In May 2026, Coner and I will be taking on an incredible challenge: walking around the Isle of Wight in just two days — a total of 106 km!

We’re doing this to raise money for two charities that are very close to our hearts.

Many of you will already know, but for those who don’t, in March 2025 we welcomed our beautiful son, Isaac, into the world. Isaac arrived a month early and, shortly after birth, was admitted to the High Dependency Unit at the John Radcliffe’s NICU, where he spent the first three weeks of his life.

Those three weeks were the most incredible and the most difficult of our lives — a whirlwind of worry, hope, and overwhelming love as we learned what it meant to be NICU parents.

Coner is walking to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I am walking to raise money for SSNAP (Support for the sick newborn and thier parents), a charity based at the hospital and within the community. We first became aware of SSNAP three days after Isaac was born, on Mother’s Day, when volunteers handed out gift boxes on the unit. Throughout our stay, SSNAP provided cot-side snacks, meal vouchers, and—just as importantly—friendly, familiar faces when we needed them most.

Since being discharged, we’ve attended regular SSNAP groups, giving us the chance to meet other parents who spent time in the unit and to access a baby massage course. These groups have become the highlight of both mine and Isaac’s week. We feel incredibly grateful to continue receiving support long after leaving hospital.

NICU is a world you never expect to be part of—filled with alarms, uncertainty, and tiny triumphs—but it is also a place of extraordinary care. The teams, the charities, and the community around it helped carry us through some of our hardest days, and this challenge is our way of giving something back.