Winston's Wish - Accident/Illness

Winston's Wish, the charity for bereaved children, runs residential weekends for children and young people aged 6 to 18, that is both challenging and fun.

The weekends involve practical and creative activities that encourage teamwork, building confidence and self-esteem. This sets the scene for the children to begin sharing their own stories, to untangle and express a range of feelings, increase their knowledge about death and to continue their individual journeys towards understanding their grief.

Working alongside professional staff and highly trained volunteers, children are given the opportunity to share their individual stories with others in their small group, gain information about what happened through a question-and-answer session with a doctor, take special time to remember the person who has died, explore safely some of the more challenging feelings and responses they may be experiencing and develop ways of looking to the future.

The residential weekend I photographed on Sunday was focused on children who had lost a parent through accident and illness. Although there was a lot fun, there was also lot of difficult moments as the children learnt to come to terms with their own grief. I spent four hours with them and found it pretty tough going at times; I lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old.

Some of the activities included making wishes to hang on the wishing tree, a parachute game, building towers using spaghetti and marshmallows, (blindfolded!) individual group work and clay throwing, which was great fun to photograph, (and I avoided having any clay hit me!!) 

To view previous photo shoots with Winston's Wish please use the links below.

Winston's Wish Residential Weekend

Winston's Wish Drop In Clinic

If you would like to find out more about Winston's Wish or would like to make a donation please visit their website at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/.

Rainbow Walk

A few weeks ago St James' C of E Primary School held a rainbow walk around Park Campus, Cheltenham, to show support for Natalia Spencer, who was to began her own 6,000 mile coastal walk just a few days later on Valentine's Day. Natalia is walking in memory of her daughter, Elizabeth Spencer, who tragically died just before Christmas, and to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital, where Elizabeth was treated.  

I was asked if I could photograph the walk. It was fantastic to see the whole school come together and show such a united front. In between dodging buses, I managed to capture all of the action. At the end there was a balloon release to mark the start of Natalia's journey. It was very touching.

To find out more about Elizabeth's story and Natalia's plans please go to www.elizabethsfootprint.com or to donate visitwww.justgiving.com/Natalia-Spencer.

Elizabeth's Footprint

Natalia Spencer lost her five year old daughter, Elizabeth, in December last year, after she died suffering from a rare illness.

Elizabeth attended St James' School in Cheltenham, the same school as my son, Jenson, who started in reception in September.

Last November, Elizabeth had started to feel unwell, developing flu like symptoms. But the next day she collapsed and was rushed to hospital where she was put in an induced coma, which very sadly she was never to wake up from. Just 18 days later, on the 10th December 2015, she passed away. 

The cold like virus that Elizabeth had, triggered an extremely rare auto immune condition, which sent her body into overdrive to fight off the original virus. The condition is called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis and it caused little Elizabeth's body to go into septic shock, shutting down her major organs and cutting off the blood supply to her limbs. Elizabeth was put on life support at Bristol Children's hospital. 

Now, Natalia wants to raise more than £100,000 for the Wallace and Gromit Grand Appeal children's charity, (the charity associated with Bristol Children's Hospital) by walking the entire length of Britain's coastline, (the coast was Elizabeth's favourite place). She sets off on Valentines Day at Durdle Dore, the last beach they visited together, and will walk 6,000 miles. She plans to finish ten months later on the 10th December, the first anniversary of Elizabeth's death.

And so it was on Tuesday evening that the launch night for Natalia's epic walk took place. I was asked if I could come along to photograph the event. It was a powerful evening. There were tears, laughter, smiles and sadness  as over 200 people listened to Natalia as she spoke about her plans, motivations and fundraising aims. 

Natalia was joined on stage by a host of special guest speakers including MP Alex Chalk's representative, Hannah Wright, award winning children's author Tracey Corderoy, Graham Harbord, an experienced GB coastline walker,  a charity representative from the Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, global adventurer Jason Rawles as well as teachers and parents who were close to Elizabeth.

To view the gallery of photos live follow this link: http://elizabethsfootprint.com/launch-night/

For the Flickr feed use this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138987934@N03/shares/bTeCif

To find out more about Elizabeth's story and Natalia's plans please go to www.elizabethsfootprint.com or to donate visit www.justgiving.com/Natalia-Spencer.

Babel Babies

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of catching up with the super talented Cate Hamilton, co-founder of Babel Babies; fun multi-sensory music and movement sessions exploring foreign languages with songs and stories from around the world.

Babel Babies was my very first job when I launched Mouse About Town back in 2013. I can't believe it's been nearly two years, doesn't time fly! 

