This week, we would like to help family from Leeds, who have had a very tough few years.

Lynsey and Duncan have 2 children who were both diagnosed with a rare condition called Late Infantile Batten Disease. It is degenerative, so they knew that over time they would watch their children lose the ability to walk, talk, see, eat and eventually become bed ridden. There is no treatment and there is no cure. Children with this disease are unlikely to make it past their teenage years.

Lynsey and Duncan's eldest child, Ellie Mae, started having seizures when she was a toddler and she was falling over a lot at preschool. She had a lot of tests to try to work out what was wrong. While they were going through that process, their son Caleb also started having seizures. 

Lynsey said she can remember it like it was yesterday - he was in back of the car and she saw him in the mirror, and knew straight away he was having a seizure.

In February 2014, they were given the devastating news that both of their children had a form of Batten disease. Ellie Mae sadly passed away the following year, at just 6 years of age –  the same age Caleb is now.

Caleb is now slowly losing his ability to do everything, and his parents are trying to do what they can to bring lots of joy into his life and to get the things he needs to improve his quality of life. 

They have also been doing a great deal of fundraising to try to raise money for research into the disease. They know it wont be able to help Caleb, but they are hoping it might improve the lives of other children in the future.

This is a family that has been through so much heartache, and we want to do something kind for them.