Cyclists fundraiser helps people learn to communicate through spelling

The challenge saw three family members Rob, Rosa and Scott complete the 1,000-mile journey to fundraise for charity S2C. 

They were inspired by a non-speaking autistic family member, Thomas Watson, who found his voice through the charity's programme, learning to “talk” at the age of 24, by using a method called Spelling to Communicate, which transformed his life. 

His mother Joanne Watson, from Compton, said she had been touched by the heart-warming response after she shared Tom's story to promote the charity bike ride. 

She said: "The responses we have had have been both touching and heart-warming.

"This programme involves non speaking individuals learning how to spell out their thoughts, feelings and opinions by using a series of increasingly complex letter boards.

"The process has been transformative for Tom, us as parents, his sister and our entire family." 

READ MORE: Mum's joy at non-verbal son, 23, finding his 'voice'

Tom Watson (Image: Courtesy of Joanne Watson)

The S2C programme is based in the USA and up until now there have been no UK based practitioners to provide the necessary support for other families looking to achieve the same goal.

Inspired by Tom, Joanne has since trained to be an S2C practitioner, graduating along with nine other amazing people, including Amanda Gover of Stuarts House Care in the New Forest - the first group of S2C practitioners in the UK.

Joanne encouraged other people to get involved. She said: "This is a great start but, as the word spreads, the demand for qualified, UK based, expertise to support families will quickly overwhelm availability.

"The next group of budding practitioners have already started their training and will qualify later in the year. We hope to make this an ongoing and growing process." 

In support of this goal, three of Tom’s family members, Rob, Rosa and Scott, who are based in Stevenage, cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise funds to help provide S2C training bursaries in the UK. 

The team completed the challenge - covering 914 miles in just 12 days - and smashed through their fundraising goal. 

Joanne said: "The cycle took place shortly after the last article was published and it was an amazing experience for everyone involved. Tom was able to cycle with the team for the first few miles as they left Land’s End and was there at the finish to cycle the last few miles into John O’Groats.

"It was a fantastic adventure but definitely a more gruelling experience for the three cyclists. " 

LEJOG cyclists at Land's End (Image: Joanne Watson)

Inspired by their effort and commitment. Tom has started a Facebook and Instagram page to raise awareness of the ride and, in the future, he will also use it as a platform to share his experiences as a non-speaker. He can be found at spellingtomcommunicates.

Tom wrote about the challenge and spoke about his pride at the cyclists' achievements.

He said: "The best part of the whole adventure for me was definitely cycling with the three heroes for the last few miles into John O’Groats. After following them for so many miles in the car it was a privilege to be part of the team for the grand finale. 

"As we arrived, I felt so proud of their achievement and so grateful for all the support we received along the way.  Another important aspect of this undertaking was to spread the awareness of Spelling throughout the country.  We have made a great start but there is a lot more work to be done."

Joanne said: "One of the most motivating factors throughout the trip was the continuous stream of donations that simply kept on coming as the word spread about the cause.

"Each night as we fed and watered the weary cyclists it was obvious that the best lift of all came from the daily updates on the total that they had reached.

"Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of the amazing supporters who have donated to the cause and we simply could not believe our eyes as the total grew and grew reaching an astonishing £10,000 by the time they reached the finish line. 

"An additional bonus to such wonderful generosity has been the awareness spread by the event.  Many more people now know what Spelling to Communicate is and are talking about it."  

For anyone who does want to learn more please go to website for the International Association for Spelling as Communication, i-asc.org/

The link to their fundraising website is below and will remain open until the end of August: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Spelling-2-Communicate9