This week, we would like to help a grandmother from Reading in the UK called Barbara, and her 13 year old granddaughter Amy.

Barbara’s daughter sadly died almost 10 years ago, when Amy was just a toddler. Amy lived with her father initially, but a few years ago social services removed her from his care and she went to live with Barbara, who now cares for her granddaughter fulltime.

Amy has had a lot to deal with in her young life, most of which I can’t go into. But she has been having psychotherapy to help her deal with it all and Barbara has been doing everything she can to support her through it.

But Barbara has very little support herself. She lives on her own and there is no one else to help her. Her son is a great emotional support, but lives far away so is unable to help her on a more practical level.

Barbara is in her mid sixties and she had to retire from her job to care for Amy. Money is tight for them, but she said the most difficult part of that is not being able to give Amy outings or breaks, which Barbara knows she would love.

Amy has been through so much, and Barbara has sacrificed a lot to care for her granddaughter who she loves very much. She described it as ‘a challenge - but so worth it!’

We would love to help Barbara and Amy. Barbara has always wanted to take Amy on holiday, so we have asked them to set up a fundraising page so they can do this. We would also like to help Barbara with their day-to-day living costs, so are requesting gift cards to take some of the financial pressure off.

Please share their story and help if you can. It will mean so much to them.