Brad and Daniela Herrington, along with their friends and family, held an awareness stand in the Grafton Shopping Centre in Cambridge on Saturday 18th January 2012. They managed to hand out a wonderful 1500 leaflets and received £75.00 in donations at the stand

“What a day we had on Saturday, the stand looked great and we had a great spot where people had to walk past the stand as it faced them – but what Daniela and I were not prepared for was the complete indifference of people. I think because it was so close to our hearts, the fact that some would not even take a leaflet – some wouldn’t even look at us – meant we quickly became despondent, upset, angry and frustrated. We were ready to pack up and go home by 10am.

Then some of Joe’s team mates arrived, and some of our friends came. The kids were fantastic, they handed out leaflets for us and we could devote our time to talking with the few who actually stopped and showed an interest. The boys and friends that handed the leaflets out also quickly became aware of how difficult it was.

In the end I think we achieved some sort of success. We gave out approximately 1500 leaflets – a fair few postcards as well, but only to the people who we spoke to. We did meet some very nice people who were concerned about it and there were a few tears. We also had the collection boxes on the table and decided to leave them there – we collected £75.

At the end of the day I guess this is a sign of the times – people are busy with their lives and probably get leaflets given to them all the time. Its just a shame they didn’t realise how important it is or that it could concern them directly one day. I know we could not have done it without the help of the kids and the friends who came, not only to help with the leaflets but also the massive moral support.

I would warn any future people who try to hand leaflets out like this to be prepared for the difficulties and the very strong emotional feelings that can emerge.”

Brad Herrington