Walk of Love 3

Last Sunday, after a very touching Mother's Day service at St James's School with the wonderful community that is St Philip and St James, I joined Natalia Spencer as she embarked on her third walk of love that started at Cheltenham General Hospital. It was lovely to see her again and hear all about her wonderful fundraising efforts for Elizabeth's Footprint.

If you are involved in a charity or have a fundraiser coming up that you would like professionally photographed then please get in touch. I often waiver my usual fee as I like to use my skills where I can to help others. You can get in touch using the form on my contact page or give me a call on 07983 465414. Thanks.

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Walk of Love

Just before Valentines, Natalia Spencer arrived back in Cheltenham after completing her epic 6,000 mile walk around the UK's coastline. Natalia was walking in memory of her daughter, Elizabeth Spencer, who tragically died in 2015, and to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital, where Elizabeth was treated.  

The walk of love took place around Park Campus and echoed the one that was done last February, to mark the start of Natalia's walk. It again involved St James' Primary School, where Elizabeth was a pupil. It was fantastic to see the whole school come together once more and show such a united front. In between dodging buses and cars, I managed to capture all of the action. I even got a few snaps of local MP Alex Chalk. At the end there was another balloon release, samba band and lots of happy tears. It was very touching.

To find out more about Elizabeth's story and Natalia's plans please go to www.elizabethsfootprint.com or to donate visitwww.justgiving.com/Natalia-Spencer.

Rainbow Walk

A few weeks ago St James' C of E Primary School held a rainbow walk around Park Campus, Cheltenham, to show support for Natalia Spencer, who was to began her own 6,000 mile coastal walk just a few days later on Valentine's Day. Natalia is walking in memory of her daughter, Elizabeth Spencer, who tragically died just before Christmas, and to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital, where Elizabeth was treated.  

I was asked if I could photograph the walk. It was fantastic to see the whole school come together and show such a united front. In between dodging buses, I managed to capture all of the action. At the end there was a balloon release to mark the start of Natalia's journey. It was very touching.

To find out more about Elizabeth's story and Natalia's plans please go to www.elizabethsfootprint.com or to donate visitwww.justgiving.com/Natalia-Spencer.

Elizabeth's Footprint

Natalia Spencer lost her five year old daughter, Elizabeth, in December last year, after she died suffering from a rare illness.

Elizabeth attended St James' School in Cheltenham, the same school as my son, Jenson, who started in reception in September.

Last November, Elizabeth had started to feel unwell, developing flu like symptoms. But the next day she collapsed and was rushed to hospital where she was put in an induced coma, which very sadly she was never to wake up from. Just 18 days later, on the 10th December 2015, she passed away. 

The cold like virus that Elizabeth had, triggered an extremely rare auto immune condition, which sent her body into overdrive to fight off the original virus. The condition is called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis and it caused little Elizabeth's body to go into septic shock, shutting down her major organs and cutting off the blood supply to her limbs. Elizabeth was put on life support at Bristol Children's hospital. 

Now, Natalia wants to raise more than £100,000 for the Wallace and Gromit Grand Appeal children's charity, (the charity associated with Bristol Children's Hospital) by walking the entire length of Britain's coastline, (the coast was Elizabeth's favourite place). She sets off on Valentines Day at Durdle Dore, the last beach they visited together, and will walk 6,000 miles. She plans to finish ten months later on the 10th December, the first anniversary of Elizabeth's death.

And so it was on Tuesday evening that the launch night for Natalia's epic walk took place. I was asked if I could come along to photograph the event. It was a powerful evening. There were tears, laughter, smiles and sadness  as over 200 people listened to Natalia as she spoke about her plans, motivations and fundraising aims. 

Natalia was joined on stage by a host of special guest speakers including MP Alex Chalk's representative, Hannah Wright, award winning children's author Tracey Corderoy, Graham Harbord, an experienced GB coastline walker,  a charity representative from the Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, global adventurer Jason Rawles as well as teachers and parents who were close to Elizabeth.

To view the gallery of photos live follow this link: http://elizabethsfootprint.com/launch-night/

For the Flickr feed use this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138987934@N03/shares/bTeCif

To find out more about Elizabeth's story and Natalia's plans please go to www.elizabethsfootprint.com or to donate visit www.justgiving.com/Natalia-Spencer.