Here at Thomley we are always amazed at the challenges people set themselves and very grateful for the generosity of people who chose to raise money for Thomley at the same time.

Anthony Livingstone is taking part in The Ride Across Britain (www.rideacrossbritain.com) which takes place over nine days. He will be following the route from John O’Groats to Land’s End and cycling a mammoth distance of 115 miles a day! His first ride starts at the crack of dawn on Saturday 12th June in Scotland, and finishes with a well deserved party on Sunday 20th June in Cornwall – a chance for all the riders to pat themselves on the back and celebrate crossing the finish line!

Anthony has set up a Just Giving page and is hoping to raise lots of money for Thomley while taking part in a truly incredible endurance event.

“Many people have been kind enough to ask if I’m raising money and to offer to sponsor me, so it seems a shame to let the opportunity to pass by without helping a worthy cause. After some thought  I have decided to raise money for Thomley Activity Centre, a recreational facility for disabled children and their families located quite close to where we live in Oakley. When Jane and I were in Ealing we lived next door to a lady who was bringing up on her own a teenage boy who was severely autistic, and we saw at fairly close quarters just how challenging life can be for families in those circumstances.” - Anthony Livingstone

To sponsor Anthony, visit www.justgiving.com/Anthony-Livingstone-RideAcrossBritain

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to the pupils and staff of Cokethorpe Junior School in Witney who recently took part in a sponsored walk in aid of Thomley and the Footsteps Foundation.

Collecting a sticker at each half kilometre checkpoint, one child managed twelve and a half kilometres in the hour and the youngest children managed three and a half kilometres each. The total distance covered by staff and pupils was an amazing 460 miles - further than from Cokethorpe to Paris!

The final amount raised was a fantastic £2800 and Maureen Marchbank who organised the school event said, “The children really enjoyed the challenge and were even more thrilled to be able to hand over cheques of £1400 each to our two chosen charities.”

Cokethorpe pupils having fun & raising funds!

We had a very successful cheer leading workshop, lots of fancy dress outfits, a superhero workshop and even some days of sunshine to top off a great week!

Our first Monday opening proved to be a great success; reducing waiting lists and getting as many people through the gates as our capacity allows! The week saw 357 children out of a possible 360 attending Thomley; so a very busy week!

A big thank you to all families who notified us that they couldn’t make it, this enabled families on the waiting list to attend

Free admission with a supervised gate. No booking required.

Look no further for your Christmas gifts.

Stalls will include jewellery, crafts, pottery, cards, jams and more…

All of our play facilities will be available for families to enjoy throughout the day. Please note that as this is a fundraising event, there will be a recommended donation for the soft play and sensory room.

Free admission with a supervised gate. No booking required.

Look no further for your Christmas gifts…

Stalls will include jewellery, crafts, pottery, cards, jams and more…

All of our play facilities will be available for families to enjoy throughout the day. Please note that as this is a fundraising event, there will be a recommended donation for the soft play and sensory room.

The One Show is featuring a number of projects funded by BBC Children in Need. BBC Children in Need feel that Thomley’s crucial work with disabled children and their families highlights the success of the projects they fund. This short film features a Sandy Arnold and her two autistic sons Joseph and Adam, who are regular visitors to Thomley. To see this programme, click here.

Perhaps to inspire you to join us in a project led by Chris called ‘Words and Wine’….

Hello, my name is Chris Beck and I visit Thomley Hall with my son Barnaby. I am working with Claire and Milly on a new ‘Creative’ project and I would be delighted to hear from other parents, siblings, family members and carers who have first-hand experience of living, knowing and working with children/young people who have disabilities.

I would like to invite you to join me, in creating a ‘Book of Awareness’ entitled ‘That’s how it is’  to be filled with words, poetry, songs, sketches and illustrations written and created by families who know ‘How it is’. Inspired by our children, not only will this project/book allow us to share our experiences but also offer insight and awareness to those who may not truly understand.

You may like to write just one line of thought, a rhyme or a poem. It could be a song, a small pencil sketch or cartoon…it really doesn’t matter as long as it relates to your experience of ‘how it is’ for you. Submissions can of course, be anonymous.

The proposed planning of this project goes something like this!

1. I will be introducing myself to you at ‘Family Days’ and ‘Dads and Male Carers Days’ to hear your ideas and thoughts, and hopefully to inspire you all to join in.

2. We plan to hold a ‘Words and Wine’ evening which will be an opportunity to share a glass of wine together, be introduced to this exciting new venture and to hear a few words written or a couple of songs sung.

3.      (A few months down the road) we will stage a ‘That’s how it is’ event to share ALL the work created to date. Finally ALL work/submissions will be collated and our book - ‘That’s how it is’ will then be printed and published and ready to share with the world!

Apart from sharing ‘That’s how it is’ with all those people we know, it can of course be sold as a book, becoming a great ‘gift of awareness’ and raising some much needed and deserved funds for our well loved Thomley Hall.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to meeting you all and hopefully working together to create and compile our very own book of awareness.

Please start now - any thoughts and words that come to mind - write them down.

Many thanks and very best wishes to you all

Chris