Walkers gathered on Kew Green. Picture by David Bentley.
Team Tom walked for the 14th time in support of Cardiac Risk in the Young on Sunday. Unusually, the walk took place both inside, outside and at three different locations.
The main group took a circular route via Kew and Chiswick Bridges. Those taking part included primary school classmates of Tom. Before setting out, a minute’s silence was held for Tom and all those like him. We also remembered Gottfried Panzer, who died recently.
Gottfried, who gave Tom his first Saturday job, was a staunch supporter of CRY. He and family have taken part in countless CRY Heart of London Bridges walks. This year, Gottfried’s wife, Linda, and one of their daughter’s, Ali, did their own walk in Surrey.
Ali: Stepping out.
With several of those who had planned to take part having to isolate in compliance with COVID guidelines, Lisa Neaverson still did her utmost to join in the spirt of the occasion, climbing the stairs at her home 140 times.
Lisa: Stepping up
Ellen Clabburn said: “We are extremely grateful, as ever, to all those who took part. It is amazing how many people give up time to highlight that we are still losing 12 young people aged under 35 every week to undiagnosed heart conditions. Thank you, too, to those who donated on the day. We hope to have news soon about a possible resumption of screening in the Ealing area.”
We’ll be walking in memory of Tom and all those like him on Sunday, June 27.
We will set out in support of Cardiac Risk in the Young at 1100 from Kew Green. We’ll take a circular route via Chiswick and Kew Bridges, finishing back at Kew Green. It’s about three miles and takes an hour or so to complete.
While ensuring we are compliant with whatever COVID regulations are in place at the time, we’d love as many people as possible to join us. Let us know you’re coming by emailing thetomclabburnfund@gmail.com or by leaving a message on our Facebook page.
It’s the second year in succession, CRY has had to cancel its Heart of London Bridges Walk because of uncertainty caused by the COVID pandemic. CRY says: “We can’t wait to (virtually) walk with you this year. On 27th June, join us from wherever you are in the UK.” It’s the 15th year the walk has taken place.
If you want to register, do so here. You don’t have to but it gets you a T-shirt. Like many charities, CRY has struggled during COVID and needs to raise its profile again. A proudly worn tee will help to do just that.
If anyone needed reminding about the value of CRY’s work, a recent documentary on the BBC, “Sudden Adult Death: My Sister’s Silent Killer”, highlights the importance. It follows a brother’s search for answers after losing his 19-year-old sister to an undiagnosed heart condition. We’d urge anyone to watch but, be warned, the first couple of minutes, which replay the recorded call to emergency services, are particularly hard. It’s available on BBC iPlayer.
Today should have been Tom’s 28th birthday. We thought it would be good to mark the occasion with some positive news.
With CRY’s screening programme temporarily on hold, we’ve decided to support a project – a database – that the charity says will take its research programme to the next level and enable it to screen even more young people in the future.
Dr Steven Cox, CRY’s Chief Executive said: “Thank you to everyone who is supporting CRY in memory of Tom and Claire. This new research database is so important and we greatly appreciate the incredible support from Tom and Claire’s Memorial Fund to enable us to take this forward.”
Steve explained that due to the rapid expansion of CRY’s research and screening programmes, the charity needs a bespoke database to allow it to develop its vital work.
He said: “This will be a cloud-based system enabling CRY to build on the success of our screening and research programmes and develop worldwide collaborations between international partners.
“This is one of the most important projects that CRY needs to invest into in order to take our research programme to the next level. The new database will have a huge impact on the cost-effectiveness of our programmes. This system will enable CRY to screen even more young people, meaning we will identify more people with cardiac conditions and save more young lives.”
The database will cost in the region of £60,000. Tom and Claire’s Fund will pay fifty per cent towards the cost or £30,000, whichever is the greater.
Like Steve, we can only say “thank you” to everyone. Without people continuing to raise money for Tom and Claire’s Fund, we couldn’t help CRY in this way. As with every other charity, CRY faces challenges because of the pandemic and so, while we can’t screen, we thought it better to do something with the funds rather than leave them in a bank account.
