An update from October – it hasn’t changed at all – we still think of Huw just the same as we did last year

I start this month’s update with this picture from Huw’s 2010-11 football registration card.  He was coming up to his 15th birthday when he got this done – in August 2010.

September and October in Holmfirth have been relatively warm and sunny, as if to make up for the disappointment of May and June.  Huw’s tubs at Sands have benefitted from this exension to the growing season and here is a picture of them in full bloom in September – we’ll be cutting the plants back soon so they grow ever stronger next spring.  I often drop by Huw’s bench on a weekend – sometimes when I’ve been for a swim – and over the summer it was a great pleasure to see Huw’s friends sitting there and to have a quick chat with him.  It was as if they wanted to sit with Huw while they chatted together and chilled out ♥♥♥

Huw’s Trust has now increased from £67,000 last time I did an update to nearly £69,000 – so the funds still keep coming in which is a great honour to Huw.  We received money from Ellie and Alfie from summer bike rides recently, along with funds from Katie and Hannah running the Hepworth Dryad race, and amazing donations from Upperthong Football Club and Easylift.  And as per my last update, so many thanks to Kate Piatt (Huw’s junior school teacher) who had donations to Huw’s Trust in leiu of presents for her birthday and raised £200.  Thank you to everyone who has continued to be so generous.

In terms of upcoming events in November, then good luck to Jeremy Hoyle on November 18th as he takes part in the Leeds Abbey dash – Jeremy is such a loyal supporter of the Huw charity.  And many thanks too for everyone who has sponsored Jeremy – here is his Just Giving page – http://www.justgiving.com/jeremy-hoyle1

And I particularly want to tell you about someone called Richard Ford in this update.  Richard is a coach with one of the youngest age groups at Hepworth United and has always been a strong and fit guy who works for West Yorkshire Police.  Richard has a wife (Jude) and 3 sons but tragically experienced a brain stem stroke in June which has left him hospitalised and with limited movement.  Richard is fighting and will improve but will need help with equipment, extras and so on in future years.  Like Huw, Richard is a Hepworth United guy who has had the terrible misfortune of a significant brain injury through no fault of his own.  Therefore the Huw Thatcher Trust will be proud to raise some funds for Richard in future.  I met Jude recently and I am going visit Richard soon.  Meetings like this make the things we are doing seem especially valuable as we can help a local cause that is close to our hearts.  More detail on joint fun raising will follow and here is a Blog about Richard that she has started – Richard has a long journey to travel – http://www.therichardfordtrust.com/

It was a pleasure last Friday night to go to a Halloween night to see ‘Hiding from Olive’ (the band of Huw’s friends who played at the Picturedrome).  It was great to see all sorts of friends of different ages relaxed in eachother’s company – some of the 16 and 17 year olds more relaxed than others due to the assistance offered (or bribed) of older customers visiting the bar on their behalf – which made me laugh.  It was nice to chat to Huw’s friends again and particularly to buy a couple of them a pint.  Were they really under 18?  I had no idea!

Huw’s Bluebirds of Cardiff City continue to have a good start to the season (with Huddersfield Town tucked in hot pursuit) and it was an emotional moment a few weeks ago to watch Cardiff play away at Ipswich on TV.  The last match Huw saw was Ipswich vs Cardiff City – Huw, Carys and me watched it together on TV early in March 2011.  As Carys and I watched the equivalent match 18 months later, it felt like that win was for Huw – Cardiff hadn’t won at Ipswich for many years!  In fact as one of Huw’s friends (Tom) said recently, when anything good happens in our lives, it feels a bit like Huw has something to do with it from wherever he is ♥♥♥.

Finally on a most poignant note – next month sees Huw’s 17th birthday.  November will always be Huw’s month to me – it has been in our family ever since he was born.  And one of Huw’s friends contacted me a week ago, to say that they wanted to mark Huw’s birthday in some way.  I’ll tell you about that another time but suffice to say I was overcome that this lovely young friend of Huw’s had contacted me about it and when I said to her ‘it’s lovely that you still think about Huw, and want to do something’ she just said ‘well it hasn’t changed at all – we still think of him in just the same way as we did last year.’  She was sensitive and sincere in what she said – and that conversation gave me a lot of hope because it reminded me of how much Huw means to his friends, as well as to his doting family ♥♥♥♥♥♥

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