Hello everyone it’s me again. Michelle, back with another blog post for you!
I’ve had a very busy few weeks, with the Broody to Baby Event at the Guildhall which was a wonderful success with lots of bookings for newborn shoots! Here was my little set up for the day! I can’t wait for the next one later this year, so look out for lots of posts for this new and upcoming event.
Today’s focus is going to be on my work and passion of charities, I always try and support as many charities as possible, with raffle prizes and donations. The main charity I work with is the Butterfly Wishes Network. The Butterfly Wishes are a charity that bring together photographers like myself to photograph for free, children with life-shortening illness, so parents can have a long lasting memory of their little ones.
This is one of the most heart-breaking, but rewarding charities to work with, as I’m giving them a special gift that they can remember and look back on forever.
They provide photos shoots for families with children of many illnesses including heart failure, liver failure, HIV/Aids, kidney failure needing dialysis, certain forms of cancer, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and SEVERE cerebral palsy.
If you know a family with a child or children with a severe life limiting condition please do not hesitate to make families aware of the charity. They can then contact either myself or The Butterfly Wishes network direct, to put into action a photography session. Like many things, the organisation is not very well known in the South West and there are so many families who could benefit from this. I am always trying to raise awareness locally here in Plymouth.
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The next charity I am going to say a short piece about is the Just Giving site. This site was set up to help people from all walks of life raise money where needed and whilst I’ve donated here and there to worthy people, I was shocked to have a reason much closer to home to donate too. My eldest son is at secondary school, he is just 15 years old, so still very much a child himself, despite what he may think! One of his school friends, a young boy by the name of Jamie who lives in our street, has set up a Just Giving page to raise money for his terminally ill mother. This particularly struck a chord with me, as I couldn’t ever imagine in my wildest dreams leaving my boy at only 15 years old. Here is her awful story told by Jamie…
My mum has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, after beating breast cancer 7 years ago. The cancer has now spread to her liver, lungs, spine and bones. The primary location of the cancer is still being investigated. This means that my mum is still undergoing lots of tests and some of our questions are still to be answered. However, there is a high possibility that she will need to undergo intensive chemotherapy, alongside other treatment.
I have decided to shave all of my hair off (video evidence to follow) to help raise money towards this, alongside other fundraising plans. Myself, my beautiful mum and family would be so grateful for any donations #TeamCoultas.
Please donate anything you can to this wonderful family via this link here….
I have recently donated to another Plymouth based charity, Luna’s Fund, for Luna Valentina Conroy. Luna’s fund stands for Love & Unity for Neonatal’s and Stillborns, of which little Luna was one. Her parents Aimee and Ryan were only 23 years old and documented their beautiful pregnancy via Facebook and Instagram, like many young couples. On the morning of Luna’s birth they were ready and prepared for the home birth and called the midwife as any others would, but after giving birth she was not breathing and was rushed to hospital. It was at the hospital she was pronounced as still born and as if that wasn’t enough of a heartbreaking situation, then came having to explain that their perfectly normal pregnancy hadn’t resulted in bringing home a child to show their friends and family. Through no fault of their own, this tragedy had occurred and they then had to face the heartache of breaking the news to everyone. Aimee decided to document her awful journey in a blog, which got picked up worldwide and resulted in her setting up Luna’s Fund to help other families grieving in the same way.
If you would like to donate please click here:-
Thank you for reading, enjoy your week and please leave any comments for me on topics you’d like me to write about!
Michelle, Little Star Images
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