A Big Thank You!

We need to say a huge big THANK YOU to Diageo for matching the sponsor monies raised by Mary Colgan during the West Whizzyland Way Walk.

Mary raised a staggering £1000 and Diageo have matched this and donated  £1000 directly to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

Thank you Diageo for supporting such a worthwhile charity from all at Whizzy Wheel Central!



The West Whizzyland Way Totaltastic Total!

It's the day that we've been waiting for...

The BIG announcement!

On the 27th May Fish and his intrepid walkers took to The West Whizzyland Way aka The West Highland Way to raise money for The Turbo Trust, The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, The Whizzy Wheel Fund and Jennifer's Trust.  They walked through four seasons in one day - experiencing some awful weather, wind blown tents and soggy sleeping bags along the way - to complete the world renowned walk in 7 days. 

At 96 miles The West Highland Way starts at Milngavie passes through Mugdock Country Park, follows the shores of Loch Lomond, passing Ben Lomond, through Glen Falloch and Strathfillan, crossing Rannoch Moor, past Buachaille Etive Mor to the head of Glencoe, climbing the Devil’s Staircase, descending to sea level to cross the River Leven at the head of Loch Leven before entering Lairigmor and Glen Nevis and finishes at Gordon Square in Fort William.  The beautiful landscape changes from lowland moors, dense woodland and rolling hills, to high mountainous landscapes.


Each and every walker walked their little socks off and I am proud of them all.  I am also very grateful and thankful for every mile that they have walked, not only for Eilidh but for the three charities that we support. 

the very beginning...

t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !

Christoph Free, Mary Colgan, John Strain, Janice Booth, Jamie Symington, Caroline Thain, Jim Mitchell, Gill Adams, Nick & Cath Jefferson and Bella, Jim Pender, John Boyle, Ian Marshall, Graeme Congalton, Rab Purdie, Drew Sutherland (who unfortunately couldn't make it to the walk through injury - hope that it's better!), Joe Vincent, Ian Allan (even though he was getting married) and Sue Arber.

Thank you to Ian Mitchell for driving the support vehicle and generally looking out for the walkers - what a great help you were! A total foot-saver!!

Thanks also to Ross Prentice for donating the fuel to shuttle everyone and their luggage to and fro between camps - the support vehicle would have been stuck without it! Thank you for your kind donation.


I have to say a big thank you to  Fish because without him this wouldn't have been possible; he brought these people together, they wanted to walk with him.  Fish, you rock!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

@ the off

t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !

And to Eilidh's granny, aka Rock Chick Granny; 

the end... at last!

t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !

Without you none of this could have happened!  Your love for Eilidh is abundant - you would do anything for her and here you are walking 96 miles with a dodgy knee to raise money for her and the charities who have supported us over the last year - what a fantastic grannie you are!




And now...

drum roll please...

the final total is

a whopping,

a staggering,

£8304.47!


How awesome! 

t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !  t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !  t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !

to everyone involved and to all of you who donated money and to Fish fans the wide world over - you did this! 

t.h.a.n.k y.o.u !







(Monies divided as such: £3094.47 The Turbo Trust; £3000 The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign; £1209.97 The Whizzy Wheels Fund - donated directly for this fund; £1000 The Jennifer's Trust)

(Please note that the total is not including gift aid from monies raised through Justgiving)

Some "tri"ing love

A not-so-random act of kindness, but it has blown us away no less!

bronnie (left) ready for the off!

My wee cuz Bronnie presented me with a piggy bank recently - a collection of pennies from work colleagues and friends for a triathlon that she had completed in the Cotswolds on 5th June:

she swam 200m
she biked 20km
she ran 2.5km



to raise some pennies for miss eilidh

Bronnie's a superhero in our eyes!




...and here it is, the amazing totally total-tastic total that she raised

£188.68!!!





thank you, thank you, thank you, bronnie!

love you loads
xxx

Momentum

Fundraising for the West Whizzyland Way Walk next week is gaining momentum...

