Royalty on the run smashes fundraising target

We consider ourselves very lucky to have had Royalty as part of Team Liver in last weekend’s London Marathon in the form of Gemma and Daisy, aka the Pearly Queen and Pearly Princess of Fulham! 

Pearly Queen, Gemma, discovered Children’s Liver Disease Foundation when her daughter, Daisy, now 24, was just 11 and had been diagnosed with auto-immune liver disease. “The charity provided a lifeline for us all as we came to terms with our new life with a child with a chronic condition,” says Gemma. “We received support through family days, camps, conferences and extensive research into childhood liver conditions. We continue to raise money for this wonderful charity so that other families, like our own, can benefit from all the amazing work they do and as London’s other royalty, running the Marathon in our pearls seemed a very fitting thing to do!  

Although Gemma ran the marathon for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation in 2014, it was a first for Daisy: ‘I’ve never run before but remember supporting mum when she did her first marathon for CLDF and thinking I wanted to do that one day,” she explains. “As my condition is now stable and I am well, I wanted to show others with my condition that anything is possible. I do not let my condition define or limit me, I set and make my own decisions.” 

“For us as a family the day was not just about running,” says Gemma. “’When Daisy was first diagnosed, I never would have believed that she would have been well enough to run the marathon with me years later. We were also remembering Daisy’s dear friend, Lucia, whom she met through CLDF. It made it an emotional experience.  

“We’d done plenty of training but because it was such a hot day, we didn’t aim for our target time, we just soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the experience. We met so many amazing people along the way, including Joe Wicks, who we had a little chat with about why Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and British Liver Trust are so important to our family. 

“And best of all, we’ve nearly doubled our target so hopefully over the next few days will hit £4000 – all in all, a fantastic experience!” 

Daisy and Gemma is fundraising for British Liver Trust