When our beautiful boy Alfie was born we didn't know he was poorly. Due to breathing difficulties after birth he was taken to special care baby unit and we were woken at 2am to be told he had birth defects called oesophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula and needed to be transferred to a surgical hospital immediately. We didn't know where at the time, only that it was a necessity that Alfie had surgery immediately to survive. Alfie was transferred by the amazing NECTAR team to Newcastle, I followed in an ambulance and Joe drove over with a sleeping bag in his car unsure of where he would stay.

When we arrived the magnificent nurses on the NICU told us about Crawford House and arranged a room.

Crawford House is run by the Sick Children's Trust Charity. The House supports families of serious ill children in the RVI. Joe and I were provided with a warm, comfy room in a very welcoming house, free of charge just 4 minutes walk from Alfie's bedside. They even let my Mum stay with me when Joe had to travel back to Cumbria for a week.

I cannot even put in to words how very very grateful we are to the amazing team at Crawford House for making us feel so welcome for the nearly 7 weeks we were over in Newcastle and for striking one less worry 'a place to stay' off our list. The team made us feel at home, and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and even left a christmas eve box in our room, which of course made me cry but also meant the world to us at the time.

We will never be able to repay The Sick Children's Trust and Crawford House for what they did for us, but we would love to raise as much money as we can to support other families. It costs the charity £40 a night to provide a family a room at the house.

To help raise money we are planning on doing the following two challenges:

Joe will be running the Great North Run with our lovely friend Laura on Sunday 10th September. A half marathon in Newcastle.

I will be swimming the length of Wastwater lake (3 miles), Loweswater lake (1.1 miles) and attempting Bassenthwaite lake (4 miles).

Any money you can donate would be very very much appreciated. Me and Joe are not in the best shape at the moment but we are working hard to make sure we can complete these challenges and will keep you posted on our training 😊 Thank you xxx