Rachel Colenso

Rachel Colenso Speaking at the IFB next generation event in London Rachel Colenso with James Amos of Boodles, London I was recently given the great honor of speaking at the IFB tri-annual international conference in London. The audience comprised of some of Britain's most successful next generation Family Business entrepreneurs, directors and executives, as well as successful family business owners from other countries. Placed as the last speaker of the day, following an impressive line -up, including a former adviser to the White House, was rather a hard act to follow! Rachel Colenso Inspirational Speaker However, this proved to be a fantastic and responsive audience and I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I hope my talk will help to inspire the next generation members as they lead their companies into the future. I think what helped to make this event such a success was the great consideration given to the selection and placement of the speakers as well as the gre

  Rachel Colenso with Red Cross Landrover in Buckingham Palace Courtyard Today I attended the Royal Garden party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate 100 years since WW1, and 150 years since the start of the Red Cross movement. It was avery exciting afternoon! At 3pm we were ushered through the main gates into Buckingham Palace. I made sure I was in the middle line so I could walk right through the middle of the palace, which was a remarkable experience. The ceiling, and wall décor is in gold leaf, and I was a little surprised at the number of life size marble statues adorning the entrance hall. We were ushered through the large Palace courtyard to the second entrance hall which was again ornate, with larger than life oil paintings of previous kings and queens. Maroon carpets trimmed with pink bows within the weave fitted precisely to measure. Outside, the terrace forecourt leads down a wide flight of stairs to the gardens and lake beyond.      I quickly spotted th

Rachel looking at a grass snake swimming in the Thames  whilst Jasmine and Rosemary paddle We recently completed another two sections of our ultra-marathon scoot, "Maidenhead to Cookham" and "Cookham to Cookham Dean". This magical part of the Thames is remarkable in its heritage of wonderful riverside homes, stately mansions, and splendid in its natural beauty. The path is in many places broad enough to travel alongside each other. Fairly free of bumps, tree roots and pebbles, it is ideal for scooters or wheelchairs; family fun, or serious athletes who fancy a rootless, rockless run!  Jeremy, Rachel, Steve, Rosemary and Jasmine scooting for the British Red Cross  Both sections are a mixture of open fields, (presently awash with yellow buttercups and white daisies); and almost tropical forests. Thick vegetation, and vines hang in a dense canopy, with long branches trailing their foliage in the dark, wide river. The sights, smells and echo of bird and

Ok, this is probably not the way to start a blog, but as I am very, very excited, so please forgive.... I have been invited by the Queen to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace! Wooohooo!!!  Rachel Colenso, Jeremy, Rosemary and Jasmine on Windsor Bridge The event is to take place in June and is to celebrate 150 years of humanitarian action. The anniversaries in 2013 and 2014 mark the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 and the adoption of the first Geneva Convention in 1864. As 2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of the First World War it will also be an opportunity to honour the work the British Red Cross carried out during this time. The Queens garden parties are a way of recognising and rewarding public service. I do feel it is now even more important for me to further, truly earn this honour, and so am looking to further my partnership with suitable organisations who would be interested in supporting The Britsh Red Cross. Anyone

As this section of the Thames pathway was recently submerged a meter or so beneath flood waters we have waited until the ground dried out sufficiently before attempting to scoot it. The pathway is narrow in places so our daughters had soon managed to take our two wheel scooters from under our noses, and whizzed along whilst we carried their three wheelers. It is a beautiful place, and especially so in Spring, with only a couple of reminders of the floods, (like a large boat marooned in someone's garden!). This short section of the Thames river creates an idyllic way to spend an afternoon. The entire journey is filled with interest for all ages and the distance is short enough to be enjoyed by active toddlers and older family members with enough time over to experience a number of outdoor attractions in picturesque settings. We passed many families and stopped to smell the flowers often! Runnymede Park is a lovely picnic setting with ample parking close by, a super children's

Jeremy and Rachel Colenso with family, Shepperton  Thames River Scoot supporting the British Red Cross This week we took the chance to trial our new micro-scooters from Shepperton to Laleham. - Two places that have received recent global attention as flood waters rose to record heights, wrecking homes and causing thousands to be evacuated. The prime Minister, David Cameron waded through the flooded roads in his wellies captured on news-clips with a look of disbelief and exhaustion. (This had been a rather arduous and wet tour of southern Britain!) I can only imagine that someone in his position must have a very firm and rational mind, because I would definitely have spent the next two weeks having nightmares of floods and storms. Rosemary and Jasmine scooting through Shepperton, Thames River Scoot This section of the Thames was recently under so much water that we were stopped nearly a mile from the Thames by what we thought was a river that had burst its banks. It wasn'

