The seventh annual Lansdowne Heroes Walk and Roll took place at the Brant Park Conservation Area on Saturday, October 4, 2025.
Joshua Paxton, Lansdowne’s communication coordinator, said that funds raised through the event will go towards helping to support Lansdowne Children’s Centre’s greatest needs.
“Lansdowne is primarily government funded, but a lot of that is therapy based and we have vital programs and services that actually go beyond therapy and allow children and youth to learn different abilities and develop outside of a therapy centre,” he said. “Some of those programs are things like our recreation and care program, which are camps and recreation; our therapeutic recreation which is an opportunity for kids to practice those skills, discover their interests and socialize with one another as well; these funds also go to a lot of family support programs and that includes our equipment rental program where we allow families to borrow specialty equipment until they can get their hands on something that is fitted for themselves.”
“Another thing that this event helps is our family engagement program, and those are the types of things we put on that offer peer-to-peer networking for the families to find support in each other,” continued Paxton. “It allows us to go to places like Brantwood Farms or the Wayne Gretzky Centre, and bring families with Lansdowne kids out to a safe place that’s inclusive, and that’s accessible for them to go out and experience the great things in our community with the support they need to enjoy it.”
During the event, well over 100 people, including superhero characters like Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Thor, spent the afternoon exploring a host of activities such as carnival games and inflatable attractions, a live reptile show with Jungle Jamz, face painting and live performances from The Shrubberies.
Before heading out on the one-kilometre walk and roll around the grounds of the park, local dignitaries, and Larry Brock, MP for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations, as well as Lansdowne staff, all took the opportunity to thank the crowd for supporting the Lansdowne Children’s Centre.
“I’m seeing such incredible costumes here today, we’ve got so many fictional characters here representing all kinds of genres, but the most important thing is everyone who is here; everyone who has children that attend Lansdowne, everyone who has sponsored, and everyone who is volunteering, you are the real everyday heroes,” said Brock. “You don’t need special costumes and you don’t need masks, because what you do every day is so so special, and we are so glad that Lansdowne is making every single day a better day for each and every one of you.”
Cody and Nicole Clarke, the parents of this year’s walk ambassador, Isla, also had the chance to speak about the impact the centre has had on their daughter’s life.
“By now, many of you have heard our story. Isla is now four-years-old and she was born with cerebral palsy,” said Nicole. “Lansdowne has been a vital part of Isla’s life for as long as she can remember. Before she was school age, Isla attended physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy at the centre. We are incredibly grateful for the services and resources that we have access to, and for all the incredible people we have met there.”
“As all parents know, raising a child is hard, but raising a child with special needs can sometimes feel like climbing a mountain that never, never levels out. There are moments of joy and pride so deep they take your breath away, and there are moments of exhaustion, fear and loneliness that are just as intense,” she continued. “Parents of special needs children face daily battles that others may never see. We navigate a maze of doctors, therapists and we learn to advocate fiercely, because if we don’t, no one else will. We learn medical terms we never wanted to know and we watch our children work harder than anyone, just to do things that most take for granted; communicate, walk, play or just feel safe in a world that was not designed for them.”
Cody went on to say while the journey is extremely rewarding, it can also feel very isolating.
“No parent should feel alone and no child should feel invisible. No disability should be a barrier to friendship, acceptance or joy, and that’s where Lansdowne Children’s Centre plays a pivotal role by nurturing development and building a community of trust and support,” he said. “…As Isla recently transitioned to kindergarten, Lansdowne was there to support every step of the way, from making sure all of the necessary equipment arrived in time for her first day of school, to providing training to staff on safe transitions to use on the equipment, to giving ideas to educators on how to integrate Isla into daily routines in the classroom, they made this big milestone a successful one.”
Paxton later said that the event, which raised $30,000 before the event even got underway, truly celebrates the strength of the community and everybody at Lansdowne.
“It’s just really a great opportunity to come together and recognize that no one’s in it alone,” he said. “It takes a village, and this is a celebration of that village.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
