Mr Selfie: The Next Challenge.

Welcome to my latest blog; I try to write at least one every year and what a year this has been…

First of all there has been the now famous ‘Selfie Challenge’. Yes, I have posted a selfie on social media for an entire year – 365 days. Amongst these selfies there have been shots taken at weddings, birthdays, Easter, Hallowe’en, Christmas – everyone in the community has joined in, even celebs.

I have made lots of new friends and thanks to Claire, Anne and George from the Llanelli Spiritualist Centre, fantastic sums of money have been raised as a result of events they have put on for my chosen charity, Marie Curie. They hosted a coffee morning and then an evening of Clairvoyance at the Thomas Arms in Llanelli, attended by the Lord Mayor and other dignitaries, with additional entertainment, including a disco, a raffle and an auction. That night alone raised £992 which is absolutely fantastic. I am always so amazed by people’s generosity; the landlady, Christine, didn’t even charge us for the venue to show her support for the cause.

It was Claire that nominated me for an award earlier this year: the Llanelli Star Community Fundraiser award. I went with my wife to the awards ceremony, which was a wonderful night at the Stradey Park Hotel, and we were lucky to meet some truly inspirational people at this event. So taking photos at every opportunity with some really special people has been well worth it.

I also managed to fit in a 10km walk for another cause close to my heart, Crohn’s and Colitis. With my personal connection to this charity it meant an awful lot to be able to raise £328 for them. This June marked the fifth anniversary of my stoma which I had to have as a result of ulcerative colitis. The operation has turned my life around- I have been a First Cymru bus driver for four years, something I couldn’t have contemplated before the operation; and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do a 10km walk!!

So where do I go next after successfully raising £3, 652 for Marie Curie? Well I have decided to try to raise something more for Crohn’s and Colitis to build on what I managed to achieve in just one walk. After all, raising awareness via social media for those of us who are suffering or have suffered from these bowel diseases, was where it all started for me, so I have decided to continue the walking theme and collect for this great charity. I aim to walk at least 5km every week for a year- so 52 walks. Hopefully I will therefore walk a minimum of 260km. I will set up a Just Giving page and a text link so that people can support me as before. I now have a great network of followers who are eager to find out what my next venture will be so I thought I would make the first Sunday of each month a WWKD (Walk With Keith Day) so anyone who wants to can come along and join me, obviously with a donation to put in my bucket! Details will be announced the preceding Friday.

So- if you fancy coming down to the Llanelli coastal path – bring your kids, your dogs, to join me in a 5km walk with beautiful views and lots of fresh sea air watch out for information on my social media pages. I will of course document my walking, and no doubt treat you to more photos, to let you know how I am getting on.

My first walk will be a WWKD- on Sunday 6th August, 2017 – more details to follow in due course.

I am looking forward to another exciting year and to seeing you all on my next challenge.

FB: Keith Thomas                 Twitter: @keiththom2014                           Instagram: @keiththom2014

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