Sometimes when I am feeling a bit low and struggling with my own emotions I just take a look at my handsome little grandson and think of everything he has managed to achieve.

He may have only been here on earth for 19 minutes but the impact he has made to the provision of bereavement support is amazing.

Last week me and Charlie's mummy, Carrie, went along to Radio Aire and Capital Radio. We met with our friend Bethan Davies who has helped us so much in the past by giving us air time and by joining in with our fight for improvements to bereavement support within Leeds. It was great to catch up and update her on everything we have been doing over the last six months. Carrie was amazing, and this shows great progress for her as she has always found it difficult when it comes to talking in interviews. 

At the end of the interview, when we were just having a chat, Bethan made a comment that made me stop and think. 
She said to us had we ever realised what a huge impact we have had on the NHS and the face of bereavement support.

It's not until someone else points it out and actually says it out loud that you actually think of what you have achieved. For us it has just become our way of life and we don't actually realise how much impact we have had.

Now, when we look at it, we are just an average family who up until 2013 would never have imagined we would end up setting up a charity and taking on the NHS and the Government. We would probably have laughed at people if they had even suggested it.

None of us have any experience at all of running anything, and we have definitely learned on the job. I think that although we are no where near experts in the field we are now able to stand our ground when tackling difficult decisions and people (lol). 

One thing we all do have in common is Charlie and he has made us all very stubborn when it comes to what we are going to achieve. We used to say what 'we would like to achieve', but now we say 'we are going to achieve'. None of us see stopping in our vocabulary and we will continue our campaign until every bereaved family across the UK can access the appropriate bereavement support they need and deserve.

We are always looking for others who would like to come on board our campaign and make the changes happen. 
If you think you would like to join us please get in touch with us either via our website, www.Charlies-Angel-Centre.org.uk , or by email charliesangelcentre@hotmail.com.


We can always find things for new volunteers to do.