Wirral-based charity for children with rare lung disorder helps 50 UK families and raises £80,000 in its first three years

Nov 21 2012 by Helen Hunt, Wallasey News

A WIRRAL charity set up to help children with a rare lung disease has raised £80,000 in its first three years.

Mum Carlee Gilbert and her husband Warren, from Wallasey, set up the charity ChILD Lung Foundation.

with two other families after they discovered their son Finn, now three, was born with a genetic form of Children’s Interstitial Lung Disease (ChILD).

Since then the charity has grown and gone from strength to strength, helping 50 families across the UK and Ireland by giving them support and practical help purchasing equipment such as oxygen monitors.

Their latest fundraiser was a coast-to-coast charity trek 84 miles along Hadrian’s Wall which supporters did in four days, raising more than £2,400 for the Wallasey-based charity.

Carlee, 34, who is also mum to Damon, 13, and Ethan, seven, describes Finn’s condition as life-limiting.

She said: “Finn has a life-limiting disease and we have to keep him quite sheltered away from his peers. If he was to catch a cold or a cough he could be extremely poorly with it.”

She added: “Fundraisers like the Hadrian’s Wall challenge help raise awareness of the condition but also in terms of funds.

“The money raised goes to medical research but also provides financial support for families and practical items such as oxygen monitors.”

Warren, 40, who is also the charity treasurer, completed the trek with a team of dedicated explorers earlier this year and celebrated their achievements at a special presentation night held at The Vineyard in Seaview Road, Wallasey, earlier this month.

The fundraisers started at Wallsend, Newcastle and finished in Bowness-on-Solway.

Find out more info@childlungfoundation.org