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Community: Real Life

Post Pals


Viks

Viks is 21 and from Surrey. She's bed-bound due to Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E.), but works hard as co-founder of Post Pals, a website community for sick young people.
Entry: 4
Date: 25/01/2008

Viks tells TheSite.org how she turned her illness into something positive for seriously ill young people all over the country.

Viks

Viks has been inspired to help others

I wanted to write an entry about Post Pals because it's a huge part of my life; even bigger than my health problems. But at the same time both issues have a very strong link with one another.

When my health was at its worst, like most people who have a chronic illness, I felt very isolated. It was mainly only my parents that I got to see regularly and even then it would often be to help me with a basic task like having a drink. I had lost touch with all of my friends and it was difficult for me to contact new people. Then something amazing happened after I wrote an article for the M.E charity magazine Association of Young People with M.E. (AYME). People who read the article started sending me post, but without the need for me to reply. Having cards and teddies brought up to me by my Mum quickly became the highlight of my day. Soon my walls were covered with cards and after a year my ceiling was too. When I was awake but unable to do anything I would often try to work out how long it would be until the postman was due. It made such a difference to my day.

After my health started to improve I began to think about how much the post had still does, mean to me, and about all the people who don't receive that kind of support. Cue light bulb moment! I'm a bit prone to mad ideas so I didn't think anyone would think it would work, but I did eventually mention it to my best friend. She thought it was a great idea and I set about doing some ground work. After roping in three other friends and applying for a Lottery grant via the Princes Trust, Post Pals was born!

So what is Post Pals? It's a really simple way for people to help seriously ill children, most of whom are fighting cancer or going through transplants. We feature them on our website with their personal story and a forwarding address. Members of the public log on from around the world and send cards, letters, small gifts and emails to brighten the child's day.

"Nothing was cheering her up until she was given her post. She opened a card and some confetti stars fell out. Instantly she stopped crying and spent the next 20 minutes making patterns with them."

We knew it would make the kids smile, but we didn't have any idea just how much of a difference it would make. Each child takes something different from the support; one girl had no confidence and no friends, but soon she saw the people writing to her as friends and this gave her the confidence to start talking to other children. She even took her post into school as a conversation starter and now she has lots of friends. Another girl was depressed and distraught after finding out she only had a few weeks left to live. Despite being very weak she would text the lady who delivered her post every day to ask if any had arrived yet. And other children simply have a big grin on their face each morning, which makes me really happy too.

No matter how articulate I could ever be, I would never be able to explain how precious it is to make a terminally ill child smile. We felt incredibly lucky to get a £12,000 grant as most people told us it would never catch on, and some people even wrote us off just because we had physical limitations. Unlike a lot of big charities and organisations we don't send kids to Disney or donate large gifts, but we are there day in, day out, providing support for people who want to donate and to the children themselves.

One of our featured children at the moment is having a very difficult time. Sadly he won't get any better as his cancer is spreading rapidly, but the one thing making him smile is opening up his post. Because of this, every day his parents separate his letters and gifts so he has things to open throughout the day. Another one of our featured children is only two years-old and was crying hysterically while being given chemotherapy. Nothing was cheering her up until she was given her post. She opened a card and some confetti stars fell out. Instantly she stopped crying and spent the next 20 minutes making patterns with them.

We have a couple of awards, a handful of statistics, and some key moments, but I don't think anything compares to the little moments of happiness brought about by knowing what the post means to children.

It only costs you the price of a stamp and a card, and not even that if you email, and it makes such a difference. If you have a spare two minutes today please log onto the site and follow the 'Five easy steps' on the home page. Many of us will be writing cards and letters at some point and may have a few left over not knowing that they could 'post a smile' on a sick child's face.


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