#Fundraising4Francesca #Run4Francesca

Louisa and I are completely overwhelmed and feel very blessed to have reached our fundraising total for our daughter, Francesca. We launched this campaign last October on World Cerebral Palsy Day (6th Oct) and never in a million years did we imagine we could reach £75,000 by this year's World Cerebral Palsy Day on Friday 6th October.

The kindness, support and love we have been shown as a family has been incredible and we wish we could personally thank everyone who has donated and raised money for us over the past year.

This fundraising campaign for our daughter Francesca is to pay for an SDR operation and the crucial pre and post-operation physio. We now have the ability to proceed with our plans, in November we have a panel meeting to determine if Francesca can qualify for the operation here in the UK. If she can, it would allow us to use funds raised for travel and hotels abroad for extra physio and equipment/support in her journey. The operation would still have a cost attached but we are hopeful that we can stay in the country to do it.

The last fundraising challenge was our #Swim4Francesca. Myself (Matt), Grandma (Kim), Grandad Tommy (Terry), Brother (Dan) Sister (Claire) and my cousins (Maria, Laura, Hannah and Jason) successfully completed our swim in Loch Lomond on Saturday 12th August. We couldn't get all the way across due to weather conditions but we did manage to swim 3.5k in the Loch!

In September we held a fundraising day at Hockley Heath Park, involving a charity football game and also a raffle afterwards which was amazingly supported by so many people.

In January, Francesca's Auntie Jennie had a cold water swim (starting in January!) for 40 days, Jennie's daughter Ella and her Dad Nick also walked 30 miles to raise money for her. Grandad Kev successfully completed the Three Welsh Peak challenge, Jason Pritchard raffled off a ride in his rally car, Oly Lowden completed the Glasgow half marathon in Francesca's name, Ed will be running the Chicago Marathon for Francesca and we've had some many amazing fundraising initiatives from Happy Days Too nursery to Maesdu Gold Club in Llandudno North Wales. Sorry if I haven't mentioned you!

We wish we could thank everyone individually for all your support but hope you see this and know how grateful we are.

Our very good friend Ed Guichard is taking place in the 45th running of the Chicago Marathon which is taking place on Sunday, October 8, 2023.

Any donations to support Ed would be amazing and we are grateful for him choosing Fundraising4Francesca as his chosen charity #Run4Francesca.

Francesca was born 11 weeks early and has faced multiple obstacles in her short life ever since.

However, she has faced and continues to face these challenges with a smile on her face and a determination that continues to defy the odds and her diagnosis.

Francesca has Cerebral Palsy (CP) and we have been told by doctors that she won't be able to walk.

Her condition is called Spastic Quadriplegia and is a form of CP that affects the muscles in Francesca’s arms and legs. Spastic Quadriplegia is the most severe of the three types of Spastic Cerebral Palsy, the wee angel will require lifelong treatment and support for her disability.

This is where you came in.

We started this campaign, #Fundraising4Francesca, so we can provide the treatment and aftercare that could one day see Francesca walk unaided and we are delighted to have achieved our aim to raise this money.

We were fundraising in the hope that she can successfully get a life changing operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) and we are now there.

There are a number of hospitals across the globe that do this operation so we are exploring all of our options and will keep this page updated with developments but it looks like we could have it done here in the UK.

We’ve done lots of research and had long conversations with parents who have gone through this journey with their loved ones and have successfully seen their child walk unaided and without pain after having SDR.

Just like Francesca these families were told their child would never walk or walk without the use of walking aids. However, their dream to see their child walk unaided was achieved after a successful SDR operation and we want to follow in the path of these success stories.

Our target was high however it needs to be to cover the operation costs and we are also looking to provide Francesca with additional private physio before and after the operation, and provide her with the equipment and support she needs in abundance to ensure the SDR operation is a success. This stage of her journey is the most crucial as it will be for many years after the op.

We were asking for the support of our friends and family to join us and start this year-long campaign to #Fundraise4Francesca. I would love anyone taking on a challenge from now (October 6th 2022) until October 6th next year (World Cerebral Palsy Day 2023) to consider doing this for our little girl, it could be organising a golf day, a quiz night at the local, a fundraiser on Francesca’s behalf, your own personal challenge or even if you can just donate what ever you can to this incredibly special cause (it won't go unnoticed).

#Fundraising4Francesca