News & Events

Thank you to Annie Armitage, Photographer
[January]
Thank you so much to Annie Armitage who kindly donated a £450 photo shoot voucher as one of our top Christmas Raffle Prizes, helping raise £1500 for Small Steps! http://www.anniearmitage.com

LouMae Designs Bracelets especially for Small Steps
[27th November]
These lovely bracelets have been made by Carim Seaborn, (Mia's Mum), who used to attend Small Steps.. a percentage of each 'Footsteps' bracelet sold will be donated to us... please take a look at her website for more information...www.loumaedesigns.com

Fantastic article written by Small Steps Parent for 'The Guardian' [26th October] Jess Moxham (Sam's Mum) posted a great piece " My son's specialist care is under threat" on The Guardian newspaper website on October 26th.... Click here to read the full article. A big thank you to Jess for her support from us all here at Small Steps!
The SLSLC London to Brighton Run [1st and 2nd October 2011] Small Steps were lukcy enough to be this year's charity for the South London and Surrey Land Rover Club's London to Brighton Run! The event raised over £500 and still counting! Many thanks to everyone at SLSLRC for all their hard work.

The Tommy Hollis Children's Fund sponsors our Tuesday morning session
[September 2011]
We are delighted to announce that the Tommy Hollis Children's Fund are sponsoring our Tuesday morning session 'Tommy Time'. Many thanks to Kate and Chris Hollis for their kind donation to Small Steps.

Do you have any new or nearly new items we could auction to raise money?
[September 2011]
Do you have any new or nearly new items which we could sell to raise money for Small Steps? Our friend Agi Palinkas has set up a shop to sell items in aid of Small Steps. Please take a look and donate items/ or make an offer on an item:http://giveatonmarathon.shops.pipfrog.com/

As if that wasn't enough, Agi and her husband Matt are also ran a half marathon on 25th September for Small Steps. You can still sponsor her at her Just Giving site: http://www.justgiving.com/give-2011

Charlotte Grobien of Give it Away is building 3 more houses for charity!
[September 2011]
Thank you to our great friend Charlotte Grobien of ‘Give it Away’ who has just gifted a further £5,000 to Small Steps. Despite having a huge amount on her plate currently, (not least breaking her wrist at the weekend), she struggling on building houses! She has undertaken 3 new builds at Stockers Lane, Woking. Construction is almost complete and should be ready for sale later this year making an estimated/hopeful profit of around £170,000 for Charlotte’s chosen charities!!

The Small Steps Triathlon Team 2011 have raised over £15,300!
[London Triathlon 30/31 July]
On the weekend of 30th and 31st July, 8 intrepid people, swam, cycled and ran their hearts out to raise money for Small Steps. We are delighted to announce that the Small Steps Triathlon Team 2011 has raised over £15,300!!! An amazing achievement. Thank you so much Ron, Adrian, Nick, John, Ed, Marie-Claire, Julia and Andy. The money you raised will make such a difference to the children and families at Small Steps.
Take a look at our facebook page to see photos of the day...

The Virgin London Marathon 2011
[17th April 2011]

In our July 2010 newsletter we told you of Small Steps exciting new partnership with Virgin Management and that as their local Charity Partner, Small Steps will be the beneficiary of a number of fundraising initiatives which the staff undertake.
We are delighted that Ben McGuire of Virgin Management has signed up to run the Virgin London Marathon on 17th April to raise money for Small Steps. Please show your support for Ben by sponsoring him on his Virgin Money Giving Page by clicking HERE.

Ben McGuire

Jacqueline Reynolds, friend of April's Mum and Dad, Susanna and Mark, has also courageously committed to running the Marathon to raise money for Small Steps and the NSPCC. Please sponsor her at her Virgin Money Giving Page by clicking here.
We wish both Ben and Jacqueline the best of luck!

