Help a young dancer achieve her ballet dancing dream!!

If you can please help a family who have done nothing but show love and support to others, we don't ever ask for anything and it doesn't feel comfortable or natural asking / seeking for help when all you have known is making sure others are okay. My sisters and I have experienced trauma caring for our Daddy who has been really poorly for approximately 13 years, he had life saving and changing heart surgery which has given us our lives back and he is now able to start living life again and my Mummy , my sister and I can go back to being ourselves again. Not living everyday in dear and worry of is he going to fall or start having a seizure. It is really scary seeing your parent suffering when there is nothing we could have done to help or make it better other than stay a strong support network through it all. My Mummy is the best in the world and an amazing wife she stuck by his side through the tough 13 years. She made huge sacrifices of her own to look after him, he was basically bed bound and unable to work. Imagine having your life taken away from you overnight.

Only within the last year have my sisters and I seen our Daddy well, having been his soul carers for the majority of our lives and my little sister all her life it is hard to comprehend that one surgery has given us our Daddy back. I couldn't be more grateful, I wouldn't have felt comfortable moving away from home knowing there was suffering at home and things were not settled. We were always full of anxiety and fear as to when the next episode would occur. I didn't want to go to school / college knowing he wasn't okay. I just wanted to be by his side and when I found I had autism I wanted to fall into a deep hole at the time. Our family has stuck together through good and bad times and my sisters and I are so loyal to our parents. I would do anything to ensure they are happy and I know they want the best for their girls. We have all suffered and been left with trauma in our own ways. We have been through the same experience, but not all been affected and left in the same states.

I have got post trauma as a result and suffer flashbacks and memories. There are certain triggers from my past that sometimes will effect me still. We all suffer from anxiety, my little sister and I find communication in certain situations difficult and my middle sister get bad anxiety. Autism runs in our family, most are undiagnosed - my sister have traits. I need a lot of guidance and support with mine therefore needed a diagnosis to go onto University with a support system in place. I needed to be living on Campus due to my vulnerability. My sisters and I are all very driven to achieve our dreams and do whatever it takes to get there. We have seen how quickly life can change, so we must make the best out of what we have got. My sisters and I are so lucky to have such loving parents, who are still happily married and been through such a tough time where we were literally just surviving....

My little sister has dreams of pursuing her ballet dream, but all that is stopping her is finances and she requires financial support to be able to go to King's International Ballet Academy. I wouldn't be on my journey towards achieving my dreams without my support network (this doesn't erase my struggles but helps me manage away from home) and I want to see my little sister happy doing what she loves. She will be nurtured at this school and being doing ballet which is all she wants to be doing. As the oldest, I want the best for my sisters and they really deserve it. I want them to know how super proud of them I am and I love them to bits. We all really deserve something for ourselves, my sisters and I don't want or ask for anything we do just get on. We don't expect anything for our parents, just being a family and time together is all that matters.

Despite recovering from being ill for such a long period of time, my Daddy still has to battle with keeping his mental state stable and healthy and sometimes that causes worry. Before we were not able to go out on nice family outings without worrying is he going to seizure?. Now we can live more freely and get back to everyday life. It will be a long road and the damage has been done so there will always be something left behind but it is how we deal with it as a family. The aim is to start really enjoying life together now while we can, I have learnt to never take anything for granted. One day at a time, as we can't predict what the future will look like and where we will be. People haven't always been the most understanding towards our family and it is hard to understand unless you are really going through the experience yourself. It is lovely when someone does reach out, so please if you can help our family raise the money for my little sister to pursue our dreams it would be much appreciated. She really deserves the opportunity. Money has been tough, as my Daddy wasn't able to work for those years he was poorly and my Mummy was his full time carer and she didn't receive huge external support in day to day life so my sisters and I needed to step up. Without our support, I think my Mummy would be emotionally drained by herself.

If anyone knows anyone who can help out, please don't hesitate to get in contact. My contact details are at the bottom of my website page or email molliedancer1@yahoo.co.uk.

My Mummy's words - Sarah Jones - Fundraiser by Sarah Jones : Young Carer, Amélie's, Ballet School Dream.

"Amélie (13) has been a Young Carer for her dad for all of her life, and she knows no different. She has had to see sights that no child should have to, and the constant worry has been terrible for her. Ballet has been her form of escapism - a place where she can go and forget about what's going on at home and express herself through what she loves doing the most in the whole world. Escapism is an extremely healthy coping mechanism and Amélie threw herself into her love of Ballet".

"Amélie has been accepted into one of the UK's top ballet schools 'Kings International Ballet Academy' in Barwell, Leicestershire, to start on their 2 year Professional Dancers Foundation course in September. The Young Carer, from the Isle of Wight, was offered one of only 5 full-time places available in each year group - an incredible achievement! Amélie loved it at Kings and knows it's where she needs to be to enable her to achieve her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. She trains twelve and a half hours a week in ballet, with Joel Morris at the Joel Morris Dance Academy - it is he who initially encouraged her to apply to Kings".

Written and published by my middle sister Tilly Jones - Ballet School Fundraiser for Isle of Wight Young Carer.

"Her dad, Tom, suffered from a debilitating illness called Functional Neurological Disorder (also known as FND), which meant he was housebound for much of her childhood and would experience stroke-like episodes, seizures, permanent chronic fatigue and paralysis, to name a few; often spending time in hospital, no longer working as a result.

Three years ago, doctors discovered and diagnosed her dad with a heart condition called 'Wolf Parkinson's White' he’d had since birth. He underwent an operation to fix his heart, seemingly the heart issue was the cause of his FND.

Amélie’s dad’s poor health and his years of illness generated a lasting impact on the family. The family’s income greatly suffered and Sarah, Amélie’s mother, would have to significantly reduce her work hours to accommodate for caring duties".

Some images of Amelie dancing below: