The Millie Wright Children's Charity

15/06/2026

Millie's Saturday Suppers 🍕🍕

You may be wondering what this post has to do with Millie's Saturday Suppers.

Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to Connie and Caroline, who last week delivered 40 meals to families, and to Nige, who this weekend made sure 52 families received a hot meal.

While they were doing that, I was away in the mountains.

Recently, my nervous system has felt completely dysregulated. In fact, it felt exactly as it did during the months I spent living in hospital with Millie. That constant state of fight or flight. Feeling overwhelmed. Exhausted. Full to the brim with worry, responsibility and emotion.

The mountains gave me something I didn't realise I desperately needed: space. Space to breathe, to think, and to come back to myself. For that, I am deeply grateful. 💜

This week marks four years since we delivered our very first nine pizzas to Ward 50.

As I walked through the mountains, I found myself reflecting on that journey. Four years ago, Millie's Saturday Suppers began with a simple idea: no parent sitting beside a seriously ill child should have to worry about where their next meal was coming from.

What started with nine pizzas has become so much more.

Because behind every meal is a parent trying to stay strong when their world has been turned upside down. Behind every delivery is someone facing exhaustion, uncertainty, fear and heartbreak. We know that feeling because we have lived it ourselves.

The Millie Wright Children's Charity was founded to address the inequalities in support experienced by families caring for a child with a life-threatening or medically complex condition. Our vision is simple: that no family should face these unimaginable circumstances without practical and emotional support.

Over the last four years, together, we have provided thousands of meals, practical help, financial support, emotional support, and moments of kindness to families when they needed it most. What began in Millie's memory has become a lifeline for so many others.

As I reflected on all that has been achieved, I realised something important. The feeling of overwhelm that I have been carrying recently is the very reason this charity exists.

Because somewhere tonight, there is a parent sitting by a hospital bed feeling exactly the same way.

And if a hot meal, a listening ear, a small act of kindness or simply knowing someone cares can lighten that load, then every pizza, every mile travelled and every volunteer hour is worth it.

Four years on, we continue because families still need us.

And we will continue because Millie showed us what truly matters: kindness, inclusion, courage and making sure nobody faces their hardest days alone.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. Every trustee, volunteer, donor, supporter and sponsor. You are helping us turn one family's pain into hope for countless others.

This is Millie's Legacy 💜🙏🦋

30/05/2026

Millie’s Saturday Suppers 🍕🍕

Over the last two weeks, more than 80 families have received a Saturday Supper from us.✨

We’ve also restocked seven parent kitchens twice with essential ambient food, ensuring that parents and carers have something to eat during some of the longest and most difficult days of their lives.

We are incredibly grateful to Penny and Tony, who, after volunteering all day at last week’s charity run, travelled from York to Leeds to make sure families were fed. Their kindness reflects the very heart of what we do.

Nige and I were there again this evening.

As we were leaving, a family stopped us on their way home. They had been receiving support from us for several weeks. Through tears, they thanked us for being there when they needed it most.

Moments like that stay with you.💜

Because while we are proud to provide this support, we cannot help but think that no parent sitting beside a seriously ill child should have to worry about finding their next meal. No family facing the unimaginable should feel alone, forgotten, or unsupported.

As we often say, having a sick child in hospital is a scary and lonely experience. Lives are turned upside down in an instant. Parents arrive without warning, separated from family, exhausted emotionally, physically, and financially.

During those moments, practical acts of kindness can mean everything. 🥰

Our vision is simple: every family supporting a child with a life-threatening or medically complex condition should receive hands-on, practical and emotional support when they need it most.

We can only continue this work because of our incredible volunteers, fundraisers and donors. Every pizza delivered, every kitchen stocked, every conversation shared and parent supported by our family support worker is made possible by your support.💜🙏

Tonight, another family reminded us why this matters.

If you'd like to help us continue supporting families when they need it most, please visit millieschildrenscharity.org

24/05/2026

WOW. What an incredible day for the Millie Wright Children’s Charity Fun Run. 💜✨🙏

Yesterday was a powerful reminder of what community truly looks like. The support, generosity, energy and kindness shown by everyone involved was nothing short of amazing.

Together, we raised an incredible £3,000 and because Millie Wright is entirely volunteer-led, every single penny will go directly to supporting families at Leeds Children’s Hospital facing the unimaginable journey of a child with a life-threatening diagnosis.

That £3,000 could fund:

• 85 hours of vital family support
• Pizzas for 375 families
• 3 months of ambient food for the parent kitchen
• 15 family expense grants

No salaries. No paid founders. Just people coming together to make a real difference.

A huge thank you to Dave Paver, Greg Howe and York Athletics, who for the fifth year running have helped make the event run seamlessly, from timing to organisation and everything in between.

Thank you to Harrowell Solicitors for sponsoring the event, and Inc Dot for supporting us with printing and marketing materials.

Massive appreciation to YorkMix for bringing the energy, hosting brilliantly and helping share the spirit of the day with the wider community.

