We moved to Abbotsbury in 1994 from Bristol where I worked for eighteen years as a trained nurse for the N.H.S. Although I enjoyed every minute of my nursing career I was presented with the opportunity to move to Dorset and as the girls were young it was the right time to start a new life by the sea.

In 1998 whilst shopping in Weymouth I met a married couple whose daughter had recently died whilst competing in a swimming gala. She was a fit, talented athlete but had suddenly and tragically been taken from them and the cause of death was due to an undetected heart defect.

The look of utter grief and despair in their eyes haunted me for a very long time.  Every time I looked at my two beautiful daughters I could not even begin to imagine losing either of them, especially in such tragic circumstances. At that point I became aware of CRY as a charity and have been fundraising in small amounts since.

Last year I celebrated my fiftieth birthday and wanted to throw a party. Family and friends started asking me what I wanted as presents, but to be honest at fifty, what does one need? I have enough ornaments, photo frames and bottles of wine to last a life time!

It was obvious people wanted to give me a gift, so with every invitation sent out I put a CRY leaflet in the envelope and asked for donations to CRY, rather than presents. By the end of the evening we had raised £1,500. I was totally overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone and above all, a lot more people were made aware of the charity and the work that they do.

After my party I actually felt I had more to give to CRY than fundraising alone, so when asked to be a County Representative I accepted the opportunity to fulfil the role of an active member, bringing awareness to the general public and hopefully being in a position to give comfort to families during such desperate times after losing a loved one.