We will be back screening in west London as soon as conditions allow. We have dates pencilled in for next year, 2022 and 2023.
CRY’s annual Great Cake Bake took place against the background of COVID restrictions.
Ellen Clabburn said: “Hayley and I decided to bake something to mark CRY’s raising awareness week (16-22 November) and the CRY Great Bake.
“Although fundraising is more of a challenge during lockdown, we can still raise awareness via social media.
“We feel that, without screenings this year, it is more important than ever to raise awareness of the 12 young people who die each week from undiagnosed heart conditions.”
It’s a sobering thought that more than eight thousand 14 to 35-year olds will have died since we first walked with CRY in 2008 to raise awareness of undiagnosed heart conditions in young people and to remember Tom.
This year’s CRY Heart of London Bridges Walk had to be cancelled because of coronavirus and so, like many families across the UK, we held our own socially distanced walk in west London.
Remembering Tom and all those like him at the two-minute silence.
Despite the awful situation the country currently finds itself in, we cannot lose sight of the need to ensure that the 12 young people who CRY say die every week from undiagnosed heart conditions are given the chance of a future.
We’re grateful to those who knew Tom for giving up their time and walking, more than a decade after his passing. It’s something we hugely appreciate. I very much hope we can all gather together again in London for a full-length bridges walk next year.
As you no doubt know, this year’s CRY Heart of London Bridges Walk, due to take place this coming Sunday, June 28, has been cancelled.
However, if you want to leave a message and/or photograph of those you would have walked in memory of, you can do so on CRY’s digital message wall here.
There’s also a link to further information on what CRY will be doing on the day – including a two-minute silence – here.
It’s been far too long since we last posted but we’re thrilled to be able to say that the latest financial statement from CRY shows Tom and Claire’s Fund has raised more than £204,000 since launch.
That’s entirely down to you, everyone who has raised money over the years, even during lockdown. Thank you.
Because of your generosity the Fund has:
Paid for more than 2,800 free screenings of young people aged 14-35 since June, 2009.
Donated £10,000 to CRY’s research.
Bought an echocardiogram machine for CRY.
We don’t believe in sitting on the money that you’ve raised so we’ll be talking to CRY about where it can be most usefully spent in the coming weeks and months.
Separately, you‘ll probably know that CRY’s annual Heart of London Bridges Walk, due to be held on June 28, has been cancelled this year. Instead, there’ll be a virtual event and we’ll keep you posted on what we’ll be doing.
Finally, you’ll also probably know that CRY are not currently holding screenings and that many of their medical teams are involved in combatting coronavirus.
Our next free Ealing heart tests are planned for November so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that they are able to take place. Obviously, we’ll be guided by CRY and the doctors at the surgery where they’re held.
Cycling four hundred kilometres in five days in temperatures higher than thirty degrees centigrade is the challenge Clive and Juliet Matthews have set themselves as they raise money for Tom and Claire’s Fund.
The pair, from Ealing, are aiming to cycle from Mumbai to Goa between November 30th and December 4th, 2019. You can support them here.
“We will be thinking about Claire and Tom every day that we’re training and cycling,” said Jules, who continues to recover from injuries after being hit by a car in 2015. “I am still very nervous when crossing a road so this is a nerve wracking challenge for me, apart from the fact that my fitness is seriously lacking!”
The couple, who are covering all the costs themselves, will be cycling about seven hours a day. The hot and hilly route will take them south through India.
Clive, who has gone through rigorous checks that his heart is strong enough for the testing conditions, having had a few issues of his own in the past, said: “I love challenges, and this couldn’t be for a better cause. I just hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew in the sub-continent.”
Paul Clabburn said: “It’s not the first time Jules and Clive have helped to raise money for the Fund and we’ve extremely grateful for their efforts. They have been great supporters of our family and I hope this latest challenge is a wonderful experience.”
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