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Danielle
Williams, aged 30, is owner/manager of Tea in the Park at Park View Shopping
Centre, Whitley Bay. She is also mum to two lovely children Caitlin aged 7 and
Ross 15 months. However, 4½ years ago, she lost her baby girl, Megan, shortly
after she was born, which was when she first found out about Tiny Lives, which
looks after some 600 newborn babies every year from across the North East.
Staff from Tiny Lives offered care and support to Danielle and husband Simon,
from diagnosis of Edwards’ Syndrome and through the short life of Megan, whom
they will never forget.
Now
Danielle has taken on a challenge to keep Megan’s memory alive and to raise
funds for the charity. She and seven friends and colleagues did the C2C cycle
ride and smashed through their
original fundraising target.
Danielle
said, “This was a challenge my sister-in-law Jane Rue came up with, and we all
thought it was a great idea. We’ve trained for two months and were fundraising
all the time as well, so whilst we originally aimed for £1,000, we went way
past that, which is great news!” She added, “the money raised will go towards
helping Tiny Lives as they work hard to support families with young babies that
need support and help in many different ways.”
Whilst
most of the eight cyclists were friends or family, including Jane who suggested
the challenge, support came from the shopping centre too. Helen George, aged
64, is a regular customer at Tea in the Park, and jumped at the chance to join
in. A sporting enthusiast, Helen is an archery coach for the Paralympics Games
and a regular cyclist.
Steve
Seymour, Acting Centre Manager at Park View Shopping Centre, also volunteered,
and commented, “I thought that this was an excellent cause to support, so
volunteered straight away. Danielle is an enthusiastic advocate of all that
Tiny Lives do, and there are certificates in the tea rooms, which show how much
they have done to support Tiny Lives over the years. This is obviously a major
fundraising effort, and I wanted to do more than just sponsor the team, so
joined in and managed to raise money too!”
Andrea
Atkinson, Fundraising Manager for Tiny Lives, said, “We are dependent on
supporters such as Danielle for much of our funding, so are delighted she and
her team have made such a big effort on our behalf. We wish them every success
in the cycle ride at the weekend, and their efforts will go to help Tiny Lives
support more families in a positive way.”
Sponsors
can still visit www.tinylives.org.uk or pledge support by ringing 0191 222
0945.
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