The sessions take place on a weekly basis in the Exmouth Arms on the Bath Road in Cheltenham. They are fun and relaxed, with the emphasis on learning languages through music and play.

Below are some of the photos from yesterday's session. I hope you like them.

 

Pip & Jim's Christmas Card 2015

Last Thursday I met Nick Davies, vicar at St Philip and St James' Church in Leckhampton, for their 2015 Christmas card photo shoot!

We were greeted at the Church by a very adorable Joseph, Mary and Angel Gabriel already in costume and ready to go!

I've worked with Nick on many occasions now and I'm always extremely happy to help. My family and I are all members of the local community and we always try and attend the family friendly service on the 1st of every month. If you've not been to one before, it's definitely worth trying once! Mayhem rules with all the kids there!

So, getting back to the festive photo shoot...

If you see a Christmas card through your letterbox from your lovely St Philip and St James' Church, it's a Mouse About Town shot! 

Pip & Jim's Baptism

The church of St Philip & St James sits in the heart of the Leckhampton community. It is also very special to us now that Jenson, our eldest, has started in reception at St Philip & St James' Primary School.

As a family, we often attend the family friendly service, which is held on the first of every month. It's always such a delight to see the children, (and all their noises!) so warmly welcomed. 

I've got to know Nick Davies, the vicar, very well over the past few years, having previously taken professional photographs of Harvest and Pentecost, not to mention the epic Bubble & Squeak book challenge! 

Last Sunday Nick asked if I could pop along to the family service to take some new photos for him, in particular of the children and the three baptisms that were taking place during the service too! I was joined by Mr Mouse and our two baby squeakers and had lots of fun capturing these shots, with Miss Mouse climbing all over me for the duration!

Winston's Wish Residential

Winston's Wish runs residential weekends for bereaved children and young people aged 6 to 18, that is both challenging and fun.

The weekends involve practical and creative activities that encourage teamwork, building confidence and self-esteem. This sets the scene for the children to begin sharing their own stories, to untangle and express a range of feelings, increase their knowledge about death and to continue their individual journeys towards understanding their grief.

Working alongside professional staff and highly trained volunteers, children are given the opportunity to share their individual stories with others in their small group, gain information about what happened through a question-and-answer session with a doctor, take special time to remember the person who has died, explore safely some of the more challenging feelings and responses they may be experiencing and develop ways of looking to the future.

The residential weekend I photographed was focused on children who had lost a parent through suicide, murder and manslaughter. 

I only spent a few hours with the children, but those hours were probably some of the toughest I've photographed. Having lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old, I found the whole experience very moving. The balloon release at the end was particularly touching. Each had a message from the child to the parent who had died. It was a poignant moment. 

If anyone wants to find out more about Winston's Wish or would like to make a donation please visit their website at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/.

Winston's Wish Drop In Clinic

Winston's Wish is a charity very close to my heart, having lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old.

The collaboration with them started with the launch party of my new photo studio in November 2014, (click here to see photos) I held a raffle with all the proceeds going to Winston's Wish. We raised over £100, which was terrific! It was then that they asked me if I could help further. They were in need of new photos for their online media and marketing platforms. Their existing ones were tired, having been taken 15 years ago.

The drop in clinic is our first project together.  The clinic itself started in January 2013. It is open to anyone who would like to find out more about Winston's Wish and the services they provide or would like to meet with other people in relation to a bereavement. It is held on the last Wednesday of every month from 3.30pm-6.30pm at Leisure @ Cheltenham, Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham, GL50 4RN.

The purpose of the photos was to simply capture the space to help give people an understanding of the setting and environment. A model was used.

Pip & Jim's Church - Pentecost

Nick, the vicar at St Philips and St James' Church in Leckhampton, Cheltenham, recently asked if I could come along to their Pentecost service and take some photos. It's always such a pleasure.

I work with Nick and the Church on a regular basis and they are currently trying to raise funds for their big roof appeal. It's such a worthwhile cause and the Church does a lot of good work within the local community, I feel it is very important to support it.

Pip & Jim's Church - Harvest

As a family, my husband and I and our two young children, Jenson and Wren, enjoy the family services that take place on the first Sunday of each month at St Philips and St James' Church in Leckhampton, Cheltenham. It's refreshing to feel so warmly welcomed with the little ones laughing, screaming and shouting, which is actively encouraged throughout the service! 

As a photographer, I first got involved with the Church when Nick, the vicar, asked if I could take some pictures of their Harvest Festival.

I now work with Nick and the team on a regular basis and it's such a pleasure.