My daughter Millie came into the world extremely early, and was born at 28 weeks gestation. I nearly lost both Millie and my wife, Laura. 

Millie had a really tough start to life, suffering two pulmonary haemorrhages (which has a tiny survival rate), sepsis, prolonged jaundice, 4 blood transfusions and battled rhinovirus twice. Millie was also born with a hole in her heart, which she has since recovered from. She has been through a great deal in her 18 months of life including; three emergency ambulance rides, countless x-rays of her lungs, numerous brain and heart scans, blood tests, lumbar punctures, EEGs, ECGs, hearing tests and two procedures under GA. She has been prescribed over 50 different drugs, had over 100 hospital appointments, and narrowly avoided a course of steroids. 

Millie lost her hearing at some point during her Neonatal stay and was diagnosed as profoundly deaf in both ears. She now has two cochlear implants, which have significantly improved her hearing and communication skills - And will continue to do so for the rest of her life! Millie also has an undiagnosed muscular condition, likely to be cerebral palsy, which makes everyday tasks like sitting, standing and playing much more difficult than it would be for most children. Despite this, Millie is the definition of 'strength, positivity and determination' and never gives up. However, she could not have achieved what she has without the amazing support teams around her. 

Not only does Millie have support from our incredible NHS, but we are lucky enough to have access to an amazing charity - Footprints. Footprints are a Nottingham-based charity that supports babies and pre-school children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, which cause motor disorders or motor development delay. They also run projects to help children with Down’s syndrome improve their skills in all areas of early development, including motor skills and communication. We work with footprints and other families to achieve a common goal – helping every child reach their full potential within a safe, fun, and supportive environment.

As a small, independent charity, Footprints Conductive Education Centre relies almost entirely on the generosity of individuals and businesses, as well as Grants and Trusts funding, to keep supporting disabled children and their families in the Nottinghamshire area. Since Covid19, much of that funding has fallen away and means that the charity is lacking the necessary funds to continue their amazing work. 

I am aiming to raise funds to support Footprints, by climbing 28 Peaks in 28 Weeks, throughout the UK. Help us, help footprints continue to change disabled children's lives for the better and prove to those children that you can achieve anything! There is no such word as can't......

How your donation will help

• £3,300 will transform the lives of parent and child, giving practical advice and emotional support to one of our families for one year
• £1,000 will purchase low and high technology communication aids and sensory toys
• £500 will provide new supplies of books to support our specialised pre-reading and writing skills work
• £100 purchase materials for our topics each term: colours, the weather, where people work, things that move.
• £85 will give a parent hope by providing a single parent and child session for one of our new families
• £25 buys a supply of bubbles, chewy tubes and other equipment to help with our speech therapy project for children with Down’s syndrome.