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Why donate?

Fundraising is hard work. Trying to convince people to part with their hard earned cash to support your cause is tough. And I can see why people are reluctant to donate. Sometimes it's just a case of 'I'll do it later', 'When I get paid...' 'I'm out at the moment, when I get in...'. I know. I've been there. I've said those things. It's not actually that you don't want to donate. We all lead our lives and the more important things crop up that cause you to forget.

There are so many causes to support and I'm sure charity requests often pop up in your facebook feeds. Some of you already support the big charities through regular direct debits or through your own fundraising challenges. I know nearly all my friends took part in the 'no make up selfie' challenge and the 'ice bucket' challenge. I know, you do your part, your charitable efforts have been ticked off for the season. So, why should you donate to mine? Firstly, please don't feel like you have to. I respect that we all have the causes that are close to our hearts, the causes that we have our own personal reasons for supporting. However, I would like you to gain some insight into why you might want to support this small, little known charity.

I won't tell you too much about our own situation at this point, there will be other posts that will go into detail. Compared to other families, we had an easy ride. Easy being a ridiculous word to use when you are talking about cancer... I will tell you that Momentum make things more tolerable for families going through hell. Many of you are parents yourself. Imagine your child having to spend months on end, in isolation in a hospital room. Their risk of infection and the danger that comes with that being so high that their own siblings have not been allowed to see them in months. The only way their parents can comfort and hold them is by being doused in sanitising gels before donning hospital robes and masks...Momentum support families living that reality. The whole family, from the child who has to look at the same four walls all day, to the siblings at home, to the parents. Then there are the children who have been diagnosed as having terminal cancer, the ones who are returning home to parents and siblings to die... I cannot even begin to contemplate... I can't even finish the sentence. It's too awful, too heart-breaking, too tragic... But, for too many families it is their reality. Again, Momentum are there. To help ensure those last few months are as precious as they can be and to pick up the pieces after the child has passed on. The support never ends. Indeed, Momentum continue to support my own family, now my child is, thankfully, in remission.

Those are just two examples that I have come across since I have been in contact with Momentum and other families. There are so many other stories I could share, each one could bring you to tears. When we were going through our own daughter's cancer, friends would tell me how strong I was being. How much they admired me and found me inspiring. The truth was I wasn't coping but I didn't feel I had the right to not cope. Not when our outlook was so bright compared to others. It was Momentum who made me realise I needed support, that my scenario was still a nightmare scenario for any parent. They helped ease the guilt I felt that I was upset at a time that other families had it so much worse. I will always be thankful to them for that.

I know some of you would rather put your money towards researching for a cure for cancer and I implore you, don't donate to my fundraising rather than that. However, realise that for those children suffering from cancer, right now, that magical cure won't come soon enough. For these children, I believe we do what we can to ensure their quality of life is the best that it can be, at that time. That is what Momentum are there to do.

On a last note, please, don't donate if you don't want to. It may not be a cause that directly effects you. However, it didn't directly effect me either... not at all, right up until the moment a scan revealed our daughter had a dark mass on her kidney...

                  

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