<div>
 Nearly 15 years ago I started teaching people how to load a film camera, mix chemistry, and watch an image appear in a tray of developer for the first time.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 That grew into Little Vintage Photography and Liverpool Darkroom — a proper home for analogue photography in this city, and honestly, one of the best things I've ever built.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 I've since become an ILFORD Darkroom Educator, started co-hosting the Sunny 16 Podcast, and watched a whole community grow up around something as unique, imperfect and beautiful as film.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 I love what I do with a passion, and sharing it with others (especially now we're surrounded by so much that is artificially generated) feels more vital than ever. But building it has taken everything I've got and it's genuinely hard for me to write this next part.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 A few months ago I collapsed in the street, out of the blue. I have since been diagnosed with a neurological disability which causes seizures, loss of speech, tremors and episodes of paralysis.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 Unfortunately there is a big hole in the healthcare system in terms of treatment and there's no medication I can take, so I'm having to figure out another plan.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 The cost for alternative routes to support are out of our reach, and in the meantime I'm trying to keep some form of my business (and the community around it) going whilst managing a disability that unfortunately doesn't care what's on the schedule.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 If you know me, you know I don't ask for help easily. I'm much more used to being the person who shows up for other people - perhaps teaching them something new, cheering them on or sharing the frustrations and the joy, so asking you instead, for me, is a big thing.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 What this would go towards:
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 1) Taxis to help me get around independently. To appointments, to the library, to my darkroom, even to the park maybe? - I miss the trees soooo damn much!
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 Unfortunately my husband doesn't drive and we also have a 5yr old daughter and a 105 yr old dog, so at the moment I am mostly housebound and anything like taking our daughter swimming costs more than we can afford and takes them over an hour each way on several buses.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 2) Cost of treatment or private care so my condition doesn't get even worse whilst waiting to see if there's any support available via NHS or whether research catches up.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 3) Keeping the lights on at Little Vintage Photography / Liverpool Darkroom — rent, chemicals, materials, software, upkeep
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 4) Making up for classes and sessions I've had to scale back or cancel
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 5) Helping me pay the bills (because sadly they don't stop even when you can't earn and don't have sick pay because, well... self-employed).
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 For someone like me, losing the ability to speak and communicate properly, to not being able to rely on or trust my body, or being able to just GET ON with all the stuff that I need to do... having all of that taken away, out of the blue has been incredibly frustrating.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 It's also a disability (described as the brain's signals misfiring) that carries a lot of shame and misunderstanding as the episodes can fluctuate, the speech slurring and loss can change, the ability to walk can be there one moment and gone the next.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 I've suddenly found myself in the middle of a whole new world of explanation and justification that I am ill-equipped to deal with, but which is very, very real.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 I'm determined that I'll do whatever I can to keep the knowledge, community and education that I have built alive, I just need help to make sure it doesn't disappear for good.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 And I suppose, most importantly it's about giving myself the room, time and space to actually get well, instead of trying to hold everything up at once (the MOST difficult part).
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 If you're able to give, thank you — truly, it means more than you will probably ever know.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 If you can't, sharing this post or telling someone else about the darkroom, my website, signing up to my email newsletter etc etc. helps just as much.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 Thank you for reading all the way to the end. It means the world.
</div>
<div>
 <br>
</div>
<div>
 Rachel
</div>
<div>
 littlevintagephotography.co.uk
</div>

Sandra Gleeson

Ruth Doughty

Johanna Wilson

Roslyn Ashcroft

Anonymous

VICTORIA PHIPPS

Carolyn Mendelsohn

Nicolaus Starke

Shanmuga Sundaram

david bennett

Hannah Mason

Matthew Horton

Veronica Keszthelyi

Katharine Harlow

Allison Furlong

Dudley Harrison

John White

ROBERT YOUNG

Keep Liverpool Darkroom Alive While I Get Treatment

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Keep Liverpool Darkroom Alive While I Get Treatment

Still £1,306 to go. Help us build momentum.