It really is difficult to know where to begin as it's just not possible to prepare yourself and your family for such heartbreaking circumstances.
Our beautiful daughter Chloe Lauren Leach collapsed and died whilst out with friends in a local nightclub on the 30th September 2008, aged 21 years. This day has changed our lives forever.
Chloe was in her 3rd Year of her Social Work Degree and was predicted a "First Class Honours Degree". It all seems so much hard work for nothing.
Chloe had blossomed into a lovely, caring, fun-loving and confident young woman. It's hard to believe that she was so shy as a young child. She always had a smile for everyone and everything. She lit up the room when she walked in. Many people describe her as "a breath of fresh air".
Chloe had found great pleasure at university in the subject of "Social Work" in which she undoubtedly excelled. She was destined for great things. She was having so much fun with her new friends.
Chloe had recently moved in to shared accommodation with her friends. This was her way of showing us she could be independent and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom.
Chloe was a bright, intelligent, caring young woman. During her free time she worked for our local Social Services as a Sessional Worker. This involved preparing documentation, case studies, and reports for possible court hearings involving child neglect, adoption, violence and alcohol abuse. She did supervised visits with children and parents where she would assess the interactions between the children and parents raising any concerns with the various departments and support networks.
She would often collect children from their foster carers taking them to various support centres ensuring structured visiting and safety for both the children and parents involved.
Chloe also became involved with the NCH (National Children's Homes) Action for Children – Keys Project, in the role of helping young parents and their families with re-housing, enabling them to work through the complicated local authority housing systems, help with welfare benefits, emergency housing for children and parents, child care and parenting groups.
All of this was as well as her university studies – not only is Chloe a heartbreaking loss to our family she is a loss to society too. A remarkable young woman without doubt.
We raised £1,200 at Chloe's funeral which we are dividing between our local NCH Action for Children programme and Sure Start family support network. Chloe would have been delighted with this. My sister Jayne and I, along with Catherine and Ed from the local NCH programme had a day out before Christmas buying Xmas presents for some of the families Chloe had worked with. These gifts ranged from toys for the children to microwaves and deep fat fryers! We then spent another evening wrapping up all the presents. Chloe would have been so excited with all of this, if only she could have delivered them to the families too. The donation to our local Sure Start programme is due to be completed shortly.
We have since been given a donation of £5,000 by a local family who wish to remain anonymous. This is a wonderful gesture in memory of Chloe. I do hope that it will help towards one of the CRY programmes/equipment currently required.
We hope that this has given you an insight into Chloe as a person and what a great contribution such a young person has made to society.
Tina, John and Alexander (Chloe's brother) Leach
"To die is simply to sleep and if young cover their eyes for they will always sparkle"
