The Boy in the Tent (and why I want to set up a blog!)

My daughter is 11 and my step-daughter is 10. They've had to live through a pandemic and miss out on almost two years of being in school. They've lost out on some important elements of education - not least the opportunity to play with friends. They're now growing up in a very challenging and turbulent period of history. Multiple prime ministers coming and going, the tragedy of the Ukraine war and now the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

As much as we try to protect them, they inevitably are aware of the larger world challenges we're all facing. They watch Newsround at school, they talk to their friends, they ask us questions. At the moment, the world seems to be quite a dark place to children (and let's face it, to us as well!) So how did this lead me to starting a little blog?

I started thinking about doing it a couple of weeks ago when I read the amazing story about The Boy in the Tent. For those of you who don't know the story - he's a 13 year old from Devon who took part in an amazing fundraising challenge. He decided to sleep in a tent to raise money for a hospice, in memory of a family friend. Somehow, this amazing young man managed to sleep outside in a tent for three whole years! Just try and imagine it for a second. Through his last three Christmases and birthdays - he woke up and went to bed in a tent. Through the coldest winters and hottest summers - he slept outside. Whenever he was sad, or poorly, or scared, he kept sleeping in a tent to raise money for charity. At ten years old, he had the determination and will power to start this incredible challenge and stick to it for three years of his young life. And in the process - he raised a mind-blowing £700,000 for charity! I don't know many grownups who could proudly say they've taken on a three year fundraising challenge and raised such a staggering amount.

You can read more about his amazing story by clicking here.

When I read his story, it reminded me that there are still good news stories in the world. There are good people and good charities doing good things. My view and the reason for this blog is because I believe these things that should be shouted about and celebrated.

I've worked in the charity sector for over 15 years. The sad truth is that it's often the smaller local charities who need the most support and who are most lacking in resources. Charities are focused on their crucial charitable services and many are overstretched. They rarely have marketing budgets yet they are the ones who need most promotion and help raising awareness to garner the support they most desperately need.

So my hope for this blog is twofold. Firstly, I want to remind people that there continues to be good news stories out there. Secondly, I want to help raise awareness and support some charitable causes along the way.

And why Yorkshire? I live here, I love it here and honestly, I couldn't think about anywhere better to write about!

Thank you for reading, I'll be back again soon

Katie x