“It’s a way for us all to keep going forward and support Louise and Tony (Lloyd’s parents) and their family. I've known Louise for years and Lloyd and the boys have been going to school together since they started nursery and played football together.
“The idea for fundraising started when Lloyd was taken into hospital. The boys (Lloyd’s friends) were talking about how we were going to support Lloyd and help him when he came home, make sure he had everything, anything he wanted.
“Then we had the devastating news.
Walk all the 214 Wainwrights
“At the funeral they decided they’d walk all the 214 Wainwrights in 2024. The majority of them aren’t walkers but wanted to do this together. They are so passionate and want to come and help.
“Meningitis Now provided Louise and Tony with support after Lloyd’s passing and they attended a Forever Weekend where they were able to talk about Lloyd with other bereaved families who have had a similar experience.
“We decided to raise funds for Meningitis Now so they can continue to help people like Louise and Tony and anyone who has been impacted by the disease.
Spread awareness
“We wanted to spread awareness of meningitis because everybody needs to be aware of the signs and symptoms and know that it isn’t just something that only happens to babies. Recently we were holding a tombola and giving information to young people and they were really interested. The majority of people there took a Signs and Symptoms card and that’s great because it means people are aware of what to look out for.
“We all take part in climbing the Wainwrights when we can and are always joined by family, work or school friends of Lloyd. We fundraise in other ways too. I run The Queen of the Solway dance festival in Cumbria and this year the festival raised £2,000 for the Walk for Lloyd campaign.
“We had a raffle where people were donating prizes and putting money in the book. People were really kind and gave us tombola prizes for our tombola. And Brianna is doing the skydive in memory of Lloyd.
Keeps us going
“It’s amazing how kind people are, especially when times are so hard for everybody at the minute. We’ve met people out on the fells who’ve donated to the page.
“After we’ve completed the Wainwrights, we’ll do something else - we are planning on having a memorial ball next summer. Lloyd will never be forgotten.
“It keeps us going. It’s a joint effort between all of us. All different families at all different times, everyone comes together when they can to support.
Always going to be supporting each other
“When I found out I was nominated for Cumbria Woman of the Year I couldn’t believe it.
“I haven’t told many people but I feel very good about it, it was so kind of them to nominate me.
“After we complete the Wainwright challenge we plan to continue fundraising every year. We’re always going to be there supporting each other, spreading awareness, and remembering Lloyd.”
If you’d like to support the group in their fundraising in memory of Lloyd you can visit their fundraising page here.
If you've been impacted by meningitis you can read about our Support Services and contact our nurse-led Helpline on 0808 80 10 388 or by emailing helpline@meningitisnow.org.
