As some of you may know Phil and Shari became parents for the second time on the day after Boxing Day. The little new addition and Mom had a pretty difficult time which ended as an emergency leaving the little one in quite a challenging position and needing much medical support, both now and possibly into the future. This has been a hard time for them and whilst the hospital have been fantastic to them, the reality is that Shari will be discharged before the baby which brings other practical challenges for them.

Phil and Shari have not left the hospital or their babys' side since the arrival and are facing some tough times ahead. They live a considerable way from the hospital and after today Shari will be discharged leaving them without any accommodation to be close to their new arrival, however whilst the baby remains in hospital, as the brilliant parents they are, they want and need to be close at hand. Ronald McDonald have provided them with two nights accommodation opposite the hospital (so you can see the effects that putting that loose change into the drive through and box at the till has) but the reality is that they will need to be there much longer than this to be close to the baby. The added issue of course is also that they also have a beautiful little girl who needs to be with her parents and so that they can face this together as a family.

There have been so many offerings of support and love from people as they have come to know about the situation, including all the support from friends and family near and far. As a family we thought that one of the practical things would be to start a "kitty" which can be used to help them pay for the accommodation, fuel, parking, laundry and other living costs for the three of them while they are near to the hospital.

Te Ana has started a page similar to this in Australia but many of us "poms" are finding it hard to access this and place funds into it, so this is why we have started this page. We know that there are many people in the UK who might want to offer Phil and Shari some help and the distance makes that a bit tough, so please donate what you can/ want via this page and we will then deposit that into Phil and Shari's account and let them know, when they are in a better place, who has donated and I'm sure they will be in touch!!! If not to just tell us off!!!