As some of you may or may not know i recently gave birth to my first baby Charlie. It was during my 20 week scan that Rory and i discovered Charlie had a complex heart condition, at that moment it felt like our world had come crashing down and there was very little hope for our unborn son. Following a more detailed heart scan two days later, we had confirmation that he did indeed have a serious problem, but thankfully during this meeting we were also given some of our hope back. The Children's Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle is a centre of excellence saving the lives of babies and children just like Charlie day in, and day out. Charlies heart can never be fixed, but over a series of at least three  operations the skilled surgeons are able to reconstruct his heart, to allow him to hopefully live a near normal life. The first of these operations took place on the 28th April when Charlie was exactly two month old, and if it was not for the support we received from numerous members of staff from the heart unit i do not know how we would have coped, for the rest of our lives we will be eternally grateful.

It is for that reason that myself and a bunch of close friends and family are running the GNR 2014 and fund raising for CHUF (Childrens Heart Unit Fund). Our team consists of:

Myself
Cheryl Charlton
Kayleigh Cosgrove
Helen Telfer
Lisa Scoble
Gemma Henderson
Joanne Clift
Alex Clift
Fiona Slater
Danielle Adamson
Nicola Wilkinson
Louise Martin
Andrew Martin
Andrew Bell

CHUF is the charity that supports the heart unit. They need funds to buy essential life saving equipment, to carry out research and to provide support to parents like myself. Due to lack of government funding, it has also been under threat, so by raising money and awareness, we can help keep the freeman open and save more precious lives.

We would greatly appreciate your donations no matter how big or small. This can be done via this just giving page, or by seeing us individually as we also have sponsor forms. Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and hopefully for being generous and adding money to this invaluable cause xXx