By Heather McLean, Instructor, Southern Crane Kungfu
On Thursday 27 September Southern Crane Kungfu Kids’ class raised over £1,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust in an hour long kickathon. Students aged from four to eight years old beat their target of 500 kicks in a tremendous effort, hitting an astounding 2,500 kicks.
Southern Crane Kungfu chose the Cystic Fibrosis Trust as friends of the Club, Andy Stout and Kate Large, have a one year old daughter, Freya, with Cystic Fibrosis. This life-threatening inherited disease affects over 8,000 babies, children and young adults in the UK. One of the main problems Cystic Fibrosis causes is clogging the lungs and digestive organs with thick mucus, making breathing and digesting food difficult. It also causes complications including diabetes, liver disease, brittle bones and gallstones.
The kungfu Club’s younger members had practiced their kicks, including front thrust, crane kick, side thrust, round house and stomping kick, for several weeks beforehand, with their instructor, Heather McLean.
McLean commented: “Our kids class worked really hard in the kickathon, thrashing their goal of 500 kicks with a whopping 2,500! We have also raised at least £1,100 for the charity, but more keeps coming in. I chose CF Trust to help children like Freya. Research into Cystic Fibrosis moves quickly; in 1964 a baby with the disease was lucky to reach the age of five years old, whereas now over half of the UK’s sufferers will live to over 35. That still means that 4,000 people with the disease in the UK today will not reach 35 years old, which isn’t good enough. Events like ours will help kick Cystic Fibrosis where it hurts.”
