Emilia was a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and playmate who we lost sadly to Sepsis following an undiagnosed invasive strep A infection March 2020. She had only just turned 3. Emilia loved life and often came cycling with us in tow which is one of the reasons we decided to take part in Cycle 4 Sepsis back in September 2020.

Emilia had so much more to give us and the world but Sepsis took that away. Help us raise awareness of this terrible condition.

In the Cycle 4 Sepsis campaign, in 2020 Emilia's mum Caroline was joined by the wonderful staff and pupils at Meoncross School where Emilia went to nursery and where Caroline is a teacher, along with Emilia's Grandad, Kevin, friends Lourdes and her 7-year-old daughter Grace, Abi and her 6-year-old son Joey, Teresa, ex-pupil Emily. Jazz, one of Valentina's (Emilia's older sister) nursery teachers also did a sky dive! We raised over £12,000 in this campaign! Meoncross also took part in Cycle4Sepsis in 2021 too.

Our second fundraising initiative was the Winter 6hallenge 2021 aimed to encourage joy and positive physical and mental health in the winter revolving around the number 6. It was all about keeping active, creative and connected in spite of the limitations imposed on us because of COVID-19 social distancing measures. Caroline completed the following challenges over 6 weeks: 6x puzzles; 6x bakes; 6x cross-stitches; 6x acts of kindness; 6x bike rides of 6 miles; 6x Spanish Spanish Stories. We raised over £1,300! Giving us Team Emilia total of over £14,400.

January 2021 also saw the start of Emilia Embroidery Etc, an initiative where friends and family sell their handmade wares in exchange for donations to the current fundraising campaign. Caroline, Emilia's mum is does cross stitches and embroidery, Jackie, Emilia's grandma has been making crochet winter wear and other wonderful sewn items, Brenda, Emilia's great nan makes makes tissue boxes and Daniela, a friend has also made some crochet accessories. To buy or contribute your own crafts, visit our Emilia Embroidery Etc page on Facebook. You can also check the page to find out what stalls we have coming up!

Hero Hayley took part in an Ultramarathon on 3 April 2021 across the South Downs from near Worthing, West Sussex. following much of the South Downs Way, finishing in Wickham, Hampshire. She started at 5am and Emilia's family joined her for the last few miles. Hayley raised over £2,000, bringing the Team Emilia's total to over £16,000.

On the day of the London Marathon, Caroline and many others participated in the #TeamEmiliaMarathon where we aimed to run 6 marathons between us. Caroline with help from running coach cousin, Callum from TrainSmarterRunSmarter , Emma and Liz ran full marathons, and other ran other distances. We were based at Stokes Bay and were thankful to the Bayside Cafe and FreshAirLearning for hosting us! Cinnabar Studios provided amazing photos of the day. We raised over £8,000 in this event, with a notable donation of £2,000 from Cognita. Cognita also commissioned a sepsis awareness video which you can see here: #TeamEmiliaMarathonVideo Thank you Cognita!

2022 saw Emilia turning 5 so Caroline embarked on 5 races throughout the year (running and cycling) and taking up open water swimming raising money for Sepsis Research FEAT, a charity that is funding world-leading research designed to improve outcomes for sepsis patients and their families and to save lives – here in the UK and across the world. Caroline completed the Stubbington 10K, Southampton Common 10K, 5 Ferries 50m Cycle, London Brighton Cycle Ride and the Great South Run. She had swimming lessons in preparation for her next challenge.

On Emilia's 2nd anniversary we held a special Thanksgiving Service at St Mary's Church, Portchester since we were unable to hold a fitting funeral at the time due to lockdown restrictions. St Mary's has provided our family with so much support over these challenging years and it is fitting that the church yard is Emilia's resting place. We raised money for the child bereavement charity Simon Says of whom has given Emilia's sister, Valentina lots of support via monthly sessions. The service celebrated Emilia's life and her legacy.

February 2023, saw Teddy Bears Nursery School, in Portsmouth where Emilia attended until she was 2 and a half take part in Fundraising February where they held several events including a raffle, sponsored walks, cake sales and an auction of ball signed by members of Portsmouth Football Club. They raised £4000 for the UK Sepsis Trust.

To mark Emilia turning 6, Caroline and friends took on 6 challenges throughout 2023 which included:

1) January: Stubbington 10K ✅ - Caroline

2) Easter Holidays: 6 Ferries Bike Challenge ✅ Caroline

3) October 15: The Great South Run (10 miles) by Sarah Black @ Sarah Blackwell Fitness ✅

4) January: 6 mile walk along England Coastal Path by Caroline accompanied by Jess, Diana and 8 week baby Seb. ✅

5) January 6km run by Caroline with Seb in the pushchair.✅

6) January: 6 miles of swimming in 6 days by Lourdes✅

The challenges above were constantly adapted since 2023 also saw us welcome Emilia's baby brother Sebastian into the world.

We were honoured to have Jess from Fresh Air Learning, choose our charity that year. Jess has not only provided amazing outdoor learning opportunities to Emilia and her sister but also given us so much support during those hard last three years. She chose Youth Options, a local charity committed to inspiring and supporting young people across Hampshire to improve their life opportunities for a better future. The money we raise will go towards their Outdoor Learning Provision.

We also started TeamEmilia Trails where you can download a treasure trail starting at Portchester village for donations to one of TeamEmilia's charities.

2024 marks Caroline's 40th and Emilia's 7th birthdays so this year's challenge is to do 47 km worth of races. We're raising money for Simon Says Child Bereavement Services, a local charity that has provided Emilia's sister, Valentina with support groups and opportunities to make new happy memories.

🏃🏻‍♀️🏰 Arundel 10K on 25 August

🏃🏻‍♀️🌳 New Forest Half Marathon (21K) on 8 September

🏃🏻‍♀️⚓Great South Run (16K) 20 October

It's not been easy training with a baby but Caroline is determined.

We're looking for some special, kind people to sponsor us! So if you could, it would be great if you'd donate to our page. Every year in the UK, sepsis kills at least 48,000 people with better awareness thousands of these lives could be saved. Thank you for your help!

Your support and donations will make the difference!