S Club Charity- Steps
Discussion
All,
Firstly, many thanks to the organising committee for choosing Steps as this year’s charity for S Club Heaven. As mentioned, it is a small charity and every penny collected really does make a difference.
Steps is a national charity supporting children and adults affected by a lower limb condition such as clubfoot or hip conditions such as Developmental Dislocation of the Hip (DDH). My involvement is through my wife, Ruth, who has suffered from DDH since birth and who is now a trustee of the charity. During her childhood Ruth had to have a number of major operations to her hips and spendt a great deal of time in hospital and in plaster. She had a total replacement of one hip six years ago and it is likely that she will need the other hip replaced within the next few years. It is also likely that this could have been avoided or heavily mitigated had the condition been picked up at an early stage and treated. Sometimes treatment can be as simple as the child wearing double nappies for a period whilst his/her hips develop.
Many of you with children will be aware of the screening test performed on newborn babies where the legs and hips are manipulated in order to try to establish whether the hips have dislocated. This test is not 100% successful in identifying where there is a problem and Steps have been active in trying to improve policies and practices in this area.
However this is just one part of their work. Much of the effort involves providing support and advice to the parents of children who suffer from these disabilities. As I am sure you can imagine, supporting a child with a lower limb disability can be both daunting and emotionally exhausting and Steps aim to support parents and their children through these difficult times.
Fortunately the message is a positive one. In many cases early treatment can significantly improve the condition. For example Steven Gerrard suffered from clubfoot as a child but has since made gone on to a non-too-shabby footballing career (or so they tell me). What's more, as we've proved, DDH and an early hip replacement doesn't prevent you from enjoying the S experience!
If you would like to find out more, the Steps website is here and Ruth and I will be doing the rounds on the day to try to sell you all some raffle tickets so please feel free to ask away. You can also PM me via my profile and I’ll pass any questions on to the charity.
Kind regards
Harvey
Firstly, many thanks to the organising committee for choosing Steps as this year’s charity for S Club Heaven. As mentioned, it is a small charity and every penny collected really does make a difference.
Steps is a national charity supporting children and adults affected by a lower limb condition such as clubfoot or hip conditions such as Developmental Dislocation of the Hip (DDH). My involvement is through my wife, Ruth, who has suffered from DDH since birth and who is now a trustee of the charity. During her childhood Ruth had to have a number of major operations to her hips and spendt a great deal of time in hospital and in plaster. She had a total replacement of one hip six years ago and it is likely that she will need the other hip replaced within the next few years. It is also likely that this could have been avoided or heavily mitigated had the condition been picked up at an early stage and treated. Sometimes treatment can be as simple as the child wearing double nappies for a period whilst his/her hips develop.
Many of you with children will be aware of the screening test performed on newborn babies where the legs and hips are manipulated in order to try to establish whether the hips have dislocated. This test is not 100% successful in identifying where there is a problem and Steps have been active in trying to improve policies and practices in this area.
However this is just one part of their work. Much of the effort involves providing support and advice to the parents of children who suffer from these disabilities. As I am sure you can imagine, supporting a child with a lower limb disability can be both daunting and emotionally exhausting and Steps aim to support parents and their children through these difficult times.
Fortunately the message is a positive one. In many cases early treatment can significantly improve the condition. For example Steven Gerrard suffered from clubfoot as a child but has since made gone on to a non-too-shabby footballing career (or so they tell me). What's more, as we've proved, DDH and an early hip replacement doesn't prevent you from enjoying the S experience!
If you would like to find out more, the Steps website is here and Ruth and I will be doing the rounds on the day to try to sell you all some raffle tickets so please feel free to ask away. You can also PM me via my profile and I’ll pass any questions on to the charity.
Kind regards
Harvey
Hi Harvey, I missed your post first time round.
STEPS is clearly a good thing to support and your post is well written
We have been working hard to talk to various organisations that we feel would like to offer support and I'm very pleased to say we have been offered some great deals by a variety of organisations. It is heart warming to know that people are still generous for good causes during the current economic situation and I hope people will respond in kind by purchasing those tickets they can.
Dave
STEPS is clearly a good thing to support and your post is well written
We have been working hard to talk to various organisations that we feel would like to offer support and I'm very pleased to say we have been offered some great deals by a variety of organisations. It is heart warming to know that people are still generous for good causes during the current economic situation and I hope people will respond in kind by purchasing those tickets they can.
Dave
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