Thank you for visiting. Here’s a bit about the charity and why I’m proud to be supporting it…

At Christmas in 2012, when aged just nine months, my niece Cindy became very ill. She suffered heart failure and was rushed to a specialist children’s hospital, the Freeman in Newcastle, 150 miles from her home. She was immediately put on life support in intensive care and went on the waiting list for a heart transplant. Meanwhile my sister and her family relocated to the area from Manchester to be with Cindy and faced the prospect of being there for several months.

While there they met other families forced to leave behind their friends, families, jobs and schools with no notice to be with their sick child.  

Sadly, after being on the ward for nearly two months, Cindy died before receiving a transplant. It was later discovered she had a genetic condition, mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency, which caused her heart to fail.

The Cindy Appleyard Foundation was set up in her memory with the aim of providing financial help to families who have a child in a specialist hospital a long way from their home. The charity helps families meet the cost of things such as temporary accommodation near their child, travelling to and from the hospital and taking time off work.

In the two years it has been going grants have been given to 75 families experiencing financial hardship while enduring the emotional trauma of having a seriously ill child. We desperately need more money to continue this work. Please give what you can.

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