Our son Rycroft was died aged just 16 months old.

He had a rare genetic condition called Shwachman–Diamond syndrome, and spent much of his short life in hospital. None of it dimmed him. He had a smile just like his great-grandma's, that broke like the sun parting the clouds. A joyful, guttural roar of a shout, and a fast, upside-down crawl all of his own. He was a world champion sleeper. His faithful sidekick in all of it was a brown rabbit cloth toy called BunBun.

In June 2023, after a stem cell transplant that was his only chance of survival, an infection proved too much for him to fight. He died peacefully in our arms, in the Rainbow Room at Great Ormond Street.

In his last weeks, we found something we wish we'd found sooner. We started reading to him. Not picture books, full and rich stories: Just William, Danny, the Champion of the World, the kind you read aloud a chapter at a time, that unfold over days. His mum and dad's voices carrying a story turned out to be one of the few real things we could still give him, and one of the most important.

No one suggested it. We came to it ourselves, and late.

What we're raising funds for

Many of the parents amongst you might know a device called a Yoto — a little audio player that lets a parent record stories in their own voice, so a child can hear their mum or dad even when they can't be at the bedside. We're working with Great Ormond Street Hospital on a whole reading project, and one of the first things we have decided together is we want to put thirty of them onto the unit where Rycroft spent his last weeks.

123 people, £10 each. There's no grand reason for the number, beyond this: 123 tenners comes to £1,230, and £1,230 is what thirty Yotos cost.

Where we've got to

Thanks to you, we've now reached that target. Thirty Yotos for the unit. We can hardly believe it, and we're enormously grateful.

A few of you who pledged haven't had the chance to give yet — so this is just to say you're not too late. The page is still open.

And if more comes in, there's a good home for it. Any extra will buy cards and stories for the Yotos, so the players keep being used, and start a small fund with Great Ormond Street to maintain and look after them over time. That way this isn't a one-off — it carries on, for one child after another.

There's no pressure in any of this. We know there are many good causes that need support, and now the target's met, no one should feel the slightest obligation. But if you'd still like to be part of it, we're very happy to keep taking donations — and if you'd like to take more than one place, on behalf of friends or family who'd have wanted to be part of this, that's welcome too.

Thank you, for this, and for everything over these three years.

In memory of Rycroft.

Love Catherine, Andrew, Lyra, Seffy and Jumble.