Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

After a struggle with mental health issues, sadly in August 2017 I lost my sister.

My family and I know how tough it is supporting someone struggling with their mental health. Sadly the crisis team are very stretched with lots of people needing support. Since Covid 19 and lockdown it has only got worse.

Since our loss I have been raising money for Young minds, Children's mental health support. I work as a childminder and we have an annual fundraising party day.

This year I would like to support a smaller charity that does fantastic work to support individuals with mental health and their families.

Here is some information about the charity...

Quinn’s Retreat offer short respite breaks to those who have been bereaved by suicide or are struggling with their mental health.

Quinn's Retreat was founded after the death of our beautiful 17 year old daughter Quinn, sadly on 9th December 2018 Quinn took her own life. Before we lost Quinn we had planned to go away for a week over Christmas to a holiday cottage in the Peak District with my husband and Quinn’s brother Dyllon. Quinn’s funeral was on the Friday before Christmas so we didn’t know what to do about going away. Dyllon thought it would be good for us to get away from the town we live in and go somewhere that no one knew us and spend some time together as a family, so off we went on the Sunday to the holiday cottage.

While we were away we laughed and cried together about Quinny in equal measure! We remembered who she really was and it really helped us to just be together the three of us and our two little dogs Lenni and Mabel. We went out for dinner, something we wouldn’t have dared do in the town we lived in as well we just would have felt that everyone was looking at us. On that break we decided we wanted to help families who have suffered a bereavement through suicide to do the same, and so the idea of Quinn’s Retreat was born.

Sadly just ten months later on 8th October 2019 we also lost Dyllon to suicide, he was only 21, he was amazing but he just couldn’t carry the burden of grief on his shoulders any longer. I remember him telling me that it wasn’t until we lost Quinn that he realised that she was his best friend, the best friend he had ever had. I think he just needed to be with her, he was such a caring and loving person and he could not bear to think of her being alone.

We now have two static caravans where we provide people with short breaks. In February 2020 we bought our first caravan “Quinn’s Retreat” which is at Barnard Castle and we have recently purchased our second caravan "Dyllon's Den" which is just a couple of miles from Appleby-in-Westmorland.