that we should acknowledge their efforts and appoint them in their respective new roles. 

“Heel & Toe is still a relatively small charity, but we are growing very quickly from just 4 children when we were first established in 2008, to now around 80 children and 20 on our waiting list.  These children are developing so well with conductive education therapy and we know we can help many more across the North East, if we have a constant stream of funding.  Our new Patrons and Ambassadors are key to helping us raise awareness of our need for funds and are influential people who we feel will continue to open a lot of doors for us and create more opportunities in 2013. With their assistance, we are confident we can continue to provide free sessions for children who rely on our service and deserve to lead as independent a life as possible.”

Development Manager Jane was invited to visit the group to explain a bit more about the charity and meet the cadets.

A cheque was then presented by Liz Green – Flight Lieutenant, Officer Commanding and Cdt Rebecca Royal, 13, Cdt Bradley Burn, 16, Cdt Mathew Maddison, 16, Cdt Olivia Mussett, 14.

We are so grateful to the cadets for their fundraising efforts and will be helping the cadets work towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award this year.

To find out more about the Air Cadets and the opportunities we offer to young people aged 13 – 18, visit their website www.234squadron.org.uk .

Cowells Garden Centre Family Member – Martin Cowell is taking on the ‘JOGLE’ challenge starting on 28th June 2013.

The challenge is to cycle from John ‘O’ Groats to Lands Ends in 8 days. Martin has decided to take on this challenge not only to celebrate his 40th birthday but to raise vital funds for Heel & Toe.

Please follow Martin’s blog and support him as he aims to raise £5,000 for the charity.

Martin’s Blog

to sponsor Martin visit his Just Giving Page

Can we say a huge thank you to Mr. Michael Hill from The Strawberry Foundation (Strawberry Pub, Newcastle) who has donated £500 to Martin’s Challenge.

Amanda was also very grateful to be handed a cheque for £1,000 from fundraising which the Lions have already carried out for Heel & Toe and which will now enable us to purchase an ultra-sound machine.