VALENTINE’S Day is the perfect opportunity to appreciate the support from loved ones.

Commercial gifts aside, it helps you say those things that otherwise might go unspoken in the midst of everyday life. For couples caring for seriously ill children this is more important than ever.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity supports more than 1,900 families who are caring for a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness. The pressure this brings to parents is unimaginable, as they support each other through an onslaught of practical and emotional challenges.

Rainbow Trust helps the whole family in whatever way it can. It might be looking after the sick child to enable parents to take a break, or helping parents talk about what is happening to their family and the impact this is having on them as individuals and as a couple.

This Valentine’s Day I am asking readers to make a donation to our charity, which relies almost entirely on voluntary donations.

Please donate £5 to help Rainbow Trust support even more couples and give them the break they so desperately need on February 14.

To find out more and make a Valentine’s donation visit rainbowtrust.org.uk/donate or call 01372 363438.

Anne Harris, Director of Care at Rainbow Trust