My Story

Firstly, thank you for having a look at my fundraising page for Zoë’s Place.

Why Zoë’s Place? It is a charity that I have always been aware of being born and raised in the area, however, never did I expect that we would be walking through their doors in need of help.

It isn’t very often that we talk about how medically complex Annabelle is (except in the dozen plus appointments we attend for her each month), as we love to focus on just how amazing she is, but on this occasion I will try and explain why your donation means so much to families like ours.

Two years ago, Annabelle was referred into their service, a lifeline that we really didn’t realise we needed so badly. Annabelle suffers with a condition called Moya Moya which in turn led to her having approximately 8 strokes in the first year of her life, each stroke affecting a different area of her brain. As a result of these strokes Annabelle needed two major brain surgeries to re-vasculise her brain, she has severe epilepsy, extreme hypertension, is visually impaired, has cerebral palsy and is non-mobile & non-verbal.

However, at Zoë’s Place, Annabelle is just Annabelle. She goes and has the best time with her friends who all have life-limiting or life threatening conditions just like her. She gets to sing, dance, craft, make a mess and have fun like all 4 year olds should.

It is due to the compassionate & safe care she receives at Zoë’s Place that Cara and I are able to rest and recharge; something that we are not able to do often given the level of need Annabelle has 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year.

So it is time to give back! I am in absolutely no way a runner, however, I am a parent of a child with complex needs who relies on this wonderful hospice to keep her sane (although insanity has definitely taken over to even sign up for the Great North Run!).

Therefore, I am asking for you all to help me raise some much needed awareness and funds for this amazing cause, which I hope you can tell is very close to mine and my families heart.

A single hour of care, for one child, costs £30. Please dig as deep as you can and a little share of my page would be amazing too.

Thank you so much for your support!!