Gloucester hides #Islastones

The stone, hidden by eight-year-old Ethan Blanchard, is waiting for someone to find it.

It has come all the way from England, where seven-year-old Isla Tansey from Hinckley decorated it as a way of raising awareness for childhood cancer. 

In August 2017, Isla woke up unable to walk and after many treatments, surgery and radiotherapy, Isla was diagnosed as having a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), adiagnosis for which there is no further treatment options.

She began to paint stones and give them to her friends to hide, asking them to take a selfie with the stone and post it on their social media using #islastones before hiding it.

So how did this stone find its way to Gloucester?

Well, Ethan and his parents, Linda Moir and Mick Blanchard (known as team Highland Q), were invited to compete in at the Brew ‘n’ Q in Burton Upon Trent, England.

It’s “the Champions League of BBQ” where invited teams from all over Europe will go head to head to be crowned grand champion. Highland Q is the only overseas competitor invited.

While at the event, all the teams were given an Isla stone to take back home to help raise awareness.

Ethan, Linda and Mick are now part of this international movement that has seen Isla stones pop up in numerous countries around the world and they are hoping the Gloucester community will get involved.

The stone is hidden somewhere in Gloucester and the hope is that someone will find it, snap a photo, post and rehide it. 

Or paint your own stone, write #islastones and ‘photo, post, rehide’ on the back and start a journey of your own.

For clues about where the stone is hidden visit the Highland Q Facebook page.