On June 18th 2020, Our lives changed dramatically. Our daughter (Louella) was born after an uncomplicated pregnancy and as far as we were aware we had a healthy beautiful girl. Seven hours later, our life was turned upside down. It had become apparent that Louella had suffered a Grade 4 Brain Haemorrhage and was rushed to intensive care in Bristol, effectively dying 5 times on route. She had 2 brain surgeries to control a condition called hydrocephalus, and the damage was such that Louella has Cerebral Palsy, severe vision loss, and also suffered seizures. This is not what you expect for your first time as parents. It is meant to be magical. To add to the already desperate situation, this was during the Covid pandemic and therefore no hotels were open, but we refused to leave Louella where she would be for the next 2 months as it transpired and were handed a lifeline by an incredible charity, Cots for Tots. The charity gave us a safe space, a room, a bed, a TV, a fridge, a kitchen and hotel donated meals were also supplied and was only 30 seconds away from Louella.  This allowed us to have structure to our day to ensure we kept ourselves physically well as well as being present for Louella at a time which was unimaginably stressful. Not only this but we were living with families who were all going through unimaginable circumstances and being able to have a network of people who 'understood' what you were going through was invaluable.  Cots for Tots do this day in and day out for many families and until you experience what they do, its hard to appreciate how truly outstanding they are as a charity. For that reason, We have committed to support this cause for the rest of their lives, and want to make a real difference.  In order to raise money for the charity, I have decided to do a ‘testing’ challenge to say the least. I will, along with my brother Lee be cycling from our company offices in Taunton to Vilamoura in Portugal! 1519 miles and 19,931 metres of ascent through 4 countries, over the Pyrenees, in August so the heat will also be a factor. We will be doing this over a 14 day period. The challenge is exactly that but the purpose is to raise significant funds knowing this will help numerous families in desperate situations and that is all the motivation we need to get over the line. £100,000 will ensure accommodation is available for one family for over 7 years. For the cots for tots (12 rooms) - this will ensure accommodation for 238 days it will give hundreds of families that lifeline to be near their little warriors    If we can change one families lives, then we would have achieved our goal but we want to help as many families as possible who went through and are going through this horrendous experience. If you can donate or share this amongst your friends and family, this would be hugely appreciated. Lots of love Jack &amp; Siobhan Cooper

Albert Francis

Penny Patchett

Dean Fielding

Anonymous

Ruby Hornby

Marcus Francis

Charles Bailey

Stephen Herkes

Kieran Woods

Debbie Latto

Angie Hawken

Edward Tranah

Robert Contreras

Philip Arnold

Andrew Clark

Toby Venning

Jonathan Bell

The Monkton Inn

Vanessa  Dennett

LHR Contractors 

Louellas Journey

Louellas Journey

Still £1,440 to go. Help us build momentum.