I will berunning the London Marathon this year to raise funds for The Rose RoadAssociation.

The RoseRoad Association is a Southampton based charity that provides a range ofservices for children and  young people with multiple and complex needs upto the age of 25 in Hampshire and the surrounding counties. Some of theservices provided by The Association include:

·        Activity/ Play Schemes – free stay and play fun sessions which includes sensory playfor children aged 0 – 16 with disabilities.

·        PlayPM - After school Clubs for children and young people with severe physicaldisabilities, learning disabilities and autism. This service enables childrenand young people to meet up and try new activities such as sports, arts andcrafts, games or cooking,.

·        OutreachService - The Association provides one to one quality time for young peoplewith disabilities in their home or in their community. This service isavailable 7 days a week and can be used to provide support to attend youthclubs, go shopping or take a trip to the cinema. This service can also provideparents / carers with a few hours respite to spend on their own or withsiblings.

·        ResidentialRespite – In my opinion, having visited The Bradbury Centre, this is the mostimportant resource that The Association offer. The Bradbury Centre is The RoseRoad Association’s HQ and has been designed to accommodate young people andchildren with severe physical disabilities. This facility provides short breakswhich are fun and stimulating for the children and provides essential respitefor parents, carers and siblings. Whilst staying at the centre there arenumerous activities tailored to the individual including sensory play, arts andcrafts and cooking.

·        Thecentre also offers twin rooms which enables children to have sleep overs withfriends or siblings.

It costsover £5000 a day to keep Rose Road running. I have set myself the target ofraising £2000.