Blessings in and from the UK
At the end of last week, John and I took a trip to Edinburgh to go and collect the kind donation from the Edinburgh Lions International group. We went by train which the Lions kindly also funded.
We did a little sightseeing of the beautiful city and then had a great unplanned trip to the beach with my sweet friend Ruth (who was a volunteer in Thailand years ago) who treated us to amazing ice cream and drove us there and back. John stayed in the city near the station.
I stayed at Ruth and Peters’ first night and then I met up with my Dad in the city for lunch (as this is where he lives) and then it was time in the evening for John and I to go to the Lions meeting. It was wonderful to share with a new group of people about the work we do in 1Step2Step and they were really interested. We found out that someone had donated to them £500 which was to be used for disabled children and that another person put us forward. They looked at our website and felt that we were a worthy recipient of the full £500. This was a generous action and it will be a huge help with costs, probably towards the holiday for the children, either the food or the accommodation.
After this meeting, 1Step2Step’s dear friend Lorna (who has previously sent us pressure sore dressings for the orphanage on many occassions) collected me to stay at her house over night. The next day she, I and her sweet little baby girl had a lovely trip to the estuary for a lovely walk with beautiful views and a very tasty lunch. In the evening I was blessed to again be at Ruth’s for a wonderful evening of great food and friendship in the form of a reunion of former volunteers. It truly was lovely to relive old memories and update them on how the orphanages have changed or are the same.
The next morning I was blessed to have time to meet up with one more volunteer friend from over 14 years ago who I’d not expected I would get chance to see.
You may wonder what John did while I travelled about seeing old friends. John had an impressive adventure going to the Harry Potter train ride up to almost near the Isle of Skye.
Our journey hit a few snags, but it was bearable in the taxi, coach, train and bus to make it home.
While away in Edinburgh, the wheelchair we mentioned in another post made its way business class all the way to Thailand, thanks to KLM’s kindness and to Brian our wonderful friend. It’s waiting in Thailand for my return. At that point it will find its new little buddy to assist.
So this Blogg is dedicated to all who helped us…
For the wheelchair… Emma the donor and Brian the transporter.
For the Edinburgh trip… Susan, Alex, Andrew, Lions International Edinburgh branch, and then Ruth, Peter, Lorna and Roger for having me to stay and all their kindness and then Naomi, Rachel and Ryan for spending time catching up. Finally thanks to John for joining me on this trip and being a support.
So much kindness and friendship has been bestowed on us.
Thank you all and to the Lions for providing the purpose and the means for this trip.
Nicola Anderson