Mel led the fantastic warm up which bought huge smiles and set signified the start of the event

To our 33 incredible volunteers — you were phenomenal. Working tirelessly in the heat to keep everyone safe, hydrated and smiling. We are so grateful for every one of you.

Special thanks also to Julian Hall First Aid, Community TM, and Paul Foster Interiors for your continued support year after year.

This event proves what can happen when a community comes together with heart, purpose and compassion.

Thank you to everyone who ran, volunteered, sponsored, donated and supported. You are making a huge difference.💜

22/05/2026

It's happening tomorrow!!

Please pre-book your tickets -

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/109609

💜

Not long to go until our Poppleton Fun Run. 🎽👟

Please join us, run for Millie and raise funds for The Millie Wright Children's Charity 💜🙏

Tickets are available now.

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/109609?

https://www.millieschildrenscharity.org/events

We are grateful to , and for supporting this event. 🙏💜

20/05/2026

Easy ways to raise funds for The Millie Wright Children's Charity 💜🙏

Help us when you shop with 7,000+ brands. Join now.

19/05/2026

Good luck to everyone taking part!🏃‍♀️👏

16/05/2026

Not long to go until our Poppleton Fun Run. 🎽👟

Please join us, run for Millie and raise funds for The Millie Wright Children's Charity 💜🙏

Tickets are available now.

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/109609?

https://www.millieschildrenscharity.org/events

We are grateful to , and for supporting this event. 🙏💜

09/05/2026

Millie’s Saturday Suppers 🍕🍕

Tonight’s Saturday Suppers were kindly sponsored by the York Group of Spiritualists, who held a healing and reflection fundraising evening in memory of Millie on what would have been her 18th birthday. 💜🦋✨

Thanks to their generosity and support, over 40 families received supper this evening. We are incredibly grateful for the kindness shown in Millie’s memory. 🙏

07/05/2026

Millie's brother Harry writes a tribute to Millie on her 18th birthday. The strength it has taken him to write this. Always proud of my boys 💜

Today Millie should be with her family and friends celebrating her 18th birthday. Instead her older brother Harry pays tribute to his sister who sadly passed away after a liver transplant, and a subsequent stem cell transplant.

We think of Millie’s family on this poignant day

“I’m Millie’s older brother Harry , and even now it feels strange trying to put her story into words.

She was my little sister, competetive, artistic and a handful,albeit in the best way, and even at the age of 13 years old she was the bravest person I’ve ever met

In March 2021, Millie had an HPV injection and after saying she didn’t feel right, she began complaining about joint pain, stomach aches, itching, and headaches. However during this period hospitals were hard to access due to COVID. Mum knew something wasn’t right though so she began to push for blood tests, and answers.

The next day Millie was rushed into hospital with serious liver problems. I remember watching her skin turn yellow, and taking photos to show mum.

Slowly I was catching on how serious things were getting, yet not really understanding how quickly things were worsening. I was only in year 10 at the time so with a pinch of naivety I was blanketed.

Within the next couple of weeks we were being told she had acute liver failure.

Then came the coma, and the machines. Due to Covid I was unable to see her so I didnt really get a full gauge of the state Millie was in. I continued attending school whilst mum and dad spent long days, and nights, by Millie’s bedside, occasionally swapping shifts to eat, shower and sleep.

But Millie with her competitive nature never stopped fighting, even pre/post transplant when she couldn't speak, you could hear her fighting.

When Millie had a liver transplant, it felt like we could finally breathe again. I’ll never forget the day she woke up and asked for me. Out of everything, she just wanted her brother. That moment meant everything.

Although her words were not clear that moment spoke more than 1000 words. Following that call we thought that was the hardest part behind us.

Not long after, we found out her body had basically stopped making blood cells. She was diagnosed with something incredibly rare- Acute Hepatitis Associated Aplastic Anaemia.

What followed was the worst part. This is when I could feel a change in the energy of Millie’s health; constant treatments, needles, transfusions, chemo, immunotherapy. Millie was going through things no kid should ever have to go through, yet alone even know about. And despite all this she handled it with more strength than most adults ever could with her humour.

Millie’s outlining feature was her long blonde hair. She would receive compliments off nearly everyone we met. I remember the day she shaved her head. Just like that her hair went, gone, no drama, no tears, just took control like she always did, and got on with it. That was Millie.

In fact she used her creativity to turn it into humour. Sending me funny videos saying she “feels like a tennis ball”. Looking back at it I feel this was an attempt by Millie to stop me from worrying

She faced infections her body couldn’t fight. Still, she kept going.

Millie had a stem cell transplant and we all pinned so much hope on it. But just 11 days later, we lost her to complications from an infection.

There’s no way I can explain the effect this has on a family. Its like having a constant space impossible to fill. A constant knowledge that something is missing.

I’m beyond proud of Millie. Facing all this with strength, bravery and even humour at times. Plus I think it shows Millie’s character that even when she was going through the worst period of her life at 13 years old, she still tried to protect her 3 older brothers, and her friends, by making them laugh. That stays with me.

