12 Miles in Memory of 12 Year Old Evie
She had some of the best times of her life at Naomi House and I know how much she loved and enjoyed going there.
In memory of her sister, Evie, 14 year old Isobel Denham-Parkhouse and her friends from the Fareham & Gosport Young Carers group, completed a 12 mile sponsored walk and raised over £2,500 for Naomi House & Jacksplace!
Evie had a progressive neurological disorder known as Labrune Syndrome (leukoencephalopathy) and was a regular visitor to Naomi House. Isobel and her friends planned the sponsored walk of 12 miles, a mile to represent each year of Evie’s short life.
On the windiest day in August, the team of 20 Young Carers, with ages ranging from 8 – 19, plus three adults from the charity KIDS, gathered at the Gosport ferry terminal in Portsmouth and began their walk to Langstone Harbour and back.
Isobel told us more about the walk: “The weather was extremely windy as we were walking along the beach and we got blown everywhere. On the way back the massive waves were coming over the sea walls; it was really funny when everyone got soaked and we were all screaming! The walk was really fun, even though our legs were hurting and we were walking against the wind.”
Coby, one of the young carers, did an amazing job of planning the route and the adults from KIDS decided on meeting places, timing, creating the fundraising page, arranging the group into bubbles and organising the collection buckets and balloons. Coby knew where he was going, so he led the walk, and then each of the three adults had a bubble and followed at a distance behind.
“It was a very long way to walk and when we finished, it felt like a great accomplishment as it was for a great cause, even though my legs and arms hurt a lot!
“I think it’s an amazing amount of money we have raised for a great cause, and we hope it will be of use to the charity. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who donated their time and money towards this walk, it was extremely generous of them.”
While the group were on their walk, they came across a huge sign put up by the Victorious festival organisers, simply saying ‘WE MISS YOU’. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they were unable to hold the event this year. Isobel said, “We thought it was a very apt sign which said how we were feeling about Evie.”
I think Evie would have been very pleased we were raising money for Naomi House as she had some of the best times of her life there and I know how much she loved and enjoyed going there. I hope she would be proud of all of us, and me, as I am not the most active person, and it was a very long way. She would have really liked that other children will benefit from this money and enjoy their time at a place she once loved.
Thank you so much to Isobel and her friends from Fareham & Gosport Young Carers, what an amazing achievement.