Not so much a blog post, as a call to arms

I need your help...

Honest, I do...

For most of the last 18months I've been pounding the streets and hills of the UK, writing to magazines and papers to try and raise as much awareness as I can about congenital heart defects and the real impact they can have.

I say real, because I don't tend to focus on one aspect, awareness should be about the diversity our community has. To focus on any one element gives an unbalanced portrayal, either too positive for some or too negative for others.

But I have one story, mine... And I can only talk in abstract about the range of ways that congenital heart disease affects those born with it, their parents and families and loved ones.

Taking our stories out and getting them into the public domain is never easy, and need a hook... something to sell them to newspapers and more magazines.

So I'm prepared to do the hook, the coast-2-coast walk is 190miles from St Bee's Head to Robin Hood's Bay, walking through the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. I'll do in 2 weeks...

As you'll see there's a bit of up and down as well...

During those 2 weeks c190 children will be born with a congenital heart defect in the UK. I may never get to meet any of them, but I have met many, and many who I know read this blog and its to them this is a call to arms.

I'll do the hard work, the 190 miles... and will provide a framework - half a press release, with what I'm doing and why and then the rest of the space is for your stories. You have to then send them to your local papers, radio stations and whoever else you think will raise awareness. Each of the miles will be nominated for someone, so they own a little bit of my boot leather and they can fix their awareness raising on something concrete.

So that's the plan, I've 5 months of hard training to get myself fit enough to take this challenge on, and its a challenge for most people who do it.

Just think about 200 stories hitting the press in 2 weeks, each spelling out what congenital heart disease means to us...

So whose going to rally to the flag?

TTFN

Paul

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