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FUNDRAISING WEEKEND WITH SPORTING BEARS.

November 2017 – A great joint effort at the NEC Classic Motor Show with Mike – Vintage Racecar, Ann and Kary – for NARA – The Breathing Charity and the Sporting Bears Team.

Sporting Bear Team at NEC.

Sporting Bear Team at NEC.

The VR stand looked great with a great array of superb cars. Thanks to all those who gave their time and brought their cars and helped with the set up of the stand. It looked fab.

We met some wonderful people at The Sporting Bears Team, who do a fantastic job raising funds for charities and they very kindly chose NARA to be one of those they picked this year. They had asked us if we would like to invite some of our patients with their families, and it was fantastic to meet up with some families we have met before and also meet with new faces too. We hope all had a great day, it certainly looked like you did. Thank you to all who came to support NARA and Sporting Bears, Twins J & H and their family from Swindon, A and his Family from Coventry, J – for the loan of his daddy and sister J from Liverpool and A & O and their family from Northampton.
Twins J & H were born early and needed assistance with their breathing during their first months of life. Premature babies can suffer from a condition call  apnoea of prematurity. Most experts define this as a condition in which infants stop breathing for 15 to 20 seconds. Generally, babies who are born at less than 35 weeks’ gestation have periods when they stop breathing or their heart rates drop. (The medical name for a slowed heart rate is bradycardia.)
The twins were given apnoea monitors for mum and dad to be able to know when either of them stopped breathing so they could give them the assistance needed.
A is a eight yr old little boy who was born with many diverse conditions, some of which has meant he has needed many surgeries. On top of which, asthma and apnoea are just a couple more problems he has to tackle on a daily basis. An apnoea mattress monitor was placed in his bed so mum and dad knew when he stopped breathing during the night and could give assistance, also, a nebuliser was provided for A to be able to get the medication he needed to help him breathe. As A has grown, it has become clear he was growing out of the monitor so NARA are looking at giving him a more up to date piece of equipment to help him.
J is a little boy from Liverpool that we have helped since he was eight weeks old. Doctors knew he stopped breathing and could do so up to five + times a day or night but all were at a loss to know why. An apnoea monitor was provided to let mum and dad know when he stopped breathing. J had to be resuscitated many times and after many tests it was discovered he suffered from a condition called Chairi Malformation – see link for details  https://naratbc.org.uk/apnoea-and-associated-condition-chairi-and-gor/
J used to always be attached to his monitor, and as he grew he carried it in a back pack, it has saved his life on numerous occasions. J couldn’t be with us for the show as he had a dance final to be at, but mum sent us photos of some of his journey through life so far, and he let his sister J join us in his place.
A & O – both suffered from bronchiolitis when they were tiny.  Bronchiolitis is a common illness of the respiratory tract. It’s caused by an infection that affects the tiny airways, called the bronchioles, that lead to the lungs. As these airways become inflamed, they swell and fill with mucus, which can make breathing difficult. A apnoea monitor was put in place with both babies.
Our thoughts and prayers are with a little two year old boy E who was supposed to have joined us with his family from Welling Garden City, but has been very poorly for a while and is currently in GOSH. Get well real soon lil man, we hope you will soon be well enough to be back home with your family.
Caroline & Mike and all at Sporting Bears are passionate about their cars, but they also have a similar passion to help others. Offering rides aboard some of the world’s most iconic and eye catching vehicles for a donation helps so many charities, appeals and causes.  It also gives members of the public an opportunity to ride in a car that would simply be out of their reach. You should all be so proud of the fantastic work you do for others. At the NEC Classic Motor Show you kindly made NARA and those invited families we’ve helped feel so welcome, and, whilst you were all so very busy. Our families have expressed their gratitude and thanks to you all, you made some very sick children and their siblings really happy, ‘Thank You’. We are always so very grateful to anyone who fundraise for us, it is one of the most difficult parts of our work, and of course very necessary for us to be able to continue our work – ‘Thank you all so very much’.
January update on those that joined us –
J & H – The twins no longer need the apnoea monitors and are doing very well, their monitors are now ready for two more babies to use.
A – alongside his nebuliser and apnoea monitor, Thanks to Sporting Bears, A now has one of our new pulseguard monitors and is doing well, we understand he will need more surgery this year. One brave little boy.
J – is now seven years old. He is managing to sometimes self correct when an attack occurs which is brilliant. He loves to dance, and was in the final of a show in Blackpool on the weekend of our show. He is one very special little man.
A & O – A – now has asthma but manages very well with puffers when needed which is brilliant. Both boys are doing very well.
E – has currently spent five months in hospital including Christmas, which must be so very hard for his parents and siblings. We send them all our love and prayers, and wish for a good recovery for E who we hope will be back home soon with his loved ones.
The Sporting Bears got NARA off to a amazing start to 2018 as just a couple of weeks into the New Year a cheque arrived for £5,290, which was our share of the NEC fund-raiser, plus money from other events held by Dave Mattock and the Shire Bears. This is a absolutely fantastic result. Thank you to all at Sporting Bears who worked so hard to make this possible for us as well as others, we really appreciate it. It is people like you that make it possible for us to continue our work, ‘Thank You so much’. The money has already helped us provide medical equipment and support to A in Coventry (see above).
 We hope you liked this story. If there is any way we can help you, or you can help us, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help!
For more about NARA – The Breathing Charity go to www.naratbc.org.uk.
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