Tag: children

Oakley Orange Appeal

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Guest blog by Stephen Jenner

A huge fund raising event for 7 year old Oakley Orange has been announced at Headcorn Airport on the 10th April.

Oakley is the little boy fighting for his life after an allergic reaction to medication. Rushed to hospital after a rash appeared on his chest, his parents Steven and Lorraine watched in horror as their son became unrecognisable over the next 24 hours.

He was diagnosed with the rare life-threatening skin condition called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), where the top layer of skin becomes detached from the lower layers.

Oakley’s condition rapidly deteriorated to the worst form of the condition, known as Tens, and he had to be transferred to a specialist burns hospital. SJS develops into Tens when more than 30% of skin is lost; Oakley has lost 100% of his skin, as well as his fingernails, toenails and hair.

Funds are being raised to send Oakley Orange and his family to Florida, with SkyHigh Radio taking up the lead in helping raise this money. The event at Headcorn is a tandem parachute jump and if you’d like to be involved, or just lend your moral and financial support, please get in touch via the Facebook page or donate here.

Special visit to Jack and the Beanstalk

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Guest blog by Stephen Jenner of GDS Productions.

The Kent Parent Carer Forum SEN children were special guests of Gillingham Dramatic Society Productions sell out production of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Brook Theatre during half term.

Special arrangements were made for the children and their careers to attend the Thursday Matinee, leading the chairperson of The Kent Parent Carer Forum to say: “A massive thank you to GDS Productions for making the day a success and enjoyable for the children”.

Bright and colourful costumes, amazing dancing and one-liners that appealed to all ages were just some of the lovely comments received from the public after the performances.

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Madam Mayor, Cllr. Josie Iles, who attended the Friday evening show and thoroughly enjoyed herself, needed no encouragement to join in with the clapping and laughing. She particularly enjoyed the joke at Medway Council’s expense:  The Dame said “that the Beanstalk needs chopping down, so she instructed Simon to contact Medway Council and get it cut down immediately.”  To which Simon replied:  “You’ll be lucky – it’s Medway Council, you’ll be waiting months!”

GDS Productions now move onto their next production which will be Hairspray, in October at the Hazlitt theatre, Maidstone. Keep up to date with them on their Facebook page.