Thinking of Oscar
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This Saturday, July 14th, we have the annual Thinking of Oscar Cricket Match between Leigh CC and a TOO/Middleton Stoney Invitational XI at Leigh's beautiful ground in the foothills of Box Hill in Surrey. We are a couple short so if anyone would like to join us for what looks to be a beautiful afternoon, then please let us know. ? ☀ ... See more

It is hard to believe that today marks four years since our son Oscar died and since we founded the charity in his name. In some senses it feels like yesterday and we have very vivid memories of a living nightmare unfolding. On the other hand it is hard to recall how simple life once was. We have accumulated a lot of tricks on how to get through significant events and one of these is to do something positive, which is what has prompted today’s post.

Next year’s 5th anniversary milestone gives us an opportunity to do some extraordinary things, using the anniversary as a catalyst. With this in mind we have two very exciting events in plan. One is an extremely complex and ambitious national event, details of which will follow at the end of the summer, but our other flagship event for 2019 will once again be the Blenheim Palace Triathlon.

We have invited all our previous participants to reconvene in 2019 to be part of our largest squad to date, but we would like to extend the invitation further. By way of background for those of you who have not considered this type of challenge before, this triathlon is set in the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace. It is popular amongst first timers and pro’s alike and consists of a 750 metre lake swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run. We will have a mix of full places and relay places (where 3 team members cover the race between them) and we all set off at the same time in the same wave. Raising awareness of the charity by wearing the Thinking of Oscar team kit, means that the team is phenomenally well supported around the course. The experience is challenging, inspiring and exhilarating. We had several pre-commits this year from supporters swept up in the occasion as spectators.

If you, a friend, colleague or family member, would like to be a part of our amazing team then please get in touch. In the past couple of years we have also had a number of corporate teams take part – in the form of relay teams as well as groups of colleagues all taking part in the full event. ... See more

Yesterday once again we had an amazing team of Thinking of Oscar supporters taking part in the hottest The Blenheim Palace Triathlon on record (still being verified). We also had a truly fantastic support crew to cheer us all on. PB's were smashed, a lot of sweat and some tears were shed but everyone made it home with a smile on their face and between the team they will have raised close to £10,000 for Thinking of Oscar. As if by serendipity we received this message tonight from a lady who's daughter is currently in the Oxford Children's Hospital and was handed one of our Super Hero Kits to help her through her stay in hospital:

"My daughter was at the JR in Oxford today and received a superhero kit with a monkey. She loved it so much, thank you, it really helped make the hospital experience much more bearable for her. She’s named the monkey George and wants to show him to all her nursery friends. Thank you. We saw another girl receive one too and she was full of joy while her dad spun her round in her superhero costume."

Thank you so much for everyone's continued support. There is still time to donate if you would like to do so. ... See more

David & Hannah is raising money to help Thinking of Oscar

Two weeks ago we ran our first Children's Health Hackathon focusing on Paediatric Healthcare whilst in Hospital. Below is the write up from the event.

Learnings from our recent Paediatric Hackathon. For a couple of years now David and I have been talking about our desire to stage a hackathon (an

Today we're at the University of Oxford with The Innovation Forum where we are holding a #Childhealth #Hackathon promoting the necessity for #Innovation within #Paediatric Healthcare. Looking forward to seeing what this sell out crowd comes up with. Follow the day using #IFPaedsHack. "The children we heal today will be healing us tomorrow." ... See more