It’s time to #PassTheK with our July challenge!

This July, we are encouraging family, friends and colleagues to take up the baton and ‘PassTheK’ to reach our neighbours down under in Brisbane, Australia. We should have been travelling there for an international conference to share learning about our work and many people would have been travelling abroad at this time of year.

You can run, walk cycle or swim as many ‘K’ as they can throughout July and then ‘Pass’ the virtual baton, by tagging a friend on social media to do the same. Collectively, the aim is to travel from Edinburgh to Brisbane, a total of 16,313km.

We have run a series of popular and fun virtual challenges through April, May and June, helping to keep our community connected and raise essential funds for our work.

In June, #TheKTeam challenge was set for our running and cycling community, which had supporters seeing how many ‘K’ they could achieve in different teams. Over the month, we saw 11 teams ranging in size from a single person to 20 people, travel over 11,500 km!

Nicola Welsh, Chief Executive Officer says of the current situation:

“In a recent survey we did, 67% of families stated the lockdown has had a big impact on the care they have received. We want to continue doing all we can to support them and ensure that they are never alone. As a bereaved parent myself, my heart goes out to all the families that have had to face this nightmare isolated at home, away from close family and friends.

We are committed to supporting bereaved families for the long term. One of the biggest challenges we have increasingly been seeing has been families coping with a pregnancy following a loss. What should be a time of joy and excitement becomes a time fraught with worry and stress that this baby may also die. This is normally an especially anxious time for those families, but with the additional risks from the coronavirus, it is so much worse. We are working hard to provide extra support through our counselling and befriending team to minimise stress for these mothers and their babies and give them as much support as we can.

#PassTheK will help us raise awareness of our work and also generate essential funds for our specialist support services. Bereavement support for families is never more needed, as we are only beginning to see the levels of trauma that families have experienced through lockdown.”

Tracy Watt, Fundraising Manager says:

“Like many charities, we face fewer opportunities to raise much needed funds as many traditional summer and autumn sports and challenge events have been cancelled. We wanted to build on the successes of our other monthly challenges and set a really ambitious campaign for July, both in terms of the distance travelled and hopefully the funds raised too. This month’s challenge is encouraging family, friends and colleagues to take up the baton and ‘PassTheK’ to help us reach our neighbours down under in Brisbane, Australia.”

HOW DO YOU TAKE PART?

You need to first register with our Fundraising Manager, Tracy Watt by email – tracy@heldinourhearts.org.uk and donate £5 either on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/donate/403399513898510/
or text PASSTHEK to 70085

THEN:

Share the video in this post and paste the following to your status:

I’m taking part in Held In Our Hearts’ Pass The K challenge and I am passing the baton to (tag your friends) Email tracy@heldinourhearts.org.uk to sign up today and give £5 either on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/donate/403399513898510/ or text PASSTHEK to 70085. Help us race 16,313km down under to Brisbane and make sure no family has to face the loss of their precious baby alone.