Come together for Arthur

On the 12th June our son, Arthur, would have turned five. To celebrate his life, Barclay and I have decided to fundraise for Noah's Ark Children's Hospice. We are asking our friends and family to come together for Arthur's fifth year.

About our Arthur Bear:

As many of you know, I have worked at Noah's Ark for nearly eight years and love what the charity does to support seriously unwell babies, children and young people as well as their families. I never thought we would be one of those families. On 12th June 2020, our beautiful baby Arthur was born. Arthur presented as a healthy baby, but after a few hours he had some very serious seizures. After much investigation Arthur was diagnosed with Alexander Disease. He was given up to two years to live. Sadly, Arthur had the most rare, and most aggressive form of the condition with his symptoms presenting as a neonate. This meant he became poorly rather quickly and passed away when he was just three months old. Arthur was such a little dude. He was a massive Spurs fan, he loved the Black Horse pub in Barnet and harvesting cucumbers at our allotment. Noah's Ark gave us so much. Due to visiting restrictions, our family were unable to meet Arthur for the six weeks we spent in hospital - but at The Ark he met many of those who loved him, for the first time. After Arthur died, our family were all able to say goodbye to him at home and then Barclay & I spent time with Arthur at The Ark. These extra moments were so important to us, and without Noah's Ark it wouldn't have been possible. The team were there to help us navigate the challenges of burying our baby. We will never be able to thank Noah's Ark enough.

No matter where you are in the world, you can get stuck in. We will fundraise from 12th June 2025 for a full year, to raise as much as we can to celebrate Arthur's life and support other families like ours. What can you do? The list is endless! There are all sorts of events, from 10k runs through to Marathon and Ultra Marathon, a walk, a sky dive, a UK or overseas trek, triathlons, swimming, an inflatables course, Tough Mudder, bungee jumps, a UK or overseas cycle. You can also create your own event! A sponsored silence, bake sale, raffle, coffee morning, a quiz night, your own physical challenge and much more.....whatever suits you! Whether you are an individual, a team of friends or a family, there is something for everyone.

If, however, there is an event that you would like to take part in which falls before 12 June, then you'd be very welcome to do so. If you would like to take part in more than one event, you can do that too!

Choose your challenge and then create a JustGiving team page (click 'start fundraising' on this page). Then get fundraising!!

We have set a team fundraising target of £15,000 and would be hugely grateful for everyone's support in helping us to achieve this and hopefully exceed it! Something we can all do is help support Noah's Ark with a donation. Please give as much as you can afford, gift aid it and encourage those you know to give too.

Thank you so much for your support, we are hugely grateful.