The Sick Children’s Trust is the charity that gives families with a seriously ill child in hospital a comfortable place to stay and a friendly ear to listen in one of our ten ‘Homes from Home’.When a child suddenly becomes ill, there’s no time to plan. By supporting The Sick Children’s Trust you will be helping us to keep families together during some of the most difficult times in their lives.

Alice’s Journey.

My brother Peter and his fiancé Lindsey (Lilahs Aunty and Uncle) were given these facilities when my niece (Lilahs cousin) Alice was born with a condition that affects 1-3000 babies called Gastroschisis (pronounced gas-troh-skee-sis) which is a birth defect where Alice’s bowels were found outside of her body. At the 12 weeks pregnancy scan, Peter and Lindsey were told about the about the condition possible complications, but not the the extent which was in Alice’s case. Unfortunately things went from bad to worse for Alice as her bowel formed a blockage during pregnancy which wasn’t noticed and it perforated beyond repair which resulted in having 20cm of it removed. After this surgery, Alice had to have another major operation to have her bowel reconnected. She spent her first 13 long weeks in hospital through more complications until she was finally allowed home. The sick children’s trust put Lindsey and Peter up in accommodation a short 2 minute walk away from the hospital so they could be with their poorly baby from 6am in the morning until midnight. If they didn’t have this option, they would have been spending a fortune in fuel costs, parking all day and it would have meant they would have lost nearly 100 hours not being at Alice’s side. Fast forward then to a month later, they noticed something just wasn’t right with Alice and instincts landed them back in Sheffield children’s hospital for another 16 weeks as her bowel had twisted. She had another major surgery to correct for it then to twist again which has resulted in her having more surgery for 2 stomas. Again the sick children’s trust put them up in accommodation. Some families aren’t aware of this and some families still aren’t as lucky to receive this as funding limits to the amount of people who can get access to it.

On Good Friday, 7th April (weather and conditions permitting, if not we will do the Saturday or Sunday). Alice’s 8 year old cousin, Lilah, is going to take on the Edale skyline, which is 21 miles and nearly 1200m of elevation gain, with myself (Lilahs mum) and Richard (Lilahs Dad). We want to raise as much money as we can for this charity so it can help more people who desperately need this facility. It brought a lot of comfort to knowing Lindsey and Peter were close to Alice. We will also have change buckets and sponsor sheets available. Thankyou for reading and supporting Alice in Lilahs very first charity fundraising event.