Posting this on behalf of former poster "Panda Paws":
Hi everyone - I tried to rejoin to make this post myself but wasn't able to rejoin, unfortunately. Probably for the best, I'm sure you'll all agree. Especially Bamboo (Is he still around?).
In the real, offline world a few of you know me and my old man, and many more will hopefully recognise my little brother Sam. Sam's been watching the town since he was 6, just like every other bloke in our family. For many years, he'd be found in the front row of T1, but we've now retired to the glamour of the DRS.
Sam's got Downs' Syndrome, by the way. And it really is "by the way".
Football is his happy place. His place of independence.
The last 18 months have been hard on Sam. He doesn't understand things like the rest of us do. He doesn't understand why he can't go to the gym, or watch the Town, or go to his placements.
To give him focus, and to help out some of the causes close to his heart, Sam has spent the last 12 months undertaking 21 challenges, from the extreme to the ridiculous - surfing, abseiling, powerboating... you name it, he's done it. Just last month he visited the 20PL plus Wembley (21 venues...) in 48 hours.
Why 21? World Down's Syndrome Day is the 21st of March, because DS is caused by a fault in the 21st chromosome. And now you know!
The 21st challenge, we're hoping Sam will spend 21 minutes training with the players in the run-up to the FGR game at home, which we're hoping to do some more fundraising around, thanks to Rob and Danny.
This is a lot of words, and of course the main purpose is asking for donations. Sam's community is this club. And I'm hoping we can help get sam to his target of £2100 by Christmas, giving us a chance to double it by March.
Take care everyone, especially at the moment, and don't worry - I still lurk, I just can't bite anymore!
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/samchallenge21PS. See you in the Leyton Technical tomorrow night!
