This year’s Time to Talk Liam Golf day will take place on Saturday 22nd September 2012 at Birchwood Golf Club in Warrington.

The day is yet to be finalised in terms of running order however it will be something like this:

-Arrive at the course approx 10am
-Tea/Coffee and a bacon sandwich
-18 holes of golf on the championship parklands golf course
-once every player is back in a 3 course meal will be served after which raffle tickets will be sold and -the prize draw made after the presentation has been made.

The cost is £50 per man for the day.  I need a £20 deposit for bookings per man and will forward my account details as and when you register for the event. This covers all of the above bar the raffle tickets, prizes have yet to be finalised but we have had items from the following donated so far:

-4 ball from Birchwood golf course
-2 x 2 balls from Ecclestone park
-Meal at Houghwood golf club for 2
-Signed framed picture from Ernie Els
-A number of signed prints from ISM management (They manager Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Louis Oustheizan and many more)

I am awaiting confirmation on items from Portal Golf Club, Runcorn GC and Sutton Weaver GC.
I am also awaiting the donation of a Scotty Cameron putter and a spin wedge either a Ping, Titleist or Callaway.

More prizes are being sought and will be confirmed nearer the time.

The day itself will be a 4 man team event with the best 2 scores counting on each hole, don’t worry if you’re on your own or only have 2 or 3 as other players can be swapped around to make up teams as we did last year.

Now the begging part!! For all you high up in office in your respective lines of business, I am also looking for sponsor ship on a hole by hole basis; this will come at a cost of £150 per hole for the first hole and then each additional one at £100. For this you will get a printed banner erected by myself at the hole you have sponsored and a donation into the prize pool, the remaining £120 will go straight to Time to Talk Liam’s pot. If your company wishes to sponsor the longest drive or nearest the pin hole this will be an additional £25 for additional prize and trophy. We have also been given coverage by the Local papers in Warrington and the Echo.

Anyone wishing to play or sponsor a hole can get hold of me by email at whittakerstewart@hotmail.com or on 07817417473

Last year we had 22 lads turn up and raised £1400, I’ve booked 40 to 60 tee slots this time so let’s see if we can double it or better!

Thanks for your time and support lads, I know it means a great deal to both Tony and Cheryl in helping Liam achieve his potential in life.

It’s also been mentioned that it’s my home track, which it is if any of you want to have a knock around there at anytime let me know I will happily take you round!

Stewart Whittaker (aka Jimmy Crankie)

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Liam’s mum, Cheryl, is going to devote the next 6 months of her maternity leave to making this happen.

“Look at Liam’s progress” says Cheryl

“Every child and family should be able to experience what we have”.

If you think this would be a worthwhile cause please get in touch! Cheryl is passionate about the potential of autistic children and here she explains why she wants to make this happen…

The Government has a real problem rising in the shadows. Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has reached epidemic levels! 1 in 64 children in the UK will have a diagnosis of autism (1 in 40 boys).  Children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) require a high level of support which may increase in adulthood. Autism costs the Government millions of pounds each year. Early intervention or more understanding into the child’s condition and then providing the right treatment can bring about major improvement in the child; even in some cases a child can lose their diagnosis of autism altogether thus creating less of a burden on the government benefit system in later life. However the Government is not providing early intervention or trying to understand each child’s condition. Instead they are condemning the child (and their families) to a life of emotional struggle and physical hardship by branding them “autistic” and since there is no known cure for autism they don’t need to do anything about it.

Our son Liam was diagnosed with ASC at age 3, he was placed in a special school where they managed his needs through providing a safe and smaller class setting, however they did not know how to provide a learning experience to enable him to reach his full potential. He was unable to partake in classroom activities, unable to learn and develop new skills and was left to indulge in his own little world. As a family we were suffering seeing our son fall further and further behind his peers. We decided to take matters into our own hands and researched what could be done to help our son. We were surprised (as they don’t tell you anything about treatments or intervention at diagnosis) to find there were many different therapies or treatments to help autistic children. However as they were mainly private based companies and this was a highly specialised field, the costs were inflated and access to treatment was only available to the privileged few.