Jacqueline Reynolds

Gavin Pilcher takes on the Atacama Crossing in Chile for Small Steps [6th March 2011] The Atacama Crossing is thought by some to be one of the hardest races in the world. Shoes are shredded on the razor sharp rocks. Blisters are more common on this race than any where else as the course winds itself through areas of the driest desert on earth which has not had any recorded rainfall in the last 100 years. Some of the course rises up and traverses the mountains. Here the contestants have to wade through ice cold streams. Once the course traversed a stream 30 times. The course then returns to the desert where the softened feet are particularly vulnerable to the jagged surfaces and creating consequential foot damage to the competitors. We urge you to show your support for Gavin as he puts himself through this gruelling race by sponsoring him on his JustGiving page by clicking here.	Gavin Pilcher
Andy completes 'Hell Runner Down South' in just under 2 hours! [26th November 2010] A huge thank you to Andy Harris, (friend of May's Mum and Dad), who completed 'Hell Runner Down South' at the end of November and raised over £400 for Small Steps. Well done Andy! If you'd like to show your admiration for Andy you can still donate on his JustGiving Page by clicking here.
Small Steps Christmas Bazaar [Thursday 4th November 2010] Please come and support Small Steps whilst doing your Christmas Shopping on 4th November at our Christmas Bazaar! There will be a host of stalls selling Christmas presents for all ages, Books, Jewellery, Cards, Children’s fashions, Games, Handmade Pottery, and lots more… Put the date in your diary 5pm til 9pm on 4th November at Small Steps.
Charlotte Grobien donates again! [September 2010] Thanks so much to our friend, Charlotte Grobien, who has so kindly donated a further £3000 from Give it Away. Give it Away is Charlotte's property company whose profits are generated through the development and building of property and all profits are given to children and young people in need. Thank you so much for thinking of Small Steps once again Charlotte!	Charlotte Grobien
Small Steps Fashion Show a big success! [28th September 2010] The second Small Steps Fashion Show, organised by Catrine Stothers, took place at the Shoe Station in Kew. A host of people enjoyed a glass of bubbly whilst viewing the latest French fashions in support of Small Steps. Thank you to Catrine and everyone who supported the event. The Small Steps Triathlon Team raise over £30,000 [7-8th August 2010] A big thank you to the following people who trained so hard to make this year’s Triathlon a major success… Ron Miao (Noah’s Daddy), Ed Collier (Iris’ Daddy), Mike Fitzpatrick (Daniel and Kieran’s Daddy), Bill Nash (Rudi’s Daddy), Tom Nash (Rudi’s Uncle), Soren Nikolajsen (Noah’s Godfather), Caroline Harrison (Edie’s Mummy), Adrian Stanley (Edie’s neighbour), Kate Brumfield (staff member), Jim Webb (Kate’s partner), Nick Pell (Anthea’s son), Mike Pell (Anthea’s son), Austin Bainger (Noah’s Godparent) and Dean Totham (Eva’s Daddy). Thank you also to the families who came to support the team, and those who sponsored them so generously.
The Mulsanne Partnership raise over £10,000 doing The Three Peaks Challenge! [21st July 2010]
The Mulsanne Partnership is a dynamic, young search firm based in the City of London, working for financial services clients. Mulsanne has recently affiliated itself to Small Steps and are taking part in a number of fundraising activities annually to raise money for Small Steps. Mulsanne wanted to ally themselves to a worthy, London-based cause and use the Three Peaks Challenge as a means of fundraising. A poll in the office produced Small Steps as their chosen partner. Some of their dynamic, young team felt sufficiently un-challenged physically by a life behind a desk, a phone and a PC to seek out something that would require a serious effort to get fit and test them mentally and physically with a gruelling ordeal at the end...hence their entry to do the Three Peaks Challenge!
So on 21st July, a team of twelve optimists (some might say masochists) climbed the three highest mountains in the United Kingdom (Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell in England and Snowdon in Wales) within 24 hours. The Team raised £5,000 through their fundraising efforts and the Partners at Mulsanne have agreed to match this, bringing the total raised to over £10,000 (plus gift aid)!! Thanks so much to you all.
Kingstonian Football Club Party Fundraiser! [Saturday 24th July] Thank you so much to Lynn Jacobs who raised £1,900 for Small Steps at her event 'A Charity Night for Georgii'. She organised the event to raise money for 3 charities that her son Georgii has benefitted from. Small Steps is delighted to have been one of her chosen charities. Thank you Lynn and Georgii, we had a wonderful evening! Small Steps Open Week [12th-16th July] Did you attend Small Steps in the past? We are holding an 'Open Week' 12th - 16th July and hope that as many of you as possible will pop in to our 'new home' at Greenmead School. Have a coffee with us and a chat, catch up on all the gossip! It would be lovely to see all our old friends! Open door policy... 8.30am to 4.30pm all that week. Kew Fete at Kew Green [Saturday 19th June] Small Steps will have a stall at the. Please let us know if you can help out at all that day... or just pop along and show your support. Sporting update! [March & April] Lots of sporty endeavours have been taking place recently and all in support of Small Steps! Congratulations to Mark Allan (April's dad) for completing the Reading half marathon; well done to Ellie Loughnan (deputy Head at Brandlehow School) for taking part in the Berlin half marathon and a great big cheer to Brandlehow School, especially Leela and Arun Newmark www.justgiving.com/Brandlehow4SmallSteps, for doing a fun run. Between them, over £1000 has already been raised for Small Steps! Congratulations to Grant Davidson (Amber's dad) who ran the London Marathon in aid of Small Steps on April 24th... he reached the finish line in hours/ mins***** ... A fantastic achievement
The Sandblasters head for Marathon des Sables [1st to 12th April 2010] The Sandblasters, Steve, Colin and Paul (Sam's Dad) are raising a huge amount of money for us by running a series of 250km ultra marathons in the hottest, coldest, driest and windiest parts of the planet. They have just completed the Marathon des Sables in Morocco. A gruelling 12 day, 230km marathon across the Sahara Desert. All contestants must carry their own food and equipment and often suffer from heat exhaustion, dehydration, scorpion bites... etc! This year the race was far tougher for the team than previous years. The course was harder, longer and the weather was hot and humid making it an ordeal. If you'd like to read about the amazing experience and extreme hardships the team had to endure click here to read Steve's account during the race. We'd like to congratulate them all for a fantastic achievement and for continuing to support Small Steps in such amazing way. Please, please show your support by sponsoring them if you can. You can do this here online on the Just Giving website.
Brandlehow School Fun Run to raise money for Small Steps [30th March 2010] The pupils of Brandlehow School are preparing for their annual fun run around Wandsworth Park on the morning of 30th March. Pupils aged 4 upwards and staff will be doing circuits around the Park and sponsorship money raised will be donated to Small Steps. Please come along and help cheer on the runners if you can!
Author donates funds from his new book, to Small Steps [March 2010] Martin Hall, Author of "Still Waters", has published a book full of stunning photographs of coastal and waterway landscapes. Martin is a colleague of Paul Mott, one of the Sandblasters Team, and has very generously offered to donate £5.00 from every book sold to Small Steps. The book would make a fantastic gift for anyone interested in landscape photography, or just those of us who appreciate beautiful views! To take a look at the book and find out how to make a purchase please click here. Thanks so much to Martin for his generosity. The 2010 London Triathlon [7th and 8th August 2010] All places are now full to join the Small Steps Triathlon Team this August... we now have a team of 14, who will be swimming, running and cycling to raise money for Small Steps. Last year this event raised a massive £10,000... with your support we can raise even more this year... please CLICK HERE to visit our Just Giving page and sponsor one of our Triathletes... Thank you. The Wee Kew Christmas Fair [27th November 2009] After the success of the Small Steps Christmas sale on 12th November, Catrine Strothers, one of the stallholders (Captain Tortue), volunteered to hold another Sale in aid of Small Steps. It takes place in The Scout Hut, Kew Village (behind the Glasshouse restaurant) 9am to 4.30pm. Please pop along, do some Christmas shopping and support Small Steps too!

