Mum and son barefoot marathon challenge
Cameron and Polly Jacobs
My Story
Cameron is 18 years old and has autism, Tourette's Syndrome and ADHD. For several years Cameron has enjoyed barefoot running and this year he is hoping to be the youngest person ever to run the London marathon barefoot. I am hoping to do my best to keep up with him and have promised to run at least the last mile barefoot too! This will be our third mum and son charity run, but his frist attempt at a long run barefoot.
Throughout all the challenging times we've faced, running and music have always been really important to Cameron and when he was 11 years old he was given a place in the National Orchestra for All (NOFA).
From the outset, it was clear that NOFA was a place that wanted to accept Cameron exactly the way he is and they created an environment where he felt safe and truly belonged. He made friends, he played incredible ensemble music and even had a go at conducting. Over the last 7 years Cameron has attended numerous residential courses and "Cameron’s morning running club" has even become a permanent fixture of NOFA courses!
However this is only part of Cameron’s journey with NOFA, as alongside the orchestral playing and musical development, there are incredible opportunities for these youngsters to develop leadership skills. Last year Cameron became an Orchestras For All Young Leader and was delighted to be accepted onto the OFA Youth Board. This year he achieved a long held dream to become a Young Ambassador for OFA.
The impact of organisations like NOFA in these youngsters’ lives go far beyond the courses themselves. Cameron is now at mainstream college and has just received an unconditional offer to study music performance at university something that we would have never believed was possible 7 years ago.
Having experienced first hand the amazing work NOFA do to support young people like Cameron we decided we would like to run the London marathon together to raise money for them and enable more young people facing challenges in their lives to experience being part of this incredible organisation.
Thank you for reading our story and for your support, Cam and Polly x
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Target
£5,500
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Raised so far
£7,892
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Number of donors
245
My Story
Cameron is 18 years old and has autism, Tourette's Syndrome and ADHD. For several years Cameron has enjoyed barefoot running and this year he is hoping to be the youngest person ever to run the London marathon barefoot. I am hoping to do my best to keep up with him and have promised to run at least the last mile barefoot too! This will be our third mum and son charity run, but his frist attempt at a long run barefoot.
Throughout all the challenging times we've faced, running and music have always been really important to Cameron and when he was 11 years old he was given a place in the National Orchestra for All (NOFA).
From the outset, it was clear that NOFA was a place that wanted to accept Cameron exactly the way he is and they created an environment where he felt safe and truly belonged. He made friends, he played incredible ensemble music and even had a go at conducting. Over the last 7 years Cameron has attended numerous residential courses and "Cameron’s morning running club" has even become a permanent fixture of NOFA courses!
However this is only part of Cameron’s journey with NOFA, as alongside the orchestral playing and musical development, there are incredible opportunities for these youngsters to develop leadership skills. Last year Cameron became an Orchestras For All Young Leader and was delighted to be accepted onto the OFA Youth Board. This year he achieved a long held dream to become a Young Ambassador for OFA.
The impact of organisations like NOFA in these youngsters’ lives go far beyond the courses themselves. Cameron is now at mainstream college and has just received an unconditional offer to study music performance at university something that we would have never believed was possible 7 years ago.
Having experienced first hand the amazing work NOFA do to support young people like Cameron we decided we would like to run the London marathon together to raise money for them and enable more young people facing challenges in their lives to experience being part of this incredible organisation.
Thank you for reading our story and for your support, Cam and Polly x
