On Sunday 1st May we organised a Photo walk in Liverpool to raise funds for my friend's daughter, Hayden, who at 3 years of age had been diagnosed with cancer.
Hayden had had surgery to remove her right eye in order to save her life. It was also confirmed that the cancer had spread to her optic nerve. Following intense chemotherapy & radiation, Hayden's parents were left to raise $50,000 to help cover medical expenses. to cover deductibles, medications and prosthetics which were not covered by their medical insurance.
I have ran several photo walks over the years, and always ran them free of charge, so we decided to run this one and ask for a donation to Hayden's fund if people could afford it.
As ever, people rally together at times like this, and we ended up with a great group of people attending the photo walk on the day. The weather was foul, heavy rain windy and cold, and still they turned out to support the walk. I am deeply touched and hugely thankful to each and every one of them that attended.
We had people that could not attend the walk due to other commitments, but still made donations, a really generous thing to do, and very much appreciated.
We were given some fantastic items for the raffle, by some extremely generous people, Eric Fairclough, Eddie Leach, Sue Young and Permajet.
The weather was wet and cold, but didn't dampen the spirits of any of the walkers. We had a super bunch of people join in, and there was a great fun atmosphere during the day. Sometimes its just knowing that people care about people, that can make a difference, and I'm really grateful that these people took time out and braved the elements to show support. I know it means a lot to Hayden's family.
After a quick photo we were on with the raffle. And after a monumental week for the people and City of Liverpool, my friend Joe won a raffle prize with a symbolic number, not only for the City, but a deeply personal one for himself as well.
A special thank you goes to Sue Young, Eddie Leach, Eric Fairclough and Permajet for raffle prize donations.
A special thank you goes out to my friend Alf Myers, who I had asked to give a presentation on his street Photography techniques. Alf is a super talented street photographer, and he gave us an insight into the way he shoots on the street, and a lot of inside tips and advice, which was very well received by the group.
We also had some great support from people offering to model along the walk. It's always great to have some one willing to have a picture taken, when we spot that great background unexpectedly, four friends of mine were good sports and agreed to do this for me.
A special thank you to Rhi, Michela, Gary and James, for being such good fun and not only taking part in the walk, but for having their photograph taken a zillion times.
Hayden has enjoyed looking through the pictures posted online from the walk with her father Andrew.
So on with the photo walk. We were not allowed to enter The Cathedral until 11.45am, so we spent some time outside in St James Gardens. We entered the Cathedral and warmed up and had a coffee break. We then walked along Hope St to the Metropolitan Cathedral, before making our way back to the Anglican cathedral via Renshaw St.
Some pictures from the day.
On the day we raised over £510, with further donations made direct taking the total to close to £750, thank you very much to everyone that got involved. This amount is direct for Hayden's benefit, with not a penny taken out for expenses or anything else. Thank you all very much, it is appreciated by Hayden's family and me.
A link to Hayden's fund raising page for donations is here
Pictures speak louder than words, from the little princess herself Hayden, thank you everyone.