Long Lost Family Reunion, From the UK to Australia

Where do I start....what I am about to write is literally something you would see on the show "Long Lost Family"

I am starting this fundraiser for my mum, Karen. She is a very proud woman and would never have allowed me to do anything like this under normal circumstances but this really isn't a normal situation.

My mum aged 56 has had a pretty eventful life and honestly quite sad at times, she was put into a long term foster placement at the age of 3 with little to no contact with her biological mother till she was 16. Her mum passed away when she 41 when my mum was only 24 years old, in the time she was in contact with her mum and family she gained some information about her biological dad but nothing of real help to find him.

All she knew was his name and that he potentially moved to Australia not long after she was conceived, leaving her not knowing if he even knew about her or where to start to look for him.

For many years my mum would go on to try and piece together the information she had, the whole family trying to track down her dad just so my mum could get the answers every child deserves.

In 2022 my mum joined the 23&me webpage, she sent in her DNA in the hope that maybe just maybe she would link with biological family and even better with her dad. Years go by with nothing but dead ends and finally her giving up hope of finding the man she always wanted to know.

Fast forward to January 2024, a 56 year old Karen receiving a email from 23&me.

"You have a 1st cousin link" and then comes a message from her cousin, to cut a long story even shorter

❤️ SHE HAS FOUND HER DAD ❤️

They have had a very emotional video call and mum has spoken with her siblings that she never knew, her dad is 77 years old and does indeed live in Perth, Australia unfortunately we live in the UK which is the complete opposite side of the world. He has alot of health issues including Dementia which means my mum has very limited time to get to meet him before he declines further.

I am trying my hardest to take my mum to Australia to have a face to face meeting with her dad before it's to late, this has been completely and utterly overwhelming as you can imagine.

If we had longer we would do all the saving ourselves but we aren't in a position to get the kind of money needed together in the time frame we have so that's why we need help.

The money raised will go towards our

Flights

Accommodation

Travel Insurance

Trains to and from airport

Car hire and lots of other bits that's needed. I have put the target at what it is as things keep changing prices and I dont wanna run short on anything important and for it to fail, we would appreciate any and all help in raising the funds and we will be booking the trip as soon as the target is hit whether that be through this fundraiser and/or saving.

Thank you so much for reading this and for helping towards reuniting a 56 year old little girl with her long lost dad, brother and sister and I also get the opportunity to meet my grandad, Aunty and Uncle.