Throughout the year members of Aspire Fitness Studios are taking part in various challenges which include a 20 mile walk along Hadrian's Wall on 8th May, 5k Colour Obstacle Rush and Muddy Mayhem to raise funds for our chosen charity 'Changing Faces'. Changing Faces is a charity that supports adults and children who have facial scarring or deformities through any injury or condition that affects their appearance. The charity is run purely by volunteers and relies on donations to help support families. Please feel free to check out the website to find out how the funds we raise will help. https://www.changingfaces.org.uk/support-us

The charity is helping one of our lovely gym members Nicola and her family. Sadly her little girl, Emily has been left with a permanent, significant scar central to her face after an aerosol blew up hitting her with direct force. 

 Emily had to receive extensive plastic surgery to have her face reconstructed, part of her nose removed and then rebuilt & also her lips had to be reshaped. Unfortunately the lacerations cut though her bone structure & severely disfigured her mouth. Due to her facial injuries Emily initially lost her speech and due to shock she was also unable to walk for a short time, thankfully through time, the continued support of the hospital and trauma team her speech has fully returned. 

Understandably Emily has been left not just with a physical scar but with mental scars too and thankfully Changing Faces has been there to help. They support Emily by offering guidance to help her gain confidence, rebuild her self esteem and learn techniques that she can use when handling other people's reactions like staring or asking her uncomfortable questions. They teach Emily confidence skills through sharing other children's experiences, supporting the feelings and emotions to deal with post traumatic stress & simply helping her return to normality as smoothly as possible. 

Emily is gradually gaining her confidence and she is making fantastic progress, continuing to impress her health care professionals and her family.......... But most importantly she is still managing to show that beautiful smile.

Emily would like to raise money to help others have the chance of the fabulous support she is receiving. Let's hope we can raise as much money as possible to help fund such a valuable charity!

Thank you for your support xxx