A HEALTHCARE assistant at James Cook University Hospital has entered a competition to win a dream wedding, hosted by the Teesside-based autism charity, Daisy Chain.

Kaylee Stirling applied to take part, in the hope of winning the prize worth thousands of pounds, provided by local businesses and hosted at Hardwick Hall, for her and husband-to-be, Anthony Murray.

Kaylee looked after Covid patients during the pandemic and unfortunately contracted Covid herself in May, and tested positive for seven weeks.

The couple have been together for ten years, and have two children, Emilee aged eight, Charlie aged four and a dog called Dougie. They got engaged two years ago on Kaylee’s 30th birthday.

Kaylee and Anthony’s original wedding plans, a small family ceremony at The Town Hall in Middlesbrough followed by a celebration at The Fosters Suite, Billingham Synthonia, afterwards, had to be halted due to the pandemic.

Kaylee said: “We chose to take part in the competition to really give us something positive to focus on. This is a fantastic opportunity to do some good for a charity after a year of pain and heartbreak for so many people, and to be in with a chance of winning a wedding like this is something we could only imagine.

“We originally had our wedding planned for October 2020, first we changed our plans so that it was just family because of the limited numbers, then unfortunately had to cancel it because of the restrictions and lockdown.

“For the fundraising we are going to do some bake sales and after Christmas I am going to set myself a fitness challenge and ask people to sponsor me, but also get the whole family involved and make it fun. We’re also going to do some raffles and bingo nights on zoom with family and friends.”