As many of you will know, my Mum was murdered when I was six years old.  Probably one of the hardest things to deal with as a child.  I had my Dad wrongly taken away from me too and mine and my sisters life thrown into utter turmoil.  It has affected my life massively in ways that others would not believe from drinking and drugs to suicide, even to ruining relationships with girlfriends and being bullied.  

The reason I have chosen Winston's Wish is because they are a children's bereavement charity.  I didn't have very much counselling as a child which has unfortunately taken its toll.  I remember attending but I bottled everything up.  I was left in the corner of the class room when I first went back to school as teachers didn't know how to help.  If something like this was more readily available back then, I'm sure it would have been offered.  

Having now taken steps to go to counselling over the past few years I thought I would give back to help those that may be going through something similar to what I did, helping them sooner rather than later on in life.  The charity itself operates a freephone line for children to call in at any time of day and now offers support to over 41,000 children nationwide every year.  

Some may not know but there are around 600 homicides in the UK each year.  Many of these will be of parents or siblings of children who are left overwhelmed and bewildered by what has happened.  A family may feel very alone in their grief but sadly, more people are bereaved through homicide than most realise.  Government figures suggest a child is bereaved through homicide daily.  These children and young people are often the 'hidden victims' left to exist, survive, grieve and despair behind the sensationalism and media frenzy, behind police investigations, inquests, court hearings, trials and appeals and behind the trauma, shock and outrage of what has happened.  These are ordinary children in extraordinary circumstances.

So please, give generously, to this fantastic charity and help me to help someone else that may have been through something similar.

Thanks guys, Myles x

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