An amazing £24,000 has been raised for meningitis charities in memory of a tragic Perth toddler.
On the first anniversary of Alexis Rose Dlugolecka’s death, her father revealed fundraising events have given him ”something to live for”.
Little Alexis Rose was just 19 months old when she passed away in her sleep on February 5, after contracting the disease. Following her funeral, her devastated parents, Alan and Ruth Glynn, decided to launch a huge charity campaign in her name.
The couple, who have two other children Billy (8) and Alexis Rose’s twin, Christina, who turns three in July initially hoped to generate around £5,000. However, donations and offers of sponsored events continued to flood in.
So far they have amassed £21,000 for the Meningitis Trust and more than £2,600 for Meningitis UK.
Mr Glynn (33), who has taken part in a number of gruelling events including the famous 3 Peaks Challenge has pledged to keep fundraising in the hope of raising £50,000.
He told The Courier: ”We will never get over Alexis’ Rose’s death she was taken away from us so suddenly and we miss her every single day.
”I realised soon after she died that if I didn’t throw myself into something I would just give up and fundraising has brought me some comfort. We have kept ourselves really busy but we know Alexis Rose would be proud.”
He continued: ”We have been overwhelmed by people’s support. In total, there have been 27 events. I never dreamed that would happen. People also approach us in the street to wish us well.”
He also revealed he was excitedly awaiting the birth of his next child this summer.
Events this year include a sponsored ”Moon Walk” in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park with three other families affected by meningitis. Mr Glynn is also training for the English 3000 trek.
Donations are still being collected in the Alexis Rose Tribute Fund, available on Meningitis-trust.org.
Jo Stevenson, community development officer for the Meningitis Trust, thanked the family for their ”incredible efforts”.
”They are so inspirational,” she said. ”Some people understandably find it hard to get up after going through something like that, never mind raising money.
”They have just done amazingly well. Not only have they generated cash to help the charity carry out much-needed work, they have raised awareness of the disease.”
Some of the money will go towards the charity’s newest campaign, Meningitis Changes Futures, which is aiming to educate people on the hidden after-effects of the illness.