On 18th March, '17 I will be taking part in a 21km walk along the Thames to raise vital funds for the charity Down's South London.

My daughter Amelie is now 7 years old. She has Down's Syndrome and was born with a complex congenital heart condition requiring her to have 2 open heart surgeries at 11 months old and again at 1 years old. She has also undergone bowel surgery and ear, nose and throat surgery, and has a hearing loss, yet Amelie is the feistiest (and most stubborn!) girl I know! She lets nothing stand in her way and her sheer determination to achieve her goals is remarkable! Her strength has given me strength and I am in awe of the courage she has shown through all she has had to overcome in her life. 

Amelie started at Down's South London (DSL) a local parent led charity group which provides vital and outstanding early speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy for children with Down's Syndrome when she was just a baby. The sessions helped Amelie learn crucial skills with her fine and gross motor skills, and her speech and language delays. This charity also provided crucial support for parents like myself at a time that seemed quite daunting.

Unfortunately, this much needed support is not available on the NHS. DSL is a parent-run charity which relies on donations from people like you in order to continue to offer help to children like my Amelie.

Any contributions, no matter how small would be very much appreciated! 

Thank you soo much for taking the time to read and donate if possible and thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.