The evenings are getting darker, the weather’s cold and it gives us all that reminder that we are moving closer to Christmas.  It’s a wonderful feeling for so many of us, the happiness of being with loved ones, the excuse for a mince pie and glass of mulled wine and the joy of watching children immersed in the magic of Santa Claus.

For Julie, the boys and I, we are so grateful for all we have and will have those awesome feelings as Christmas approaches but this year will be a bit different for us.  You may or may not be aware but, as we hit December, it will also mark 1 year since our beautiful baby boy Andrew was born too soon and we are not alone.  60,000 babies are born too soon in the UK every year, leaving families drowning in grief, confused, lost, angry and upset.  Christmas can be such a tough reminder of what could have (should have) been.

When Andrew was born we were fortunate to have had the most incredible care and emotional support from the Midwives at Macclesfield District General Hospital (true angels) and we were given a memory box by the 4Louis Charity (www.4louis.co.uk).  This box was a godsend for us and helped provide us with some very special memories of our 3^rd son.

To raise awareness of the trauma that 60,000 mums, dads, siblings and all family members have been through this year, to help raise money for 4Louis, an amazing Charity that provided some much needed light in our darkest hour and to honour the memory of our beautiful son Andrew, I am challenging myself and I need your help.

On Saturday 28^th November I am running 60,000 metres (60km).  Each metre will be in memory of every baby born too soon in the UK this year and every step will be a virtual hug to every mum, dad, brother, sister, grandparent, uncle and auntie affected by these losses.  To make 60km in one day I am pacing myself and plan to run 2.5km every hour for the full 24 hours between 9am on Saturday 28^th and 9am the following morning.

This is a massive challenge for me, my body and my mental strength but it is for such an important and worthwhile charity I want to help raise as much as I can for them.

Please donate on this page, any amount you can honestly makes a huge difference.  Donating the price of a packet of mince pies or a bottle of mulled wine, can help 4Louis to continue to provide much needed support for families whose baby did not survive. 

I am expecting this to be a tough challenge and so, if you are still feeling generous once you have donated, I am happy to ‘book’ people in to join me for one of the 2.5km runs - I would welcome the company.  In the current lockdown this of course will be limited but we can even do this virtually, running together on FaceTime – I imagine the 3am slot may be a tricky run!

Thank you guys and please, please, please help me to do this.

Al x