A MUM-OF-TWO who set up a charity dedicated to children born with heart defects says she is ‘shocked but made up’ to be named as a finalist for Merseyside Woman of the Year Award 2023.
Claire Cathcart’s life changed forever when her son Jake, now aged 8, was born with an unknown heart condition.
Pride of St Helens Courage award winner Jake has spent most of his life in and out of hospitals, with most of his care coming under Ward 1C in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
So, alongside parents of other children on that ward, Claire decided to set up a charity to help others.
When Claire was at her son’s CICU bedside in London, 200 miles away from home in the middle of the pandemic, Jake received a heart transplant and she raised more than £5,000 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Sick Children’s Trust.
Under her co-leadership Team 1C has helped fund lifesaving and changing surgeries for hundreds of children abroad as well as giving back to Alder Hey and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospitals for all they do to help children with complex health conditions.
As an individual and as part of Team 1C, Claire has raised more than £100,000 for charity, from running 10k in the dark, heavily pregnant, to organising Gala evenings.
For her efforts she has been awarded a British Citizen Award, and now she is a finalist to be awarded Merseyside Woman of the Year 2023.
However, despite all of this, the nomination came as a shock.
Claire, mum to Jake and three-year-old Daisy, said: “I was so shocked to get that call to say I was a finalist. I have major imposter syndrome because I’m nominated alongside some incredible women, but I’m shocked and made up to be included.
“Team 1C is made up of a family of people who are members of a club we would rather have not been part of. We would rather have had our healthy children, but because of them we have done so much good and I’m very proud of all we have accomplished as a team.
“We have only really been a charity since October 2022, but we’ve been doing so much behind the scenes and it’s amazing to be recognised for that.”
As well as this, Claire and Team 1C regularly attend Alder Hey Children’s Hospital on Sundays to deliver food to other families with ill children so they do not have to leave their sides, often being shoulders to cry on.
They also recently donated £1,000 to Whiston Hospital’s Playground SOS appeal.
The public now decide the winner of Merseyside Woman of the Year as the finalists are listed for public voting.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Crowne Plaza in Liverpool on Friday, June 30.
Voting is now open until midnight on Friday, June 2.
To vote, visit https://merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk/mwoty-finalists-2023/.
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