It's amazing to watch!

We are humbled by everyone's kindness and generosity so far, but please keep donating...

All monies will be split between

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
The Turbo Trust
Jennifer's Trust
& Eilidh's Whizzy Wheels.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated -
you will make a difference to someone's life.

Eilidh's Moves!

I am so, so sorry that I haven't posted in ages, but here is a world exclusive! (well, not quite!)

After some "peep-peep"ing

and

"up.... down"ing

and

lots of

roundandroundandroundandround

and with some tantalising and teasing with marshmallows...

Eilidh finally moves with purpose and direction...

Check her out!

We are so very proud of her...

Thank you once again to everyone who has made this possible:

We are forever endebted to your kindness and generosity.

A Retirement Gift

A Retirement Gift and yet so much more...

My friend's dad Kenny has worked for the past 30 years for North Lanarkshire Council as an Emergency Planning Officer. 

He retired last week and he decided that he wanted his Retirement Gift collection to go Eilidh and her Whizzy Wheels...

Well... he has just donated £315 in cash (and there has also been a few paypal donations too.)

How totally fantastic!

We are so very humbled: Thank you, Thank You, Mr M!

oh, and "Happy Retirement"...

Enjoy being a full-time Grandpa and Taxi Driver

;)

Movie Madness

The Primary 1s and 2s of The Compass Primary School in Haddington hosted an "Enterprise Movie Party", raising a fantastic £235.00 and they decided that they would really like to donate the money to Eilidh's Whizzy Wheel Fund ...

How inspirational!

Now that Spring is springing and Eilidh is enjoying being outside a little more we think that it might be time to consider a trike (Tomcat Trikes) for her and would love to dedicate this money from The Compass to that - I hope that they approve!

So a BIG Thank You! to the Primary 1s and 2s @ The Compass

and a huge kiss....

mwah!

from Eilidh

It's Snappie Time!

The adventure that we have been fund-raising for happened last week and we have so many "thank you"s to offer to everyone who made it possible for Eilidh and our family; without you this would never have been possible.  We are forever indebted to you kindness and generosity so

thank you, thank you, thank you!

For us however, thank you will never quite be enough to cover the magnitude of the gratitude that we feel.

Our trip to Cambridge was an adventure and we were welcomed at DragonMobility with open arms.  Finally we got to meet Dan, Ruth and the some of the DragonMobility Team.  Each one has played a huge role in getting Snappie ready for Eilidh.

And then there was the Snappie Moment...

Glorious in Red and Eilidh's!

We spent the day getting to know Snappie:

her DCB, her elevators, her seat, her brakes (and there are 3 sets of brakes!), her batteries, her standing frame and the emergency "oh, my goodness! she's out of control!" button aka the off switch!

We read the manual... well, flicked through it really...

The seating was adapted, the DCB moved, the footplate played with...

And Eilidh?

She watched curiously and a little apprehensively.

She stood in Snappie...

yipee! i'm standing tall!

And she sat in Snappie, Bella always by her side or near by:

bella along for the ride...

Niamh stood on the back - the moment that she has been waiting for since we first met Lou (which now seems forever ago! - a proud big sister, putting her trust in Eilidh's driving completely!

Eilidh played with the buttons:

yellow up to the sun,

green down to the grass

and red the most cute "peep! peep!"

We helped Eilidh outside and, for the first time she was able to imagine exploring the outside world independently.

We coaxed and cajoled...

& Dan tried his magic...

what's up?  let's go!

But Eilidh wouldn't move!
Bella drove.

Mummy drove.

Daddy Drove.

Eilidh "peep! peep!"ed.

Eilidh wouldn't (but not couldn't!) drive independently! 

Oh, she's so, so canny!  Why drive when you have chauffeurs?

