Making the decision!

Well, here I am about to share with you a decision I made a few days ago - though this has been simmering away for a while.

For those of you who have followed my other blog, "keeping body and mind together" you'll know that I have been moved by the plight of homeless folk and the labels we give to those we see on the streets of our towns and cities.

I've bought hot drinks and cake for Big Issue sellers in Dundee, I've bought several of the same edition of The Big Issue from different sellers in Dundee, but I've always felt I could do more.

I woke up the other night and decided that in September 2011 I would walk from Dundee to Thurso to raise money for SHELTER (Scotland). It's a distance of 250miles and I will do it over 10 days, leaving on Thursday 1st September and reaching Thurso on Saturday 10th September 2011.

I want to raise thousands of pounds - not hundreds! I will be very annoying for the next 9 months...don't say "What's new?!"

There's lots of planning to be done, and my intention is to update you on my progress and add photos of my meetings with the volunteers in SHELTER (Dundee) and some of the homeless people that will be helped by the funds raised.

In 2009-2010 SHELTER registered as homeless:

1,714 in Dundee

791 in Perth & Kinross

1,843 in Highland Region

660 in Moray

These are just the figures for the areas in Scotland my walk will take me through.

I remember living in a cottage where there was an open fire in the living-room, but no proper heating anywhere else in the house. In the winter months I felt quite demoralised that I couldn't keep myself warm, the damp walls and mold spores were a constant reminder of the depressing situation I was in. However, I had a roof over my head and I knew it was a temporary glitch in my life. 3 years later myself and my two young girls moved in to a centrally heated house - luxury!

I have never been homeless, and feeling fed up with a cold, damp house comes no where near the pain and angst someone feels when they have no shelter whatsoever, please have a rummage in your purse and donate whatever you can to help a very worthy cause - helping your fellow human beings have the most basic of needs met, a roof over their heads, a place to SHELTER and feel safe. With love, Kathleen x

"There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase, "to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy." The need to live is our physical need for such things as food, clothing, shelter, economical well-being, health. The need to love is our social need to relate to other people, to belong, to love and to be loved. The need to learn is our mental need to develop and to grow. And the need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence and contribution." Stephen R. Covey