Yesterday I visited the headquarters the of the British Red Cross in London to discuss some exciting new ideas. We also handed over all those kind donations people have given supporting our World Record breaking Thames River Scoot(!) in support of the Red Cross's Disaster Fund. Jasmine at the Red Cross with Shelley wearing a Red Cross 'Refusing to ignore People in Crisis' t shirt We had an interesting inside glimpse behind the scenes of this universal humanitarian organisation. Jasmine, our three year old accompanied me on her micro scooter. No-one there had ever seen someone 'scoot' in for a meeting, so Jasmine became quite a novelty. When things all became less exciting for a three year old, Jasmine found a sheep... yes a sheep stood in the corner of the offices. Shelley the Sheep is on her way to the Tower of London today, thankfully as a mascot, and not a dinner offering. Shelley is  very mobile, stood on a green, four wheeled landscape.We created quit

Last week I was given the opportunity to make a small presentation in Christ Church, in Sheen to explain our big scoot for The British Red Cross. Our eldest daughter (Rosemary, 6) made a display on a noticeboard. We included newspaper clippings of our 'World Record Scooting attempt' and large photos of our journey along the Thames, scooting through the flood waters. We also set up a table with inviting goodies and information about the British Red Cross. Many people studied the pictures, and donations flooded right in too! It was a super experience and made all our scooting efforts seem all the more worthwhile. In total over £350 from the generous congregation at Christ Church was donated. Thank you Christ Church! It was however rather awkward answering questions about when our next leg of the scoot was taking place, because as some of you know, our daughters scooters had been stolen. I told Rosemary we must just focus on what our plan is - to scoot the length of the Thames

Last week we took the opportunity of a clear and warmer evening to complete the next leg of our scoot, from Runneymede to the historic church in Old Windsor. Unfortunately some of the path remains submerged, and we now have in total, 2 short sections to complete in the summer between our journey so far, from Battersea to Old Windsor. The evening was lovely, but again another sad reminder of the recent floods- peoples hard earned money and leisure smashed against weirs and riverbeds. - We have now passed a number of capsized boats of varying sizes, still unable to be rescued as the water is running at full capacity. Then in the evening air we hear a call - an owl close by... and it was! Dolby is a pet Eagle Owl, a large bird who's favourite perch is close to the river in Old Windsor. After a great round of Twit-twoos! we carried on scooting our hearts out through muddy pathways and on more manageable terrain until we reached a quaint old church in Old Windsor. Sadly in the ex

Thanks to West London Mums for a great article! westlondonmum.co.uk  I hope we garner more support for The Red Cross Disaster Fund. We are planning to complete our next leg of the scoot up the Thames starting at Runneymede Playpark and heading approximately four miles up the river to straight road in Old Windsor. This will be on 9th March in the afternoon. If interested in joining us please email me on: rachelcolenso@gmail.com

Wow, delighted to be receiving donations for our scoot along the Thames for the Red Cross Disaster Fund. We are now starting to see donations from people beyond family and friends which is very exciting. It is very encouraging, and I think we cannot give up now. If the weather is OK on Sunday we will head out and try to continue. Am hoping that in the following weeks we may be able to ferry some supplies out that could be useful to people who have lost their belongings along the Thames. As I write gale force winds are shaking the entire building we are in. The glass in our windows, and floor is reverberating despite its concrete base. Just getting concerned because the entire structure is beginning to move and the trees outside are moving from near the base of their trunks. We are in the Heathrow flight path, and apparently planes are being diverted or delayed from landing at Heathrow. It is quite frightening because you cannot be sure how much wind a building like this can withsta

(Our family have completed over 60km of a charity challenge we set ourselves to support The British Red Cross Disaster Fund. We plan to scoot the length of The Thames. We have travelled, with our daughters (now age 3 and 6) scooting from Battersea, all the way to Staines-upon-Thames.) Our journey has become increasingly difficult with debris from the extreme winds and Christmas storms blocking sections of the towpath along Sunbury, and the first indications of lowland flooding at Denborough Island West on the 5th of January . Flooding of roads prevented us accessing the section from Shepperton to the M3 on the 12th of January. Following this, we continued with the next section of the scoot and were shocked to see vast stretches of the Thames flooded with homes lining the southern banks partially submerged. This was  from the M3 to Laleham on 19th of January 2014. On the section from Laleham to Staines on the 16th of January 2014 car parks, fields and childrens' playgrounds w

See below, the article written on our world record scooting challenge to help the British Red Cross Disaster Fund: Article in Getsurrey regional news channel IF you would like to support our little girls and help to give food, shelter and hope to someone right now you can donate here: Thames River Scoot

  We are attempting to scoot the length of the Thames River to raise funds for the Red Cross International Disaster Fund . By coincidence, today we scooted passed one of many areas where The Thames has burst its banks and flooded homes. The area is Laleham, near Staines upon Thames. People, many elderly were notified at 4am last week by the environmental agency to get rations and warm bedding and to move into the upper most rooms or attics of their homes. They were instructed to fill pillow cases with earth from their gardens and create barricades to prevent flooding where possible. They have spent a week in freezing winter conditions without electricity. So extremely sad to witness this disaster. We spoke to one man who's 74 year old sister was told to go into the garden and fill pillow cases with earth. It was 4am, and pouring with rain at the time. People have been afraid to evacuate their home. Many have had nowhere to go to. This has given us a tiny insight into