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The Ball on Saturday evening was an amazing evening. 122 people came all dressed to impress and the atmosphere was buzzing. The meal was lovely and we had an auction and raffle. Jim and I also wanted to say thank you to all of the committee members who have worked so hard over the last 5 months to help raise so much money. I did a short speech on Thomas' life (although I was really nervous) and we showed a slide show from the first picture of him in the incubator right through to a very recent one. At the end of the evening we were told that the evening had raised just over £5,000! It has taken our total to just under £28,000!!
On Monday we had a meeting with the surveyor to finalise all of the internal specification ready for the paperwork to go out to tender. The work has passed planning permission and building regs but every item has to be itemised on the schedule of works ready for quotes. At the end of the meeting the surveyor said that the paperwork will be sent out to tender next Monday and the three building contractors will have to submit their quotes within 2 weeks. The cheapest quote wins the work. So by the middle of October we should have the final cost of the works (we have been waiting over a year for these figures) A financial meeting will then take place between us, the surveyor, the council and occupational therapist to see whether we have enough funds to cover the cost of the build and equipment. It is so difficult to put into words how we are feeling right now. The pace at which we have raised the money is quite amazing, Saturday night was a real celebration of what we have achieved but this week it is really sinking in what has happened. We are within touching distance of making the £30,000 that we were asked to find so the build is actually going to happen. Builders could be on site before Christmas or maybe just after! This week I have started to think about clearing the garage (because shortly it will be knocked down!) where we are going to put everything, sorting out a temporary ramp for the front door for Thomas to have access to the house. Everything suddenly seems so real, and I am so excited, Thomas will have the space he needs and Jim and I won't be lifting him up and down the stairs anymore! Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement. With all of the other charities asking for money, we just feel so privileged to have had the overwhelming support from everybody. Family life for us will be so different and less stressful, and we will always be so grateful to everyone for making these adaptions happen, we really couldn't have done it on our own.
All this would not have been possible without the energy, effort and enthusiasm of Caroline Morley. Thank you Caz. xx |
