Most of us have childhood memories of time spent by the sea, from holidays to day trips, in sunshine or stormy weather, and damp sandwiches and sandy blankets usually play their part in these memories. At various times in my childhood my brothers and I holidayed at North Berwick, Hunstanton and Walberswick, Brighton and Llandudno, burying each other in the sand or skimming stones across the water; and now when I take a break from 11 Downing Street to go to Scotland with my family, one of the things I look forward to most is the view over the Firth of Forth. The sight of water when you wake up in the morning is definitely good for the soul. The sea also has a wider role in our collective heritage than simple reminiscence and relaxation; from Coleridge’s Ancìent Mariner, alone on his ‘wide wide sea’, to Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, from the history of heroic figures like Admiral Nelson and Grace Darling to the stories of Dunkirk and the folklore of fishermen and lifeboat crews, our history is full of the brave adventures of our island race. Stories of people who push themselves to the limit, facing great peril and encountering great beauty. People who conquer overwhelming odds but never give up, like the people I met when I attended the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin last year. The Games were the culmination of the year-round training and competition undertaken by people with a learning disability, and I was struck by just how inspiring the opening ceremony was, seeing seven thousand athletes from over a hundred and fifty countries proudly marching behind their country’s flag. Not only for those taking part, but also for their families and carers, who got to see so many people who at first glance might not appear destined for glory being brave enough to give it a go, and bringing a real sense of achievement both to themselves and to everyone associated with their efforts. It was a real privilege to be there, and after meeting the team at Special Olympics Great Britain everyone at PiggyBankKids was determined to help them in their efforts to increase the number of athletes, coaches and volunteers and to improve the quality and range of sports on offer.
Since I launched PiggyBankKids in 2002 we have raised over a million pounds for our ongoing projects, including the Jennifer Brown Research Fund which supports a perinatal research laboratory based at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. We have worked on partnership projects with other charities to support mentoring and volunteering, family services, and advice for one-parent families. Last year we launched our new fundraising initiative, The Big Night In, which will help us fund all our core projects and enable us to expand the range of charities we help. Our aims at PiggyBankKids are simple: to support and strengthen charities working to improve opportunities for children and young people across the UK. So we are especially proud to be working with Special Olympics Great Britain, which has such a positive approach to providing ever greater facilities for their young people and creating an environment that encourages previously unimaginable achievements.
Thank you so much for buying this book and helping us to raise funds to promote the important work of Special Olympics Great Britain. I would like to thank my coeditors, Hugo Tagholm, our Programme Director at PiggyBankKids, who’s a keen surfer, and Gil McNeil, our Publishing Director, who is still trying to get the sand out of the back of her car after her son discovered the joys of surfing last summer. Most of all I would like to thank our brilliant writers, who all so generously agreed to donate their work for free. I am sure you will enjoy reading their fantastic stories as much as I have.
Sarah Brown
PiggyBankKids