my AFK

myAFK helps disabled children and young people to live independent and fulfilling lives and provide mobility equipment not available on the NHS, such as bespoke powered wheelchairs, specialised trikes and walkers, to disabled children and young people up to age 25.

I discovered myAFK while planning my first London bookshop event, which was at Pickled Pepper Books in Crouch End. The shop had invited me to hold an art exhibition to coincide with my storytelling event. I decided that I would donate money made from my art prints to a charity, preferably a charity local to the shop. To be honest, at the time I wasn't even sure if I was allowed to sell art from my book! I was new to eventing and wanted to make my first London event a little more purposeful.

I found a few charities based in and around Crouch End and chose myAFK because I once worked as Support Worker for special needs students. I know how important charities like myAFK are to young adults living with disabilities. The event had a modest turnout and raised a bit of cash. Later that year I visited myAFK to hold a creative workshop. Below is a short slideshow of photos from bookshop and the workshop at myAFK.

My fundraising exhibition, which was sort of an experiment for me, showed me that through my work as a writer-illustrator I can support charities and enable others to do so, too.

For my Amazing book launch at Waterstones Piccadilly I chose to support myAFK again. But this time I had an entourage of helpers, raffle tickets, badges, an array of limited edition prints and a cake of Zibbo made by Leandra Lucas. myAFK’s Caroline and some of the charities volunteers and beneficiaries came along to share their stories. The cake raffle alone raised £500, which is great when just £50 can help myAFK maintain mobility equipment for disabled children and young people. Below is a gallery of photos from the launch, from unloading the van and setting-up to the launch itself (photo credit: Terry Bassett).

For more information on myAFK, including how you can support their work, please visit www.my-afk.org