So moved were they by the care given to their seriously-injured son after he was kicked on the head by a horse, Ben and Helen Taylor-Davies, have set a target of £50,000 to say thank you to the staff at the Intensive Care Unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The accident at the family's farm in Brampton Abbotts last September left adorable Jobe Taylor-Davies in a coma for three weeks. It was touch and go, with his distraught parents fearing the worse. Yet, to everyone's astonishment, especially the medical staff, Jobe's progress has been nothing short of miraculous.

Their fundraising starts on June 29th at 10am with a river race of three miles along the River Wye, starting from their farm, for any water craft, be it canoe, raft, even a coracle. And if you want to make a raft on-site, then a space will be made available to do so.

Participants and spectators will be able to camp overnight and this will be followed by a delicious English breakfast. And, even if you don't fancy floating down the river, you can follow the boats' progress by walking along the riverside path, which is child friendly of course, and, if you feel inclined, fire water pistols at the river-bound sailors. There will be prizes too: best dressed raft, best dressed crew and raft with the most sponsorship.

And it doesn't stop there. Caron 'Curly' Scudamore, Jobe's Godmother, has loaned the use of a field behind the rowing club for a day of family frolics which promises to be lots of fun, including a bouncy castle, hog roast, coconut shy. Youth band, the Phase will be performing too, for free. This family frolic is open to all. "Really," said Ben, "it's a celebration of just being a family." Raffle prizes pledged already include iphones and ipads. There will be many many more.

For the rest of this story please see this week's Ross Gazette.