Sarah
Maguire, her son Dan and her mother Doris arrived from Coleraine in
Northern Ireland via Liverpool. Rob and Lesley Freeman and their children,
Mary-Louise, Kira and Aaron had driven up to Blackpool from their home
in Essex and John and Pat Porter had flown up to Blackpool from their
home in Mill Hill, London with their sons Chris and Matthew.
John
and Clare Green had driven up from their home in Stevenage with their
children Charlie and Eleanor Louise but couldn't book into the hotel
everyone else stayed at. They managed to find one a long way down the
promenade but they still came to join us at our hotel. Angela Melville
had driven down from Kirkcaldy in Scotland with her children Lindsay,
Ryan and Jade and Lesley Morgan had driven from Ormskirk with her husband
and daughter Heleena. Paul and Angela Blackburn had driven down from
Middlesbrough with their son Joe and daughters Caitlin and Angela's
sister Jennifer and Robin (our webmaster) arrived from Hexham to meet
all the parents he helps (unfortunately he had to leave early and still
had a 3 hour drive home). Finally Judy and Bill Green and their daughter
Katie had walked from their home ½ mile away! Great treks all
and everyone had tales to tell of their adventures.
Eventually,
we all gathered at the Big Blue Hotel conference centre in Blackpool,
UK on the Friday evening where we tried to get to know each other and
the children played. The funny thing was I was playing with the children
with a witches hat on and lantern and then I looked up. In the doorway
were the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress! They had arrived early! I
nearly fell on the floor in shock and disbelief !!!! I just said "Hello,
welcome, come in (smiling)" !!! Well it was informal wasn't it
and, after a few words from me, Blackpool's MDSUK host Judy Green, the
Get Together was formally opened by the Deputy Mayor of Blackpool, Councillor
Granville Heap. Katie gave the deputy Mayoress some flowers from us
all. Katie wasn't going to do this but I'm so glad she did. They are
for mum she had said earlier in the day, not for that lady with the
big necklace "chuckle"!
The
children were looked after for 2 hours by a Children's Entertainer -Hayley-Anna
- who did a superb job in keeping their attention while parents were
given the chance to finally meet one another face to face and exchange
stories. The conference centre had a quiet room where parents could
go and talk in private away from the hustle and bustle of the main conference
room.
With
it being Halloween, children were provided with Halloween sweets, drinks,
cakes, balloons and lots of other treats which had been kindly donated
by local businesses. Some children took advantage and had dressed up
for the occasion. For the grown ups we had a bar below so that wasn't
too bad. I did try my best to get donations for us !!! I got a couple
of things pens and pencils from Julie at Blackpool tourism her budget
couldn't supply us with free bar drinks "smile"! Anthony at
the Big Blue Hotel gave us the room hire free, brought us a pumpkin,
and the use of a phone to the hotel if we needed him. Angela brought
some super Halloween cakes, which went down really well, Pat brought
pass the parcel Halloween toys, and Laraine brought pencils, rubbers
and Halloween toy's for the children as well. So we had everything we
needed for a FUN NIGHT. The evening had started at 7pm and by the time
we finished at 11pm, the children were ready for bed!
Saturday
1st November 2003
On
the Saturday morning we all made our way down to Blackpool Tower and
had a great time looking round the aquarium, riding the Dinasoar ride,
playing in Jungle Jims or going to the top of the Tower! The old-style
circus was fun and kept everyone entertained for two hours. In the evening
we all boarded a bus for a tour of the world famous Blackpool Illuminations,
The bus arrived a little late but it was so busy on the promenade. It
always is in Blackpool, and those upstairs in the open top (parents
had the choice of up or down) had plenty of fresh air (hahaha) and we
just about managed to get back in time to see the firework display from
the bus. We were trying to get back to see them go off at the Pleasure
Beach but some of us still had a fantastic view upstairs in the cold
so it was worth it,
Afterwards,
parents made the most of the time together planning our next Get Together
and Angela, CariAnn and myself had lots to talk about too until 3am!
Sunday
2nd November 2003
While
some families packed their bags and headed off for home, others spent
the day on the Pleasure Beach and rode the rollercoasters and other
scary rides! Full marks to CariAnn and Alex who showed no fear in taking
on the biggest rides! Even CariAnn's dad, Dave and Ryan's mum, Angela,
were brave enough to go on the Big One !!!!! Now that's scary and very
high. I walked round watching. Bill took Katie on some of the children's
rides like the log flume, bought candy floss, chocolate doughnuts and
coffee. Pat, John, Chris and Matt went to the Sandcastle indoor swimming
pool, where there are water chutes, swirling pools and it's like an
oasis inside.
It
was a big wrench when we all had to go our separate ways - but we know
we will all meet up again soon! Thanks to everyone for coming - everyone
made a big effort to come, spending a lot of money getting there and
took time out of their busy lives to meet up. It was absolutely fantastic
to meet online friends in real life who turned out to be just what we
thought they would be - true friends.
Thanks
go to The Big Blue Hotel (especially Anthony, Grant and Tim), Booths
Supermarket, Blackpool Tourism, Leisure Parcs, Hampsons Bakery, Blackpool
& Fylde Citizen, Blackpool & Fylde Evening Gazette, City Sightseeing,
Tesco Express, Blackpool Sandcastle, Hayley-Anna, and Joan (Katie's
lollipop lady) who all contributed to making the weekend the success
it was.
It
was a lot of hard work but it was well worth the effort - and to organise
and host the event in just 6 months is amazing!
We
hope that the next Get Together will be just as successful - only bigger!
Judy won a competition in the local paper this week for her work with
the MDSUK group and received a cheque for £500 to give to any
charity of her choice. So we opened a bank account for the MDSUK group
and put it in there. So now we have a start with our funds. Hopefully
one day we will get donations to add to it from fundraising in the future.
We
can't wait to see you all again! Time now to organize the next one.J
Take
care. Miss you all !!!
Judy,
Bill and Katie
