Look before you leap!

ASIDE from the fact that 2012 is apparently the last year in the Mayan calendar and we should all be looking out for big changes and upheavals in our lives this year we will also see two very rare occurrences: a blue moon, and an extra day in February.

Yes, on top of everything else, 2012 is a Leap Year!

It only comes along once every four years, and what can we do with that extra day?

Shall we just spend it doing what we normally do for the other 365 days of the year, or shall we try to do something special with our time?

Well, you probably know me by now, I like to try to do something for the community when I get the chance, and I see the coming Wednesday February29 as a big opportunity to get something going for a good cause.

Enter stage right, Charley. You may have heard about this little boy who was born very early and has plenty of medical problems to overcome.

He has (or rather, had) a very pricy hearing aid which involved having a cochlear implant which helps (or rather helped) him to hear.

Unfortunately just before Christmas his hearing aid (all €10,000 worth of it) went missing.

You can imagine how distraught his family have been trying to find it, but to no avail. Charley was without his hearing aid for over a month until Tracey Evans (amazing physiotherapist and friend of the family) got in touch with the manufacturers of the hearing device and managed to get one ‘on tick’ as it were.

Now Charley has his hearing restored he is a much happier little boy, but they need to find a way to pay for the replacement device.

And it’s a lot of dosh! So here’s an idea… we all have an extra day in February don’t we? What about if we could get trades people, such as hairdressers, or plumbers, or dance teachers, to donate an hour or so of their time on that day?

Perhaps we could auction off their services to the highest bidders…. ooh, the idea is coming together. If you would like to help then please get in touch with me as this will definitely be the case of ‘the more the merrier’!

Emma Conlin has also set her mind to raising money for Charley and will be hosting a sponsored Spinning Class on Saturday February 25 at Illes Gym in Son Bugadelles in Santa Ponsa.

To get more information on this event and on every other event for Charley you can go to www.supportcharley.com or please search for ‘Support Charley’ in Facebook.