Gareth’s blog: A decade on, why it still gets to me

Gareth’s blog: A decade on, why it still gets to me

The words of the incredible family who spoke at our Colour Run recently have stayed with me.

They stood up on stage, in front of the crowd and spoke about losing their child, Beatrice. And about what Forget Me Not meant to them when they needed us the most. It was honest, it was raw, and it was full of gratitude.

If I’m honest, I found it hard to hold it together. Hearing their story, seeing their strength, and knowing we had played a small part in supporting them, it got to me.

And it took me right back to the beginning.

When I joined Forget Me Not almost exactly ten years ago, I made a commitment to myself (and to the person who hired me!) that I would spend time with families. To listen, to understand, and to learn what supporting a child with a life shortening condition really means in practice.

Because this is not something (and as a parent, I count myself very fortunate) I have experienced. It’s only by listening to families that I can even begin to understand what it is like to care for a child with a complex health condition, one that means they may not reach adulthood. And whenever I speak to a family, a mum, a dad, a brother or a sister, I never cease to be amazed by their bravery, by their grit and by how they somehow manage to navigate the journey they are on.

Moments like that at the Colour Run, and the conversations I’ve had with many families over the years, when you see what it really means to someone, when you hear it in their own words, are a reminder of how much the vital support that we provide as a charity matters. How much of a difference it makes.

And none of it would happen at all without an army of incredible people – the team at Forget Me Not, our volunteers, our supporters and our amazing local community. And you, reading this. Every single one of you contribute to our being able to be here for families like Beatrice’s, day in, day out, year round.

From the moment I started at Forget Me Not, the work we do got under my skin in a way I hadn’t expected, and that has never left me. Even now, I can’t talk about what we do without feeling it.

That emotion is what keeps this real for me, it’s what drives me to keep pushing, to keep improving, and to make sure we do everything we can to be there when families need us most.

Quite simply, we won’t stop until every family gets the support they need and deserve.