And then it was time to leave:

We (David) learnt to dismantle Snappie and drive her into the car boot: and yes! she did fit - hooray!  Thankfully, the original Yellow Peril was designed to fit into the Everard's VW Passat Estate some 30 years ago so it was able to go into car of the same model!  Thank goodness...

out & about at Wimpole

We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with the Everards the next day at Wimpole Estate on the Home Farm with lambs and piglets and chicks and some blooming awful driving of the Snappie on our part...  we hit walls, gates and ran over our feet numerous times...  I think I still have the tread marks on  my boots as evidence! Spring had sprung and finally Eilidh was on her way to some outdoor independence, exploration and fun!!! 

We had a great day out with a truly inspiring family who have helped enable Eilidh, and so many other Dragon Riders, to live their lives and explore their worlds more independently and have fun on the journey too. 

Thank you, Dan, Lou and Ruth and all those at DragonMobility for your vision and dedication: you inspire us!

And so we are home and coming to terms with the new addition to the family... Snappie is so very welcome but she brings the realisation that our lives have changed and that Spinal Muscular Atrophy is so very much part of it. Eilidh is teaching us and showing us the way - it's funny, we think that we teach our children, but actually it is very much the other way... even if Eilidh is still needing some chauffeuring...

And to end, Thank you! once again to everyone who has made this possible... to everyone who has donated, to The Ceridian Pay Back Foundation, The Jospeh Patrick Trust and to Turbo Trust, to the Fun' Raisin' Crew at NAG, to The Wheelie Good Dane girlies, to all Fish's Fans... we could go on, but the sentiment is the same...

THANK YOU to each and every one of you!

From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful and forever indebted

Much Love

The Whizzy Macfarlane Family

xxx



Home and in the garden - spring has sprung!







9 more sleeps

only 9 more sleeps 'til we travel to Cambridge...

only 10 more sleeps 'til we meet Snappie @ Dragonmobility...

it's exciting and scarey!

we are so very, very grateful for the love and support we have experienced from all of the Whizzy Wheel Supporters...  without you, this wouldn't be possible.

Thank You!

The Wheelie Good Dance

So Friday night was the night!

The Wheelie Good Dance in Haddington at

The Corn Exchange...

And what an awesome night!

There was fabulous tunes from Cool Reception;

A brilliant bar by The Waterloo Bistro;

A winning raffle and a bidding-tastic auction;

Great company and wonderful support from old friends and total strangers;

And two shining stars who organised the whole night...

Caroline & Mary.

The final figures are still due in but the total raised is approximately a 

Totally,

Whoppingly,

Amazingly

And awesomely

F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C

£5000!!!

We had a good night but found it all a little overwhelming and I ended the night in tears - tears of sadness and happiness too...

Thank you so much, first and foremost, to Caroline and Mary who have made us so proud of them and we are humbled by all that they have achieved.

Secondly to Paul from The Waterloo Bistro and Cool Reception who made the night possible.

And, finally, to all those who donated prizes, bought tickets, raffle tickets and auctions; you have supported Eilidh's Whizzy Wheel Fund and we are so very, very grateful...

THANK YOU!

My favourite donations...

I have meant for some time to mention my favourite donations...
You may well be thinking
"Surely a donation is a donation of money?"
Yes.
Mostly...

But there was the Lottery ticket;
No, we didn't win...
Perhaps they are lucky numbers though?

Then there are the stories behind the donations...
"I sold my banjo and couldn't think of a more fitting cause to give the money to."
or
The woman at Cardonald Primary who donated her coppers jar to Eilidh's Whizzy Wheels.

Out of many, many, many donations, these are my favourite three...

Thank you, once again, to one and all.

Te Tiki Ride Out

There is a little piece of New Zealand that I love more than most...

Surrounded by verdant hills and munching sheep;
Near to the beautiful waters of Lake Waikaremoana;
and where my friend Sas, my god-daughter Tattie and their family live.  Te Tiki has some visitors too with Sas' sister, and my friend too, Mandi and her family touring NZ.

Te Tiki Station staged a
Ride Out for Eilidh's Whizzy Wheels in November, riding approximately 20k out to the back whare.

The Te Tiki Tearaways!