Recital at All Saints Church, Putney for Small Steps
[22nd November 2009]

We had a wonderful musical evening on Sunday 22nd November at All Saints Church, Putney. Jo Coker sang a selection of her favourite arias and songs by Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Satie, Strauss, and Rachmaninov, finishing with songs from the ‘Broadway’ musicals. Jo was joined by pianist Claire Howard, flautist Jonathan Bailey and actress Jane McDowell. The concert raised funds for Small Steps and the Putney Samaritans.

We would like to sincerely thank Jo, her fellow musicians and everyone involved in the evening for making it such a success. Thanks also to all the Small Steps supporters who attended. Final total raised still to be confirmed... check here for updates!

The Small Steps Christmas Sale
[12th November 2009]

It was an evening of retail therapy on 12th November at Small Steps. Parents, friends, local people (and staff!) all came to shop and support Small Steps. There was a lovely selection of stalls, with something for everyone. Despite the awful weather, we raised in excess of £500. Thanks to all the stallholders for supporting us and the intrepid shoppers who made it through the rain.

Riverside Fundraising Swimming Gala [10th October 2009] It was a fun packed afternoon at Riverside Health Club on Saturday 10th October. Children from the club entered a swimming gala to raise funds for Small Steps. Final total raised still to come in... watch this space.

Small Steps Quiz night a great success!
[8th October 2009]
Twelve teams joined in the Small Steps Quiz on Thursday 8th October. It was a great evening, with everyone's brains being stretched by Quiz Master (and Small Steps Trustee) Heather Mathews. Everyone enjoyed a glass of wine (or 2!) and Pizza with their Quiz.

We raised over £600 on the night. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and to Heather and George for the Quiz, Andrea Samuelson for organising the event and Olivia Pizzeria in Fulham for providing Pizza at cost price.

English National Ballet performance raises over £16,000 for Small Steps
[15th September 2009]
Begona Cao, principal dancer of the English National Ballet and supporter of Small Steps, is staged a dance charity gala in aid of Small Steps and Downs South on 15th September 2009 at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London.

The gala which comprised a mixed bill of classical and
modern pieces danced by principals and soloists of the
English National Ballet raised over £16,000!

We are so grateful to Begona and all the dancers for putting so much in to raising money for Small Steps.

Small Steps 2009 London Triathlon Team raise over £10,000!
[1st/2nd August 2009]
It was a great weekend at the Excel Centre in London with the Sprint and Team events on Saturday and the Olympic events on Sunday. All that training and organising sponsorship really paid off, with everybody finishing and some fantastic times too. Huge congratulations to the whole team, and an even bigger thank you for your support of Small Steps!

So far on Just Giving and through the paper sponsorship forms we have raised over £10,000... wow!

Kilimanjaro climb in aid of Small Steps
[1st July 2008]
On Thursday 19th June our intrepid team of parents, staff and friends of Small Steps reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!!! They have raised a tremendous amount for the charity. Congratulations and a huge thank you to all the climbers. Thank you also to everyone who so generously sponsored them.

Climbers are: Alex Fell, Debbie Wagstaff, Istvan Agoston, William Nash, Benedicte Clarkson, Angela Hennessey and Laetitia Venturini.