Loughborough mum launches challenge for Rainbows
A Loughborough mum whose daughter attends Rainbows has come up with a sweet idea to raise funds for us.
Alison Birkin isn’t taking the biscuit with her simple plan to raise more than £1,000 for Rainbows as we care for her daughter Chloe Flanders (19).
Alison has set up the Biskitty Challenge and is hoping as many people as possible get involved. The challenge is easy; all people have to do is save used biscuit wrappers which can then be recycled to raise money for us.
Alison has set a £1,000 target but if the Biskitty Challenge is a success, it will continue. She said: “I heard about a similar scheme and I thought it would be an easy way to raise money for Rainbows.
“I decided on biscuit wrappers as most people eat biscuits and there aren’t many places that recycle wrappers. I set up a Facebook page and I have had so much interest from people wanting to get involved. Parents at Rainbows, schools, community and groups and businesses all want to join in. It’s been wonderfully overwhelming.”
Alison’s daughter, Chloe, has been visiting Rainbows for the past decade. When she was nine, Chloe was diagnosed with a severe form of Childhood Idiopathic Primary Dystonia – a movement disorder that leads to painful involuntary sustained muscle spasms and involuntary movements – which affected every function of her body.
Four years later, Chloe endured Deep Brain Stimulation, pioneering surgery which helped bring her symptoms under more control. She has a battery pack inside her chest which constantly sends electrical impulses to the part of the brain which controls movements to block out the signals which cause the symptoms of Dystonia. But her family never know when her symptoms will come back or in what force.
Alison added: “Rainbows is such an important place and it is great for me to be able to give something back. It’s fantastic for Chloe; it’s somewhere she can go, have fun and just be herself.”
Katie Baxter, Events and Community Manager at Rainbows, added: “I would like to thank Alison for setting up this challenge and for supporting Rainbows. She is doing a wonderful thing raising funds to help us run the hospice – as Alison knows, fundraising efforts make such a huge difference to the children at Rainbows and their families.”
An average biscuit wrapper weighs around 2.4 grams, which is worth two pence. Inner individual wrappers and outer wrappers of any sweet biscuit are accepted, excluding foil and paper.
Volunteers have set up drop off points for donations and more information can be found at http://on.fb.me/1qsyfxg, by searching for ‘Biskitty’ on Facebook, or email [email protected]
