Proud To Bee Me ! is a small not for profit organisation, raising money to help children with physical differences or impairments.
We will donate money raised to great causes, such as Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Changing Faces, National Deaf Children’s Society and Hearing Dogs For The Deaf.
We also use the funds to arrange meet ups for children and young people, whether it be bowling, the cinema, picnic in the park – we think it is essential that children get to meet other young people with challenging conditions, and benefit from the friendships they make and the support they receive.
The inspiration for this project is Honey Bee, my perfect little princess. Honey was born with a condition called unilateral right sided microtia, meaning she only has one ear and is therefore deaf on her right side. This is a rare condition and affects about 1 in 6000 babies, and about 1 in 10 of those children affected have bilateral microtia (meaning both ears are affected).
There are various techniques available to create a new ear once Honey reaches 9 years old, prosthetics, rib graft surgery etc. but this will be purely cosmetic and she still would not be able to hear out of it. The countless times we have been told “At least she is a girl, she can grow her hair and hide it” or “She can always wear a hat to cover it up”. But why should she?
At the age of 4, Honey Bee came home from school and said to me “The other children looked at my little ear today, and I told them all about it. I am very lucky to have a little ear as it makes me special.”
We want to bring children together who feel different, to show them that they are all special, that they are not alone, and most of all make them feel “Proud To Bee Me”.
