Our son Fraser is now five years old. He is a beautiful, lively little boy who has brought much joy to our family. However, we started to notice that Fraser wasn't developing as quickly as other children his age when he was about 18 months old. After a number of assessments, he was diagnosed with autism in October 2018.

Fraser needs a lot of support with speech and language, restrictive feeding issues, sensory processing difficulties, and general engagement with the world around him. We pay for various private therapies and often need to buy specialist equipment and resources.

Over the past few years, we’ve undertaken a number of fundraising activities to provide the best possible support for Fraser.

In 2018, I completed the Blenheim Palace Triathlon.

In 2019, Grant completed a 300km coast-to-coast cycle ride.

Due to COVID, we were unable to raise much money last year, but we were fortunate enough to receive a £1,000 grant from the Boparan Trust to pay for Fraser’s speech therapy.

This year, I’ve decided to do a virtual cycle challenge from Lands End to John O’Groats as part of a team. This means I’ll be cycling over 1,000 miles.

I understand that times are hard for everyone right now, but if you can spare any money to sponsor me, it would be greatly appreciated. Every little bit helps, and I promise that every single penny will go towards helping our gorgeous little boy.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story.

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover our core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, then the funds will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objects. If in those circumstances we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives, then any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.