A Thames Valley Police detective whose police officer husband was severely brain damaged in an on-duty incident has thanked Police Children’s Fund for helping her support their six-year-old triplets.
DC Claire Midwinter has been a single parent to Ella, Aria and Tamara for the past four and a half years since her husband Matt, also a Thames Valley Police officer, was involved in a collision while on-duty.
He now needs round-the-clock care and can no longer live in the family home. The couple’s triplets were only 17 months old at the time of the incident.
Claire said: “We were both paying into our Federation and the Welfare and Benevolent Fund, but until this happened I had no idea that there was such a thing as Police Children’s Fund.
“It was only six months afterwards, when everything had calmed down a bit, that the Family Liaison Officer introduced me to the Fund and said: ‘This might be something that could support you’. I had three very small children who were in need of doing all the things that children want to do. That’s quite expensive, especially with them having their birthdays at the same time.”
Assistance from the Fund has since enabled Claire to get the girls into sport, which has boosted their confidence and helped them make new friends.
Claire said: “Due to the fallout of what’s happened, the girls need that little bit of extra support and they’re very reluctant to leave my side. I was very keen to get them into sports, but it had to be in an environment where I could stay with them.
“They did gymnastics for a while and Police Children’s Fund allowed that to happen. It was an out-of-school activity that gave them a bit of independence, but I could also stay in the family room upstairs, so they felt safe.
“Then a couple of years ago we used the money to get the girls into football. That is now a huge part of our life – we practically live at the football club. The girls do training, they’re about to start friendly matches and Matt can also be involved in that.
“The confidence the girls have gained from meeting other children, being part of a club, and being part of a team is amazing. Matt’s case management team is actually sponsoring our team, so it’s incorporated him massively within the girls’ extracurricular activity, their passion and their hobby.
“On a day-to-day basis the Fund has improved the life of not only the girls, but also that of me and Matt as well, because it allowed us to look at different activities that maybe we wouldn’t have been able to justify because of the cost. I want to give massive thanks to Police Children’s Fund for allowing us the opportunities to explore what the girls might like to do.”
Just last month, the Fund supported a session for the girls to be taught to ride their bikes without stabilisers, as Claire was unable to teach all three of them at the same time. She said: “That’s just not something that I was able to do. So it allowed me to take them to a training session where they get taught how to ride, and I’m now looking at being able to get them new bikes to support that.”
Claire continued: “Police Children’s Fund helps families in their absolute time of need. One of the hardest points of their life can be made so much easier by its support.”