Olivia's beloved teddy ‘Boy Bear’ is cycling from London to Paris in June to raise money for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust which has provided invaluable help and support for Liv and the rest of her family over the last couple of years. He will be supported in this challenge by Olivia’s Daddy (Max Sherwin) and Uncle (Phil Quinney).

Olivia’s life has been very difficult. She has a mitochondrial disease which means that her body has very little energy. At three years of age she cannot roll, sit, crawl or walk and finds even simple things like speaking and eating a struggle. She is a switched on little girl and you can appreciate how very frustrating she finds this. Despite all of her difficulties Olivia is a brave, determined and smiley little girl with an infectious laugh! She loves playing 'vets' with her brother and sister, watching 'Charlie and Lola', sharing stories and riding her Tom Cat trike.

Raising Olivia has been a challenge and finding help in doing this has been equally difficult. However, by chance we came across the Dame Vera Lynn School for Parents in Sussex. We were welcomed there with open arms from day one and the positive impact their wonderful team have had on our family (and most importantly Olivia’s life) has been immeasurable. We cannot thank them enough for the love, practical and emotional support and guidance they have provided. Through the principles of Conductive Education at the School for Parents, we learned how best to support Olivia's physical development and were able to put these principles into action at home.

Olivia thoroughly enjoyed her weekly sessions at School for Parents and always had a huge smile on her face going up the drive to 'school'. In September 2011 Olivia started nursery at Ingfield Manor School, a Scope school which is on the same site as School for Parents.  Boy Bear, Liv's Daddy and Uncle Phil now want to thank the Dame Vera Lynn Trust, in their own small way, for what they have done for Olivia and our family and to help them to continue the fantastic work they do with families like ours.

We want other families to share this positive experience in the early years of their child's life. The Dame Vera Lynn Trust who fund the School for Parents is a charity and they need to raise £575,000 every year to keep going.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP US SAY THANK YOU. WE ARE PAYING OUR OWN TRIP COSTS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY PENNY YOU GIVE GOES DIRECTLY TO THE DAME VERA LYNN TRUST.  

 

 

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.