CEO of CNJ Construction Consultants, Claire, decided to take on the challenge for Momentum as they have been supporting her family as they navigate their son Winter’s rare health condition.

With an ambitious £10,000 fundraising target, Claire has recruited family, friends and colleagues to take on the endurance event which starts and finishes at the iconic Oval Cricket Ground near Vauxhall, London. Every penny raised by Claire and her team will support Momentum’s work in helping families in Surrey, Sussex and London who have seriously ill children.

Talking about her son Winter, Claire said: “My youngest son, Winter, two, is funny, cheeky, and fearless – absolutely nothing phases him! Early last year, Winter started having seizures and he was diagnosed with epilepsy in February. A few months passed, and in May, he started having around five seizures a day. The number of seizures was rapidly increasing, and it reached a point where Winter was having 56 in a day.”

Claire continued: “An MRI scan found an abnormality on part of Winter’s brain, which was pushing against his skull. Winter had to undergo major surgery to disconnect the frontal lobe of his brain – it was the scariest time for us. We administer daily medication to Winter, which he is slowly coming off, but everything is still bit unknown – we don’t know if the surgery has fully worked, or if another operation will be needed.

Talking about Momentum’s support, Claire said: “We were introduced to Momentum at St. Peter’s Hospital and our Family Support Worker regularly checks in to see how we are doing. We have been on Momentum’s riverboat, and we stayed in the cabin not long after Winter’s surgery – it was great and just what we needed. Momentum’s Social Worker helped us complete our DLA form, explaining everything in detail. Smaller charities like Momentum can get forgotten about, but what they do for families is amazing and so personal and we knew we wanted to do something to say thank you.”

With under two weeks until the London Winter Walk, Claire said: “I saw the Winter Walk advertised on Momentum’s website, and because our son is called Winter it was the perfect event to sign up to! There are 12 of us taking on the challenge and we are really looking forward to it. I am going to the gym regularly and am also doing longer walks to prepare myself for the challenge.”

Help Claire and her team reach their fundraising target by sponsoring them here

Notes to Editors:

Momentum Children’s Charity supports families across London, Surrey and Sussex whose children are facing cancer or a life-challenging condition. We partner with local hospitals to offer personally tailored support to the entire family through our family support workers, both in hospital and at home. Our services include counselling, creative therapies, special experiences, and respite breaks. If the unthinkable happens, and a child dies, we offer specialist bereavement support. The charity receives no government funding and is reliant entirely on voluntary support. 

Founded in 2004, Momentum Children’s Charity was started when Bianca Effemey OBE was working as a receptionist on the Paediatrics Ward at Kingston Hospital. Side effects of chemotherapy treatment can be very painful and she became aware of the impact they were having on young cancer patients. It became her mission to get white goods donated to the hospital which could be kept full of refreshments, providing some relief to children suffering with mouth ulcers caused by chemotherapy. Momentum has grown from a very small charity to now supporting over 2,000 individuals across 583 families in 2023/24. This includes 419 families with children in active treatment and 164 bereaved families.

If you are interested in learning more about the work Momentum does, seeing the roles they are currently recruiting for or would like to get involved by attending an event, volunteering or making a donation please visit www.momentumcharity.org

www.momentumcharity.org Registered charity number: 1195373

For more information about Momentum and future press opportunities, please contact:  Claire Smith, PR and Communications Officer: clairesmith@momentumcharity.org  /  0208 974 5931