Hi,

This is a little humbling, putting this on the Rhinos site, but hey ho. Copied and pasted from RAB....

Good Morning everyone.

I think I've had an idea that could be huge, but I'll need a lot of help.

Just to introduce myself, my name is Andy and my Brother James and I have been Bulls season ticket holders for years. That doesn't sound special in itself except we travel from Newcastle to every game.

James has Downs Syndrome, and the Bulls are his love. In 2009 we completed 100 rounds of kickboxing on the Odsal field (my claim to fame is a Mr. Wayne Godwin broke my nose during it!!). During a long walk yesterday I had a eureka moment and ran it past James. We are going to walk from Whitley Bay to Odsal. It'll take a week and we need the Bulls on board. No-ones gonna talk us out of it, you can't stop a Bull when it's made up it's mind.

For those who think this next bit is ludicrous, please read the bit afterwards. This could raise the "other half million". All we need is 100,000 people thinking a lad with Downs Syndrome walking easily over 150 miles to try and save his beloved Rugby side is worthy of a fiver. Who wouldnt? Heaven's sake, people in his home town are doing just that, without a clue who the Bradford Bulls even are (Ive told them to hang on to thier fivers till we get this up and running). Our local landlord only knew they were a Rugby league outfit when he put the tele on so we could hear the somewhat "non-announcement".

Ive provisionally got Whitley Bay-Sunderland-'Boro-York-West Yorks (including Leeds and I AM being serious) as the route, ending at Odsal. We'll camp along the way. James is friends with a lot of Bulls players and I imagine they'd happily lend him some training gear for this.

Can we do it? It's why I told you about the 100 rounds. If youre still in doubt keying in James Lights Out Olsen to a well known file sharing site should get you footage of his honourary world title win (wKO3, v a 20 time world champ no less).

Hopefully I can get as many people behind this. The story of James's life is that with the right support, he is capable of achieving the impossible. If anyone sees a way they can help then Lord knows nows the time to come forward.

We walk for the Bulls, we're alright

There's a couple of things I'd like to add though. Rest assured the Rhinos equivilent of James (and such people exsist, James has played at a festival for people with Learning Difficulties at Headingley) doing this should your club ever be in difficulty would get way more than a fiver for this. We'll be going through Leeds City Centre (date not yet confirmed but almost deffo the end of the month). I hope you could show your support, not for the Bulls but for the RL community and one of its members James. Feel free to trade as much banter as you like but I'd like to think there's a donation at the end of it.

Thanks for reading,

Andy

As always these posts get a bit lost as stickies so please make sure this stays on the front page.

Ah cheers. And a massive cheers to the club, who are looking to provide us with Rhinos players as we go round Leeds. As I told them on twitter, we'll look to return the favour once the blisters have healed.

For more info and what a monster this could have created go to [urlhttp://viewtopic.php?f=19&t=524674&tsmp=1334057350[/url.

You might also note one of our own holding his hand up to have his feet ruined

All the best with this and I hope it all ends in success

Cheers gents. Yeah "One of your own" blew me away with that gesture, as has the support your club has shown already. I now know if it came down to it we'd be doing the same for the Rhinos. Bet you hope we never have to though.

That 'one of our own' would like to say OOOOPS



Will the 'one of our own ' be doing the walk ? YES . He has booked the week off work and is now actively seeking sponsorship . Not just financial sponsorship , but help with equipment would be great too .
While we may pay a lot of our hard-earned into this sport we all love so much , it is not very often we get to do anything that actually makes a difference . It will certainly be an experience that will be remembered long after the blisters have healed .

ahh good old Whitley Bay

Amazing. Im told you somehow like Newcastle Broonale (I don't know a Geordie that doesn't hate it). Consider yourself the recipient of a crate from James and I for this. To show our gratitude we'll also sell our souls and pose in Rhinos tops (the pics need to be burnt though).

If you can help at all with Baldricks request for kit, please do so. As I've said today if a Rhinos fan can back my Brothers cause to this extent than club loyalty can surely no longer be an excuse not to. Yourselves and the club have been nothing short of fantastic over this.

I see a fair few comments regarding my favour of the Broon . I Wonder who started them . I guess it was Martin or Ray . We went out one night , and all we drank was Nuclear brown ale . We had the bar man mark us with a pen for each one we drank . When I woke up a week or so later I had 18 lines on my arm .
Good gear is that stuff

I'd like to wish you the very best of luck!!

Is there a sponsor page for this, or a link to donate? As much as I dislike turning the Bulls into a charity, that feeling doesn't stretch as far as not rewarding this kind of effort.

And if you raise the money you're talking about, I hope the current incumbents make you and your brother co-chairmen.

My son wanted to do a bit of the walk as we pass through Leeds . Unfortunately he won't be able to as he was hit by a car today . He was very lucky in that he wasn't severely injured , the worst injury is a broken ankle .

So . Can anyone out there loan me a wheelchair for an hour or so one day next month so I can push him for the bit he was going to be walking ?

