Matt used to tell me off for skipping breakfast – the most important meal of the day. I expect that today’s breakfast was a very tasty change to the normal bowl of porridge that they had been having. His normal breakfast of choice was either a large-sized bowl of Kellogs Cocoa Pops or a sausage […]
Category: Life in general
Day 16

Well the group had finally got to the half-way point of their trip. The sense of achievement must have been running high as they embarked on the second leg of their adventure – the climbing of Mount Elgon in Uganda. Matt must have had a tinge of apprehension as the group passed through the border […]
Day 15

The last day at Oronkai dawns, they had done so much whilst there and must have felt very accomplished. When you aren’t used to D.I.Y (as I expect most of these boys weren’t) it’s no mean feat to do what they did – walls painted, doors fixed, rubbish pits dug. Seeing the before and after […]
Dublin

One of the things on Matt’s bucket list was to drink a pint of Guinness in Ireland, so when Peter and I went to Dublin earlier in the year we decided that we would do that on his behalf … Dublin – August 2017 Day 1 – August 25th After a short flight, […]
Mount Snowdon, North Wales

Matt was an in-patient at the Young Person’s Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for over four months. During that time we got to know many of the staff very well, in fact many made us feel more like family whilst we were there. They were always prepared to spend time with us; […]
South Africa

We were delighted when Holly asked if she could take Matt’s ashes with her when she went to visit South Africa for six weeks. Holly was one of Matt’s oldest and closest friends, and they thought the world of each other. Matt would have loved nothing more than to have accompanied Holly on her travels, […]
Borneo

Matt was very interested to hear about the adventure his Aunt Joy was planning in Borneo. He was a great advocate of people who were prepared to try something new, especially when it meant pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Operation Raleigh is a very good example of the sort of thing that Matt […]
Day 14
Matt had always wanted a bow and arrow. In fact, he had persuaded his Dad that they should make one together. He even went walking with me in our local park to find a piece of suitable wood, unfortunately we never found one straight enough to be of use. So the prospect of having a […]
Day 13

As I was sorting through the photographs to go with today’s journal entry I couldn’t help but notice that all of the locals had their photograph taken wearing Matt’s hat! Matt did mention that there had been several people who had made offers to trade for his hat. I’m not sure why they wanted it […]
Day 12
Today was the half-way point for the group’s stay at Oronkai. After spending so much time painting and digging it must have been quite a refreshing change to get the opportunity to explore the local countryside and meet more people – all of whom continue to be so friendly towards the group … Day […]