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Could I please nominate 'Ryan's wish to walk' charity. My friend Mel and I are running the Liverpool half marathon to raise funds to help his parents raise £40k for life changing surgery and treatment to help him to walk.

Ryan is in my daughter's class, he was born 9 weeks early and when he was two and a half years old was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. This causes tightness in his legs which makes walking difficult, climbing the stairs even harder and running impossible. There isn't a cure for Cerebral Palsy, but there is life changing surgery called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) which Ryan has been accepted for. To give Ryan the best possible chance of independence, Ryan’s parents Carla and Gordon need to raise £40,000 - this will cover the operation and the intensive physiotherapy required for up to two years after. Any donations to Ryan’s fund, no matter how small, will be gratefully received and will go along way to making Ryan’s wish to walk a reality.

There is a Facebook page and a website.

Yorkshire Dales Cave Rescue Organisation - Nominated by Mel Akeroyd

Can I please nominate the Yorkshire Dales Cave rescue organisation
http://cro.org.uk/
I have been directly involved with this group since my sister fell on Pen-y-ghent four years ago and had to be sledged off the fell.

Incident report: Feb 23 Sat 14.13 Pen-y-ghent, North Yorkshire – Mountain Rescue

A walker (f, 35) slipped on the snow covered footpath descending from the summit of Pen-y-ghent towards Hull Pot, and sustained a suspected broken ankle. CRO was called out and, following treatment, sledged the casualty down on a stretcher to team vehicles near the top of Horton Scar Lane for transport off the hill and transfer to a road ambulance in Horton in Ribblesdale.

It took 48 man hours to assist my sister to which all are volunteers.

The CRO was originally formed in 1935 and has grown and developed over the years into the efficient organisation that it is today. By the year 2000 the CRO had attended 1756 incidents, including 605 cave and mine, 569 mountain and fell, 73 climbing, and 354 animal rescues (233 of which were from caves and potholes). During this period, 2654 people aged between 5 months and 87 years were given assistance. Our headquarters, “The Depot”, is in the Dales village of Clapham

As runners we all love the outdoors, we like to walk, run & cave in the Dales. This charity assists all casualties & unfortunately the odd fatality. Without them I really don't know what we would of done on the 23rd February 2013.

Comfort Rwanda & Congo - Nominated by Stuart Dunbar

This year I would like to nominate the charity "Comfort Rwanda & Congo"

I have a friend who was rescued from being a child soldier in Rwanda and now lives in the UK. He and his wife are both actively involved in supporting the charity. The money raised would go to support a Maternity clinic in the Congo where the neonatal mortality rate has been halved since it's opening 2 years ago.

Here is a link to the project:

http://comfort-rwanda-congo.org.uk/maternity-clinic/

Here is an extract from their Website.

Comfort Rwanda & Congo began as Comfort Rwanda in 1999, five years after the 1994 genocide, with the aim of supporting our Rwandan partners in their endeavour to support the recovery of genocide survivors in Rwanda.

The remit of the charity has continued to expand and although this remains the main focus the charity also addresses wider issues of poverty in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our aim is to encourage individuals and communities to transition from requiring basic care & relief support through to self-sustainability and building a healthy & sustainable community. With this in mind we are active in short, medium, and longterm projects throughout Rwanda and into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

I hope that people will consider this favourably.

The Cellar Trust - Nominated by Rachel Parker

I would like to nominate a small local charity to receive a donation from Striders.

The Cellar Trust based in Shipley work in conjunction with Haven in the same building to provide mental health support for local people , this is acute and on going support .

The acute support provided by Haven is to try and prevent people in mental health crisis ending up in inappropriate areas eg A and E . People are directed to Haven and assessed and given intervention as necessary to keep them safe . Being cared for in a calming environment with specialist trained staff rather than a noisy A and E is far less terrifying for those in crisis .

Ongoing support is about maintaining mental health for service users via peer support groups, drop in sessions and return to employment schemes .

Mental health services can be a real life line for people and for some it is the only interaction they have with anyone .

This charity gets some funding from the NHS but does rely on charity work for training volunteers and setting up well being schemes .

In a time when we know mental health should have the same profile as physical health and have no stigma I would suggest it would be seen as an excellent thing that a local running club supports local people ,

Plus loads of us are a bit bonkers and who knows when any of us may need it .
http://www.thecellartrust.org/client-services/haven

http://www.thecellartrust.org

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