One brave child reaches the top. © Haemophilia Society
The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation provided a grant of £5,000 for the Young Bloods project in 2007/08 to address the needs of children with bleeding disorders across the UK in a variety of ways.
Its magazine Young-Bloods, was distributed to around 600 young members and also went to 89 haemophilia centres around the UK. The magazine teaches children with bleeding disorders about their condition and how to manage their symptoms. It also lets them know about events that they can take part in such as our activity weekends and sports camps. Real life stories let the children reading know they are not alone and how to cope with situations they might encounter as well as providing a vital link to others in their situation.
Thanks to The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation’s support the children’s activity weekend at Mill on the Brue in Somerset was an overwhelming success. The holiday was attended by 19 children, giving them the opportunity to meet other children with bleeding disorders, something that would otherwise be very unlikely. Many of the children have stayed in touch having become firm friends over the weekend.
The Young-Bloods website has also gone from strength to strength, providing children with information and advice on how to manage their condition. Numbers of users are up and new information and features are being added regularly to ensure children have access to the best information possible.