My favourite little kiwis had a beautiful day and the horses were well behaved too.  And brilliantly,
amazingly
and staggeringly
they have raised over
1000 kiwi dollars!!!

Whooooooooopeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Thank you so much to my lovely friends Sas and Mandi, to all who took part and to the sponsors:

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts

xxx

A Wheelie BIG Thank You!

This year could have been so different...

It has been a difficult and painful year
With Eilidh being diagnosed with
SMA
But we have survived
& perhaps
Grown stronger too.

We have been humbled by peoples'
kindness of spirit
and
generosity.

We have been carried high
by the love
and support

of family and friends.

Thank you to each and every one of you who has donated

or sent words of comfort or wisdom.

You have made this year one to remember:

and we are remembering it not for the pain that it has brought us

but for the love and support that we have received ...


And we'll leave the last words to Eilidh...

Here's to 2011!
May all your dreams and wishes come true...

Another surprise!

This afternoon Ian Chisholm, a friend of Rock Chick Grannie, donated a fantastic

£315 to the Fund. 

Ian works for F.B. Taylor and Amec and he organised a whip-round for us at work.

Way to go, Ian!

You rock!

Thank you from all at Whizzy Wheels Central!

A fantastic surprise...

I heard a letter drop through our letterbox yesterday and went to pick it up.
I didn't recognised the handwriting:
I opened it quickly.

A card and a folded piece of paper...
A note from a friend's mum:
St Cadoc's Golf Society raised £300 for Eilidh's fund...

WOW!

and she is planning to beat her husband's total over the next few months with another donation...

How totally inspiring!

How A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

and so, so very humbling too...

So a huge BIG thank you to mags' mum and dad - Patricia and Michael - and their friends and buddies too.

Betty's Coffee Morning

We were taken by surprise this afternoon - and, by the sounds of things, so was Eilidh's Granny Ellen - by a donation from Betty (Ellen's best friend!) who held a coffee morning on Tuesday with some of her friends. 

They raised a fabulously fantastic £170...

Well done, ladies and thank you so very much!

Betty's Tea Room watch out; you have competition...

And an extra special thank you to Betty and her family, too

xxx

S.P.E.C.T.A.C.U.L.A.R Total!

Well since we last updated the total £802 has been donated - awesome!

So the new total stands at a S.P.E.C.T.A.C.U.L.A.R

£13,076!!!

WhoopWhoopWhoop!

Once again...
Thank You! xxx
From the bottom of our hearts

4 weeks on...

... and we have made so much progress...

and there is still so much to happen...

and even more in the planning and yet to come!

It's just been so amazing!


We have until the end of November to raise the money for Eilidh's Snapdragon if we hope to get her Snappie in February, so we will continue on...

raising money and, hopefully, raising awareness of SMA and early mobility in toddlers like Eilidh and her wee friend Beatrice.


So please keep spreading the word...

And thank you all for coming with us on this journey.

xxx

It's 6am...

... and although it is 6am - and the birds are only just starting to sing thier beautiful chorus! - I am so very happy to announce that the total stands at a massive... drum roll please...

£10,998!

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

We were so very right to place our hope in mankind for we have been proven so right and are humbled each and every day by people's kindness, generosity and unconditional love...

Thank you!

P.S.  Sorry it's been so quiet here ... I've been away at my bestest friend's house celebrating her twins' 3rd Birthday... My friend is such a beautiful person, bestest friend and her little ones are trully gorgeous... We had a great time, thank you!

Wonderful Wednesday's Grand Total...

The last few days have been quite quiet at the Whizzy Wheels HQ but the donations still keep on coming!

Today's total stands at...

£10,548

Hooray!
Yipeeeeee!
WhoopWhoop!
WheyHey!

Thank You, Thank you, Thank You!

We do need to keep up the momentum, spreading the word far and wide.

The donations may well have started to slow down but our list of future fund raising events is growing fast...

Watch this space!

Once again, thank you all for coming on this journey with us - we are so glad that you are supporting Eilidh and her Whizzy Wheel Fund

xx