Of charities and web friends

We received a parcel this morning from an internet friend called Kristin. We share a hobby, nay mild obsession, over at IgoUgo , a travel community website where we contribute travel journals and photos. It's a bit like Trip advisor or the Lonely Planet website (or the many others out there); ordinary travellers write reviews of places they've been. The difference with IgoUgo, to my mind, is that extended 'articles' are encouraged through financial rewards, competitions, annual awards and the like. It's a cool site and you'll find Kristin there as 'stomps' and me as 'jaybroek'.

That was all a very meandering introduction to the real thrust of this post. If you follow the links and read some of the journals then great but more to the point, I've got to know some great people through IgoUgo, many of whom have been very kind and have sent supportive messages over the past year or so. Kristin has gone some distance further than most. Last weekend she took part in the Three Peaks Challenge, raising money for the meningitis trust, a charity that, not so coincidentally, have been a part of our lives during the past year. We have been the beneficiaries of financial and counselling support from the trust; support that has been a vital part of Tom's and our recovery.

Now I'm pretty certain that Kristin was going to tackle the challenge before she read about Tom but it is wonderful to know that she took on the peaks with our son in her thoughts and those of her fellow walkers. Each person on the climbs carried with them a pebble, engraved with the name of a meningitis survivor and Kristin's carried Tom's name. She also took with her a couple of T-shirts; one for Tom and one for herself. It was the shirt for Tom, now signed by all those involved, that arrived in the post this morning and was the cause of a tear or two.

So there's hope for mankind with the likes of Kristin amongst us - people like her keep on doing special things for people like us, regardless of whether she knows us or not.

Thank you Kristin.