We accessed the biomedical route of treatment for autism which involves changing diet and adding nutritional supplements to boost immunity and treat any underlying medical conditions that may be hindering development, as this was the one more within our family budget. But after 5 months of trialing this approach the results were worrying, further regression and health risks took place and we had to abandon treatment. After eliminating food allergies and toxins as being a possible cause/link to Liam’s autistic behaviour we went on to try behavioural intervention called Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) which brought about amazing results! Our non verbal son began communicating, participating, engaging and learning! The only downside was the costs of accessing this intervention were out of our reach. We began fundraising to help pay the costs of Liam’s therapy and set up a volunteer program as a cheaper way to access the intervention. After some months we had gathered enough evidence to prove this approach did in fact significantly aid our son’s learning and development and the local council agreed to take over funding. Today Liam is enjoying excellent progress at school and at home, and a learning experience which will enable him to reach his full potential whatever that may be, however it is certain he will require less support as an adult which will save the Government money in the long term.

Surely, if this support was provided to other children the results will be the same? Unfortunately perhaps not as what works for one child may not work for another. With my neutral hat on, I can almost understand why the government doesn’t provide this level of help to these children. Imagine the costs of having to pay initial consultation fees, trialing different therapies to find the right one that works for each child and then paying for that, for each child! However the alternative they choose is to do nothing, which I don’t understand as in the meantime the number of children being diagnosed is increasing and the burden on the future economy is rising.

So in order to try to lessen that future burden we want to set up a new Registered Charity “Time to Talk Liam” to help non verbal, autistic children up to the age of 10 years old to provide financial grants and advice to parents or carers who want to access early intervention or treatments.

Why non verbal children? As these children are classed at the more severe end of the Spectrum and require more support which equals more cost.

Why only children who are under the age 10? As intervention has proved to be more successful in younger children who are more susceptible to teaching and have not had as long living in their habitual existence.

Why is a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder needed? As a way of proving the authenticity of the application to deter any abuse of the fund.

Having these strict criteria will ensure any limited funds are put to the most affective use. We will also put in place a family income cap of below £50,000 per annum and any invoices will be paid directly by the Charity to ensure the monies are actually being spent on treatment for the child.

Time to Talk Liam will ensure strict Governance is in place and full adherence to charity law, providing any donor with the confidence any assistance will be going to a new, but trustworthy charity.

We hope you agree this would be a worthwhile charity. We would welcome any comments or advice for starting up a new charity or if you would like to become involved in this project please contact Cheryl at timetotalkliam@btinternet.com

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I honestly couldn’t think of any more deserving for it than Cheryl

says one of her cousins Abi. It came as a complete surprise to Cheryl who had no idea her family were working tirelessly behind the scenes to get people to vote for her. Cheryl spoke that she was very touched and overwhelmed by the support she recieved saying

I would like to thank my Cousins for putting their faith in me and nominating me among such amazing women

Time to Talk Liam would like to wish Cheryl good luck when they announce the overall winner on Thursday 26th July.

You can read what they wrote about Cheryl by clicking on the following link:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/education/university_and_college_news/2012/07/18/echo-mum-of-the-year-finalist-cheryl-joyce-100252-31415741/

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• ‘Loop Duo’
• ‘Kingdom’
• burlesque dancers ‘Lady Wildflower’
• ‘Fanny Divine’
• …and great raffle prizes to be won.

Email timetotalkliam@btinternet.com for tickets

A great day was had by all and a narrow win for the reds on pens!

Thanks again to all involved from Time to Talk Liam xxx

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We are continuing our fundraising efforts to fund an ABA program for Liam in the summer holidays (as it is important to ensure continuity) and to access intensive ABA intervention, as well as funding other therapies we are pursuing such as biomedical treatment to address any underlying medical problems Liam has which are hindering his development. We thank you for your continued support!

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Click Here to download TTTL sponsorship form and help Us help Liam (Right click and Click ‘Save Link As..’)

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Thank You

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