Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On December 4th 2020, my life, along with the lives of my family and close friends, changed forever. As some of you will already be aware, our youngest son, Jack (2), was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition known as Angelman Syndrome. This means he will have lifelong disabilities. To say this has knocked our family for six would be an enormous understatement. We have been left feeling devastated and overwhelmed whilst trying to comprehend the impact on our lives and those around us as well as attempting to keep some semblance of normality in our every day lives - which has been very important for our eldest son, Luke (5).

Whilst we have found comfort in the fact that our boy will always be happy, it has been a massive re-adjustment to our "new life" which has been made easier by the charity associated with Angelman Syndrome - Angelman UK. Angelman UK help families diagnosed with this rare condition and have some great support groups for families like ours. Through the charity, my husband Mark and I, along with Luke, have received free Makaton classes to aid communication with Jack.  As Jack will never talk, this has been invaluable to us. We have also have had what very much feels like a team of experts on hand to answer our many questions about Jack's condition. 

In order to give a little something back to this wonderful small charity and raise awareness of Angelman Syndrome (something nobody I've spoken to had ever heard of previously, including ourselves), I've decided to run the EMF Virtual Half Marathon on Saturday 29th May. Running has been a really positive escape for me for these last few months and has really helped my mental health at a time when we have all been struggling. I am now up to 10 miles in my training plan but it's definitely not been easy!!  I would greatly appreciate any support you can give me and I know this amazing charity would too :-) 

Thanks so much.

Jenna X