So hear I am again as I said I would be trying to help Chestnut Tree House raise their vital funds to carry on supporting families across Sussex. This year I have a slightly different team helping to do this with me. Thank you team and I'm still recruiting so others may join in along the way! Thank you everyone for your support last time and I hope you can help this year too! Any amount is gratefully received.

I have kept my story below the same as not a lot has changed.

As many of you know we have a child, our eldest boy who suffered brain damage through being born prematurely at 25 weeks! Straight after he was born he went into intensive care and we thought things were going well until he caught an infection. Things went rapidly downhill from then Joseph was ventilated from the start. He caught more and more infections because of an undeveloped immune system. He needed more and more medication for all the different problems going on such as meds for expanding his lungs, kidney failire, meds to close a heart falve, meds for blood pessure, various antibiotics for infections, jaundice, the list is endless. There were many ups and downs during our 5 and a half month stay, one of which was being told there was nothing else they could do to help him and being asked if we wanted to have a chaplain to visit us, as you can imagine it was a very stressful time. However he made a miraculous recovery on Christmas eve and started impoving every day. There were still blips along the way but we were never quite as close to losing him as we came that Christmas. When we left hospital with Joseph we were told that he was likely to have cerebral palsy but not the severity of it, that became apparent over the first few years of his life. Joseph is completely dependant on others for all his needs and will continue to be for the rest of his life. Despite all of this he has grown in to an amazing boy with a lovely nature who has a great quality of life with us.

As time went on we were introduce to Chestnut Tree House and have been recieving their help over the last five years. Chestnut Tree House is a children's hospice supporting children who are terminally ill or have a life-shortening condition and are not expected to reach adulthood. We have a lovely lady who comes to the house and looks after Joseph and his siblings for a few hours once a month so that mum and dad get a little time to go out together. Also we are able to visit Chestnut Tree house , a gorgeous house in beautiful surroundings. There is so much for everyone to do there and facilities include a main lounge, computer room, wet and dry play areas, gardens, hydrotherapy pool, music room, multi-sensory room, reflections, meadow garden, young people's wing and children's bedrooms. We love to go together but Joseph is also able to go and stay on his own, something I'm sure he will want to do eventually! They have given us so much support that I would like to be able to give a little back. So my aim is to raise as much money as I can for them. Please give what you can and remember every little bit helps.