On Sunday 11th March Emma, Harrison and Lucy will be taking part in the Surrey Half Kids Run.

After the success of last year’s marathon, they will once again get involved and do what they can to raise money for Vasculitis UK, a very worthy charity very close to all our hearts.

For those of you not aware, back in March 2008, Harrison's mummy, Loretta was diagnosed with a rare and little understood form of Vasculitis called Wegners Granulamatosis. This is an auto-immune disease where the body's immune system attacks and inflames the smallest blood vessels (capillaries) instead of defending them against infection.

After a flare up in September 2016 the vasculitis attacked and seriously damaged three of Loretta’s heart valves. Loretta underwent open heart surgery to replace / repair the damaged valves in February 2017, but without the Vasculitis under control it wasn’t completely successful.

Loretta will once again need to go through open heart surgery to try and repair a severely leaking heart valve. This is currently causing anaemia and making Loretta extremely breathless and very tired most of the time. We are unsure when the next surgery will take place but she is being closely monitored, having had a few blood transfusions and iron injections to keep the anaemia under control.

The last year and a half has been very distressing and exhausting for Loretta and although Harrison has been extremely brave, he is understandably finding his mother’s struggle and long periods away from home, very difficult.

Emma, Harrison and Lucy would like to help raise awareness of this disease and raise money to fund further research.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.