In 2011 when Tia was just 6 she set up Tia's Treasures fundraising for various charities by selling her handmade keyrings and bracelets and within 5 years over £10,000 had been raised.
Nearly 10 years on and Tia's Treasures is still going strong, we have just funded our 20th Seizure Alarm.
The Tia's Treasures Team which consists of Mum (Lisa), Dad (Richard), Alex (17), Tia (15), Adam (12), Jamie (10), Tommy (4) and Toby (3) have been fundraising for various charities, deserving and individuals as well as participating in lots of Random Acts of Kindness.
Throughout 2020 we sent Random Acts of Kindness as a much needed morale boost as well as to show our appreciation to Ambulance Stations, Police Stations, Fire Stations, Bus Stations, Hospitals, Dental Surgeries, GP Surgeries, Schools, Nurseries and many more.
Back in November Tommy (4) and Toby (3) had posted well over 100 letters, drawings and photos to various Ambulance Stations as part of Tracy Carters Hit the Ambulance Gamers Facebook Group where Mum Lisa is a member of the Admin team. They decided they would set themselves a challenge to send a letter a drawing and a photo to every East of England Ambulance Service Trust Station starting with Waveney, our local station just down the road which we have been sending treats to for the past few years.
90 envelopes were posted to the East of England Ambulance Service Trust Stations on the way to School and Nursery. 8 stockings were also filled with treats such as crackers, balloons, biscuits, sweets, crisps and drinks for the Waveney Station who kindly arranged to collect in an Ambulance which made Tommy and Toby's day. Waveney Station also hit Tommy and Toby back with a large box of treats.
The challenge was soon completed and lots of positive feedback about how what they were doing was boosting morale which spurred Tommy and Toby on to continue. Before long they had a plan to hit 999 Ambulance Stations with their letters, drawings and photos.
999 seemed an appropriate number. Before long members of the Hit the Ambulance Gamers Facebook Group were asking if they could support Tommy and Toby by sending them stamps, paper, envelopes etc so an Amazon Wishlist was set up. This challenge was one we expected to continue into 2021 but with all 8 of us getting involved and lots of dedication and determination....
130 hits were posted to Scottish Ambulance Service, 55 hits were posted to North East Ambulance Service, 62 hits were posted to Yorkshire Ambulance Service, 104 hits were posted to East Midlands Ambulance Service, 90 Hits were posted to East of England Ambulance Service, 70 hits were posted to London Ambulance Service, 66 hits were posted to South East Coast Ambulance Service, 22 hits were posted to South Central Ambulance Service, 1 hit was posted to Isle of Wight Ambulance Service, 16 hits posted to South West Ambulance Service, 3 hits posted to The Channel Islands Ambulance Services, 32 hits were posted to West Midlands Ambulance Service, 121 hits were posted to North West Ambulance Service, 3 hits were posted to Isle of Man Ambulance Service, 46 hits were posted to Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, 90 hits were posted to Welsh Ambulance Service, 23 hits were posted to each Air Ambulance Charity and 65 hits were posted to individual Ambulance Staff.
Added all together came to 999. The challenge was completed by the end of 2020. We hope that all 999 hits will help start 2021 with a smile.
Tommy and Toby have already mentioned future challenges including The Police Force and The Fire Service and due to Tommy and Toby's (Toby's especially) love of Ambulances Tia has decided to focus Tia's Treasures on Hit the Ambulance Gamers Random Acts of Kindness as well as fundraising for TASC (The Ambulance Staff Charity).
Tia's Treasures Monkey Mascot named Nee Nor Monkey by Tommy and Toby has already been lending a hand.
For more details and links to our social media pages visit www.tiastreasures.net
Wishing you all a Happy and Safe 2021 and remember not all Heroes wear capes.
Tommy (4) and Toby (3) have been busy drawing pictures and writing letters (with Mum's help) to send to as many Ambulance Stations as they can as part of Hit the Ambulance - a Facebook Group that began in February 2020 which encourages people to hit Ambulances with Random Acts of Kindness (and as many other services that need recognition, appreciation and a morale boost).
Toby was diagnosed with Epilepsy in 2018 after 5 Ambulance rides, Asthma in 2019 and a Chromosome Deletion in 2020, he is due to have an over night stay at Addenbrookes Hospital for a Video EEG, MRI and Lumbar Puncture for his Epilepsy and Dystonia.
As a Family we have a great amount of appreciation not just for the Ambulance Service but the NHS as a whole as well as all Keyworkers not just through out the current Corona Virus Pandemic but all the time, we have sent Random Acts of Kindness to Police Stations, Fire Stations, Bus Stations, Dental Surgeries, GP Surgeries, Schools, Nurseries etc and some have even got in touch to say Thank you which has given Tommy and Toby more of a boost to continue.
The Tia's Treasures Team are well known not only for fundraising but for participating in Random Acts of Kindness.
With the imminent return to College, School and Toby due to start Nursery the past couple of weeks has been spent making sure all uniforms are ready for the return after almost 6 months due to the Corona Virus.
Whilst unable to attend or organise any fundraising events other than Lisa braving the shave for Young Epilepsy Random Acts of Kindness have still been something we've continued with as we believe they are needed more than ever right now.
Tia's Treasures Young Epilepsy JustGiving Page is currently at 80% of our £1000 target.
We had planned to hold a Fundraising event of some kind to celebrate Tia's Treasures 9th Birthday on 21st May to hopefully reach our target but due to the current situation with Covid 19/Corona Virus this unfortunately wasn't possible.
We have been thinking of ways how we could raise the last £200 to achieve our £1000 target from the comfort of our home and I have decided to brave the shave, I've dyed my hair purple many times since 2018 for Epilepsy Awareness so why not go that step further to raise funds?
The Tia's Treasures Team are proud to be a part of a new game called Hit the Ambulance, it doesn't involve physically hitting ambulances as the name may suggest but its all about showing our appreciation to the Ambulance Crew by leaving notes of appreciation and gifts on the windscreens of Ambulances.
A group has been set up on Facebook by a lady called Tracy from Leicester and within 3 days reached over 10k members, as a Raktivist through the work we do with Tia's Treasures I've been invited to become an Admin on the Hit the Ambulance Gamers Facebook Group. The facebook group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/500377094231257/
Since 2018 when Toby the youngest member of the Team was diagnosed with Epilepsy after 5 Tonic Clonic Seizures resulting in 999 calls and trips to A&E followed by Children's Ward at The James Paget University Hospital we have focused on raising awareness for Epilepsy as well as raising funds for Young Epilepsy and Seizure Alarms, we funded Seizure Alarm number 14 in November which was great timing as November is Epilepsy Awareness month.
Toby is now just over 2 and his Tonic Clonic Seizures are quite controlled but he still has Focal Seizures and Clonic Seizures a lot of which are at night so we realise the importance of Seizure Alarms for peace of mind.