Since losing Millie, we have tried to put her energy and bravery into something that really matters - The Millie Wright Children’s Charity - because we saw first-hand how unfair the support can be. Families like ours, dealing with life-threatening illnesses that aren’t cancer, don’t get the same level of support. That’s just not right.

So we’re trying to change that to support families, and be there for people, just like we wish people would have been there for us.

Millie cared about people. She was incredibly loving, and inclusive of everyone. She’d want things to be fair.

My mum was worked up to be her living donor for a liver, and I was also worked up to be Millie's Stem Cell donor. Without a second of doubt I signed my name up and went through the process. At 15 years old I sat down with the adults around me to explain what I was going through with. And I agreed. If it was to keep Millie alive even for a little bit longer I would do anything. Unfortunately I wasn't a match but one was found shortly after.

I ask you to please talk to your family about organ donation, and share your wishes. Millie got more time because someone said yes. That meant so much to not only her, but everyone around her.

That decision matters more than people realise. She was a sister to three brothers, a daughter, a cousin, a friend, a niece, a grandchild.

Have the conversation. Make your choice clear.
Because it could save someone like my sister.

Harry 💙”



Please about your decisions with your loved ones, say and register your decision at NHS Organ Donation

07/05/2026

A Letter to Millie on Her 18th Birthday 🧁🩷🦋💜✨

My beautiful Millie May, 💜🦋
Today you turn eighteen.

A birthday without the birthday girl punctuates the feeling that time itself has paused. The world moves around me, but inside, everything is still. I have spent months wondering what to write to you, how to honour a milestone you should be here to celebrate.

The significance of this day, mixed with your physical absence, makes the words feel both essential and impossible. But I keep searching. Searching for the right words. Searching for you.

You are forever thirteen in my mind, right at that beautiful threshold where childhood meets the first shimmer of who you were becoming. I remember you in motion: an elite gymnast, an artist with talent far beyond your years, a lover of nature, mud, animals, and your Bella. A surfer, an athlete, a dancer, my yoga buddy. You were a beautiful girl who adored your three older brothers, determined to match them in everything, football, cricket, boxing, swimming, high jump. You made the best rhubarb and apple crumble on Sunday evenings and covered my worktops in pancake mixture on Saturday mornings.

The day after you came home from your liver transplant, you made your brothers spaghetti bolognaise. Even then, your instinct was to love, to nurture, to give.

You cherished your friends, always including everyone, speaking in that angelic way that was uniquely yours, gentle, thoughtful, but with a spark that could surprise us. You didn’t speak often, but when you did, your words carried weight. Your humour was quick, creative, and fearless. And your laugh, that beautiful laugh, would often carry you into tears.

You loved your dad with your big blue eyes, and the two of you would sing and dance to country rock in the kitchen, belly laughing together. And with me, something new was beginning. We were shifting into a mother-daughter friendship. We were starting to share our love of nature, yoga, cooking. I could feel the future opening, and I was so excited for what was coming.

Millie, you had a wise, majestic presence. An old soul. Your energy was vibrant, your smile bright, your heart full of love. In your 13 years, you left an imprint on my soul that far exceeds the time we physically had together. The echo of our time vibrates through my whole existence. You continue to shape how I live, how I love, how I create.

I often think about who you might have become. I remember you telling me you wanted to be a yoga instructor on the beach in the morning and a tattooist on the beach in the afternoon, with your dog beside you. I loved that vision. I loved how real it felt to you, how free you were, how you felt no pressure to conform.

And I remember you in hospital, telling me you might want to work with young people and mental health when you were older, especially those who were ill in hospital. Even then, you were thinking of others. Even then, your heart was leading.

Whatever path you would have taken, I know it would have been guided by your authenticity, your creativity, your kindness, your courage.

Your memory is tucked into my heart and walks with me through every day. The imprint you left has shaped so much of what I’ve created since your death, in the most positive, life-giving way. I absolutely believe you are still present. I know this because you send signs, robins, butterfly's, sparkles, moments of knowing, small glimmers of you.

Today, on your 18th birthday, I celebrate you by letting my heart lead. Every year, my heart needs something different. Some years I need quiet. Some years I need ritual. Some years I need to speak your name aloud. Some years I need to curl inward. There is no right way to mother a child who is no longer physically here, there is only the way that honours the truth of the moment.

This year, the build-up has been heavy. Eighteen is a new era, adulthood, independence, the beginning of a new chapter. You would be so different now than you were at thirteen. And yet, in my mind, you remain thirteen. I feel others moving forward , as they should, while I remain here, loving you in the only way a mother can when time has stopped for her child.

But I am learning that holding you at thirteen is not being stuck. It is devotion. It is love. It is the place where memory and presence meet. And I also know that you have grown in other ways, not in age, but in influence, in spirit, in the quiet ways you continue to shape the world through the people who love you.

Today, I honour you Millie
The girl who is forever thirteen.
And the young woman you might have become.
Both live in me.
Both are loved beyond measure.
Happy 18th birthday, my beautiful girl.

I love you with every breath.
Mom 💜✨🦋