Rick

By the way . How was the game tonight ? We missed it as we were down a the LGI with him . He is still there with his mum .

Sent you a PM mate

Me too, shocking news and amazing BaldRick still wants to join us. Rhinos fans rest assured the Bulls mob are fighting amongst each other to push Carl in the wheelchair we're getting him sorted with for as far as the brave little fella wishes to travel.

Carl is home from hospital . He has a mini zimmer-frame for indoor use , and a wheelchair for outdoors . He has mastered the chair as only a child can in such a short time . I am unsure how long we will have use of the chair though . Fortunately he is also able to use the stairlift that we have for his mum, so as soon as we teach him which buttons to press he will be able to go up and down on his own .
'Risk assessment' at school rules him out of attending there for 8 weeks because his classroom is upstairs . They can't accommodate him elsewhere , and they are not willing to provide us with work for him to do at home . The reason they give is that we can't educate him in the same way they do it , and I guess to a certain extent they are correct . I haven't the slightest idea about how numberlines work . Although it is a long ime since I went to school I am sure I could sort at least a minimum level of an education for him at home . FFS .. His mum is a parent ambassador at the school and is only 4 weeks away from finishing a training course to be a teaching assistant at the neighbouring school . All we asked for was some homework , and we were ripped to bits and treated like we have deliberately put him in this position . A game of twenty questions regarding him being in hospital twice already this year was fun . I know they have to keep an eye out for kids thay may be getting abused , but in Feb he was in hospital for an eye operation , and this time he was in because he was run over by a car . The questions they ask made me feel like they were thinking I was guilty of gouging him and throwing under the Zafira .
If I was to keep him out of school for so long I would probably get a custodial , but it is ok for them to not allow him any education for three months ( including school term breaks either side of his exclusion) .

Rant over

Mate, that is absolute bullsh*t! I teach Maths in a secondary school - whenever we have kids off for an extended period of time, even if it's only a couple of weeks, we always get requests from their Head of Year for work to send home for them - they take it really seriously and hound teachers until they have a decent amount to send home. They then liaise regularly with parents to find out if they need any more work / help with the work that they do have. I've had copious email conversations back and forth with parents in the past when they've been off school for a while following operations etc. We can't be the only school which does this either!

The bottom line is they have a responsibilkity to provide an education for your son - whether he be on site, or off it for medical reasons etc. If he gets poor results due to falling behind, it affects them as well as affecting him! And if a parent is willing to help a child work whilst they're off school, they should grab it with both hands, as not all parents are that bothered! You may not be able to teach to the standard of a qualified teacher, in the same way that I wouldn't be able to do any other job that I'm not qualified for, but like you say, you're more than able to help him out however possible, and you'd think the school would take any work/help over nothing!

How old is your son? I can't promise anything, but may be able to get hold of / point you in the direction of some resources you can use oif they flat out refuse to give you anything. PM me if there's anything I can do to help.

He is seven years old , and his school is in LS12 . His mum actually assists in a year three class , which is the same year as he is in, but at a different school .
As I am typing this the 'phone has rung and Mrs BR is having a conversation with a lady called Madeleine about getting him some education over the next couple of months .

Firstly, what a tremendous effort-all rugby fans should be proud and support this.

Without wishing to derail the thread-I'm a teacher at a primary school in ls12-the ones who sang on the pitch prior to the hudds match! I would have thought the school were obliged to try and get him into school, even if that means an lsa working with him downstairs part time, perhaps just for a couple of hours a day. Being cut off from school life for so long is awful for him. At the very least they should be able to send a few text book pages of maths and a bit of reading comprehension work at his level which don't need to be taught to him but keep him busy and his brain working.

I'm struggling to think which schools in la12 have 2 floors - I presume it's an armley one, not wortley or farnley?

Good luck with everything

Thankyou for the good wishes . I think I know which LS12 school sang at that game . (see PM ) . If it is that school then that is where Mrs BR is doing her TA course .

Back on track and a bump . I have been advised that the best footwear for long road walks are soft construction comfortable trainers . Preferably cheap ones as they tend to have more 'give' in them , but to take two different sizes . Eg : size nine in the morning , and size ten for late afternoon/evening . Apparently it is the best way to avoid blisters as your feet grow/swell with the constant pounding . Anyone able to confirm that ?

Might be an idea to go somewhere like up and running. I do alot of running and always go there. They put you on the treadmill and measure your gait to match it to the best possible shoe to limit impact on your feet joints. I know the sell all sorts of off road, running and walking shoes and they are quite knowledgeable and could give you some good advice. Also sell lots of anti blister socks etc.
I have done stuff before for charity and they sometimes will donate some gear to you if you. Worth a shot anyway.

Now I think about it, there were two LS12 schools there-I'm at the other one!

Thanks Ferdy . Will see If I can pay them a visit at the weekend .

Just seen an advert for aldi as well. They are doing an offer on loads of cheap walking gear. Might be worth a trip out

BUMP