I am swimming 1 mile on open water with my Mother in law and Aunt in law, there is only 1 problem, I CANNOT SWIM A LENGTH never mind swim a mile.... In the lead up to June the 10th, I will need to get past my fear of water, learn to swim, and learn to swim on open water then I will complete 1 mile on open water!

None of us have swam on open water before and this will be a challenge for us all but together we can do this.

I'm doing this because On the 26th May 2022 my beautiful Daughter Georgia Jayne Bleasdale was born but very quickly we discovered some things were not quite right, taken to Manchester children's hospital, she underwent an operation on day 1 of her life and was kept in neonatal intensive care for 5 weeks. Over those 5 difficult weeks we discovered she had many conditions which would impact her for her entire life and as a result will be in and out of hospital a lot over the next few years of her life.  Georgia has been diagnosed with a condition called Caudal regression (where parts of the spine are missing and a split spinal cord), chronic kidney disease and currently has a stoma (colostomy). 

At the start we were separated from our sons, devastatingly having to decide whether to stay at the hospital with Georgia or go home to Jaxon and Grayson(at the time 1 and 3 years old), our boys were home and needed us but our daughter was in an incubator, days old and having had surgery within her first day, any parent would feel torn. We were then told about Ronald Mcdonald Manchester house by one of the nurses, we went to them and were so grateful we did. 

They kept our family together, gave us the closest to normal we could get, Ronald Mcdonald Manchester provided a safe space for our boys, a place to eat, a place to sleep, a place for my boys to play, activities to keep them entertained, they allowed us to keep our family together, they provided an adventure for our boys, while we got to be there for all our children while being so many miles from our own home, they were supportive, caring and offer so much more than just a room.

Nothing was too much trouble for the staff, truly some of the most compassionate, caring people I have ever had the privilege to meet.

We are likely to need them again over the next few years whether we do or not we will forever be grateful for the amazing services they provide.

To see the impact on not just ourselves but so many others was a beautiful thing and a reminder that there are so many great people in this world that without our support could not help others in the same way.  We were part of a community, all on a journey with our babies, a journey where  we could share our emotions and stories with empathy and compassion. 

We owe it to them to enable them to continue to provide the support and amazing services they already do.

Ronald McDonald House Charities UK provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation to families with children having treatment in hospital. Our Houses offer much more than just a place to stay; they provide family activities, peer support, respite, and many other services. This means that families can be by their child’s bedside in a matter of moments, whilst maintaining a degree of normal life with reduced emotional and financial strain.We help over 6,000 families each year and now, more than ever, we need your support. Thank you.