Almost 5 years ago our brilliant son Nathaniel was born at St. Thomas' hospital with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. When we found out on his 20 week scan it was a big shock since he was our first child and we didn't know anything about the condition or what to expect. The following day CLAPA introduced us to a multi-disciplinary team of medical professionals who reassured us, explained what his treatment would look like and made us feel OK.

Since then Nat has has 2 surgeries, been fed with special bottles for his first 5 months, had speech therapy, audiology and cleft dentistry and is a thriving, happy, confident boy who loves swimming, cycling, going to school and playing with his mates. He will continue to see the cleft team as he goes through the first 20 years of his life but is aware and comfortable with his cleft, and prepared for further treatment.

All the NHS clinicians that Nat has met so far during his treatment have been nothing short of amazing - his Cleft Nurse, Surgeon and Speech Therapist have all been incredibly professional, taken the time to get to know him and have really invested in his progress. We are massively grateful to them!

Had Nathaniel been born 10 or even 5 years earlier I'm sure the care he would have received would not be nearly at the quality he has had. Cleft care has improved dramatically over the last decade an in a large part this is down to CLAPA researching and lobbying to improve funding as well as providing info and support and building the cleft community.

I am riding the London to Brighton Cycle Ride on Sept 14th to raise funds for CLAPA because I think they're an amazing charity. If you are in a position to donate whatever you can, and want to do so, your donation would be massively appreciated.

Big love, Jack and Lucy

Below is CLAPA's own info:

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Three babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate every day in the UK, and they face a 20-year treatment pathway which can continue well into adulthood. The Cleft Lip & Palate Association (CLAPA) is here to make sure no one has to go through this alone.

Every donation will help CLAPA to continue to provide specialist, targeted services to give people affected by cleft the knowledge and emotional support they need, while their UK-wide community brings together people from all walks of life to share experiences and learn to cope.