Twelve-year-old Holly, who has biliary atresia, really enjoys the monthly Hive Hangouts, where she gets to catch up with Louise, CLDF’s young people’s officer, and other young people in her situation.
“Holly loves these monthly meetings. She makes sure she takes part, wherever she is – even if that happens to be a hospital bed!” says her mum, Nicky. “And from my point of view, it’s so nice to know that she is talking to other kids who are the same as her and she feels supported.”
So, when Holly decided she wanted to give something back and suggested they do a fundraising walk for CLDF, Nicky agreed.
“We don’t do much walking so we knew it would be a big challenge,” admits Nicky. “But there’s an organised walk, which happens in our town every year, where everyone does it for the charity of their choice. If Holly was happy to walk 14 miles for CLDF then so was I!
“It was hard going as the weather hadn’t been great in the build-up to the walk, which meant that the ground in many places was very muddy and slippery. We were feeling the tiredness kicking in very early on and it took about five and a half hours to complete the walk.
“We had a real sense of achievement though. Not only in completing something we knew would be a challenge but for smashing our original fundraising target. Holly set an initial target of £200 and we raised £790!
“Holly is very proud of herself. She really found it tough but pushed herself, knowing it was all for a good cause.”
