Inspiration comes in many forms and this one makes me cry…
Our first child (Samuel) got bullied all through primary school from so called friends. As parents we were distraught, and spent many an afternoon in the head teachers office shedding a few tears.
But no matter how many times we tried to make it stop, the bullying continued and the school never delivered against it’s promises.
By nature Samuel is a very caring soul, and would never intentionally harm anyone (verbally or physically). And it was clear his so called friends were taking full advantage of his caring personality.
Yes, it was both physical and verbal bullying. We could help him cope with the verbal stuff, but it was a real struggle and worry when things turned physical. Samuel just wouldn’t and couldn’t defend himself.
Our only option was to take things into our own hands and try and find a way to give Samuel the tools to gain enough confidence to enable him to stand up to these bullies.
After looking at our options and discussing it with Samuel, he joined a small family friendly karate club called Valley Shorai. The club is run by Sensei Neil Holroyd. Neil makes it fun for the younger children, and the ethos of the club is defense. Karate should never be used for anything other than defending yourself or competition. Sensei Neil takes a very dim view of any club member using Karate for any other reason.
Samuel spent the next few years training and gaining confidence, but never quite got to the stage to completely stop his primary school bullies. Until his first days at high school…
Straight away the bullying started again and Samuel had just about had enough. He showed the bullies just enough for them to back off and never touch him again. And the knock on effect was huge. The whole school got to know about the incident and 5 years later no-one has ever tried to bully him again.
Valley Shorai is only a small karate club and is run very much as a family rather than a business. But their virtues have been fantastic for us and Samuel. Both Samuel’s younger brother (Benjamin) and sister (Scarlett) are now students, as we never want them to experience what Samuel has had to go through.
Samuel loves karate and gives back to the sport, helping Sensi Neil teach his younger students. Along the way he’s gained loads of experience, winning many local competitions and becoming a black belt. His development has also helped the other students to gain the confidence to enter competitions and to aim for their black belts too.
And for a little club, Valley Shorai punches (excuse the pun) way above it’s weight. This year 3 of our students (including Samuel) have qualified for the England team. And will represent England at the world karate championships. Which are being held this year in Dublin at the end of October.
This is where we need some help…
Karate is not professional. Yes, it’s still an amateur sport. Which means it is not funded and each England team member has to pay for their own travel, accommodation, competition fees and even their own England kit. And if they can’t raise the money they simply can’t go. It’s £700 each!
So, our little club is trying to raise £2000 to secure our 3 students their place in the England squad and their place at this years world karate championships.
We have arranged bag packing at Tesco’s, raffles, market stalls, scratch cards, demonstrations and even set up a just giving page.
We were hoping to attract a few more business donations. But are finding it quite difficult, as we can’t offer much back in return. We can’t even offer sponsorship of the kit, as it’s for an official England event.
The only thing we can offer (for any business who donates £200 or more) is a signed and framed photograph of our students in their England kit. And you will also get a mention (with link back) in our press release and blog covering the event (released on our return). Any donations (we’d be ecstatic with just £1) will be gratefully received and can be given here.
