On 27th April 2025 I will be running the London Marathon. Like gold dust, I managed to secure a place through the Ballot, but I have set up a fundraising page for 2 Charities . I would be grateful for any donations to support the Charities SANDS UK and RETT UK for the amazing work they do around the clock and who have supported 2 very special friends of mine. Could I kindly ask what ever your donation, would please split 50% to SANDS UK and 50% to RETT on each of my fundraising pages showing below. THANK YOU.

The Year 2020…

With Covid making this year memorable, sad, strange, restricted and troublesome for most, I have 2 very special friends who took on this year with very different stories. See below

George Herbert Guthrie Haines

When the Pandemic struck in March 2020, my beautiful friend Rosie was 6-7 months pregnant with her first baby. For the last 2 months of her pregnancy the world was in lockdown. It was a very daunting time for most new parents as hospitals had so many restrictions, were the dads even allowed in the room? Would the women be alone? Would they have to wear masks? Hospitals were full to the brim with Covid patients how close would they be to the birthing ward?

On Wednesday 27th May 2020 George Herbert Guthrie Haines was born. George was born at 38 weeks old but unfortunately his little heart had stopped beating. George was full term and was delivered naturally. He was the most perfect little man and looked just like his daddy. There was no explanation as to why he isn’t here now. George should be starting school like many other 4 year olds, running around looking after his baby brothers and sisters.

Each day in the UK, 13 little lives are lost, before, during or soon after birth. As like Rosie and Mark, when delivering your baby, you don’t expect to be walking out of the hospital without them. I can’t even begin to imagine the hurt and emptiness at that moment in time and each day since. A moment in life which should be one of the best days, filled with such sadness.

There is a very special charity called SANDS who straight away offered support, love, guidance and care to Rosie and Mark. This amazing charity offers bereavement support packs as well as providing bereavement care training to professionals, to ensure that any new parents are treated with compassion and respect from the moment they are told the unimaginable news their babies heart has stopped.

I am running the London Marathon 2025 to help raise awareness for the charity SANDs and all the incredible and supportive work they have done for George and his family day and night, and who are continuously promoting research to reduce the number of deaths in babies for future families. This is my personal thank you to SANDS for being the biggest support to the most amazing family there is.

Lily Fullbrook

Lily Fullbrook was born on 11th March 2020. “Jayne across the road”, as most people I speak to would know this special friend of mine as, gave birth to Lily as soon as the pandemic begun. No friends or family could visit, hospitals had so many restrictions making it hard for Jayne and Georgie. But like the true warrior and superwomen she is, Jayne took it all in her stride. As time and covid restrictions went on, they started noticing a few things with the way Lily was latching on, and the way Lily’s jaw sat. Straight away Lily was in and out of hospital having checks done as Jayne noticed Lily wasn’t putting on weight. When Lily turned 2 , Jayne and Georgie were still in and out of various hospitals as they noticed Lily was slightly behind on milestones which a 2 year old should have progressed with. I remember one evening myself and Jayne went for a walk. “Genetic testing” Jayne mentioned.

I had never heard of RETT syndrome before. I don’t think many people have, but this rare genetic neurological disorder almost exclusively affects females, can lead to severe impairments affecting nearly every aspect of a child’s life.

In the words of Jayne ” Rett syndrome has stolen my beautiful girls voice, the use of her hands, it has stolen control of her body, my baby has never said “mummy” or put her arms around my neck to cuddle me, she cant tell me when she is poorly or if something is hurting her. She is fed through a tube because no matter how much she ate she could never put on weight and was severely dehydrated. And yet Lily is the happiest, most loving, cheeky loveable human. Her beautiful eyes tell a thousand words her mouth can not”.

Straight away on Lily’s diagnosis of RETT syndrome , the charity RETT UK offered support to Lily and Lily’s family. The amount of advice, support, love, knowledge and care this charity have given is one of a kind. As you know, there are so many charities out there who work hard every single day and night to support families and individuals in need but I can’t thank RETT UK enough for being there for my amazing friend Jayne , Georgie , George and of course Lily.

I am running the London Marathon 2025 to help raise awareness of Rett Syndrome and funding support for families like Lilys when they need it the most. Personally, I want to thank RETT UK as I have seen and heard everything you have done to support Lily and her family.