08/03/2010 | Despite all their problems on and off the field the fans of Southend United continue to be great supporters of Little Havens.
Blues' fan Jonathan Howell took part in yesterday's Bath Half Marathon and particularly wanted to help the hospice in Katie's memory.
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25/02/2010 | Early on the morning of February 21st our 10,000th visitor logged on and we are currently contacting them with the news that they have won our prize.
As soon as this is done we will let you all know what they have won! It was ironic, yet nice, that the special visit was on the second anniversary of Katie's passing.
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25/02/2010 | As many of you know February 21st was the second anniversary of Katie's passing. Not only is it difficult to believe it is two years but sometimes it is difficult to believe that it has happened at all.
Although we are acutely aware of our loss to some extent we still live in a kind of bubble.
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08/03/2010 | Katie's Dad has been gathering his thoughts over the last seven days and has decided to share them with you.
You lucky people!
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08/03/2010 | As we thought you like our new What's The Point Of game. We have received a number of suggestions.
Please send us, as many as you want, anything that completely baffles you. Nothing unplesant, Katie would not approve, just a bit of fun and a chance to vent that spleen again! Please read on.....
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08/03/2010 | As predicted we as a family celebrated what would have been Katie's 17th birthday in a manner she definitely would have approved of.
We spent the day at Lakeside shopping, shopping, drinking coffee, eating cakes, shopping, shopping, eating cakes, drinking coffee, shopping and enjoying a nice big dinner!
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31/12/2009 | The Editor of the Friends of Katie Website (aka Katie's Dad) shares his latest thoughts with you.
With the cracker season now in full swing you can guarantee the latest joke will be up to the usual high standard!.
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31/12/2009 | The Friends of Katie Website are delighted to announce that we have now welcomed our 7,000th visitor to the site.
We see a total of how many unique visitors have visited each day and since our launch in February this year the total is now well over 7,000.
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31/10/2009 | Please take the time to read our latest offering. If you busy right now you could always read it while X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing are on.
Surely your TV set comes with an off switch!
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30/11/2009 | Friends of Katie is disappointed to announce that Katie's Dad lost again recently on the horses.
This time Katies Tuitor (and that is how it is spelt) at Wincanton failed miserably. We are reliably informed the horse has now finished the race!
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30/09/2009 | Now all the excitement of the cricket match and summer party has died down we reflect on the reasons behind it.
The amount of money raised for the two causes was wonderful but the day was about more than just that.
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30/09/2009 | The 2009 Friends of Katie Sky Blue T Shirts proved very popular at the cricket match and are still available to buy.
Please let us know the size you require and they are yours. It was lovely to see so many beng worn on the day. The ribbons are available too for £1.
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30/08/2009 | Katie would be delighted that in her hero's last Test Match England have secured the Ashes.
Freddie Flintoff inspired England to a great victory at the Oval and Katie's Dad was lucky enough to be at the ground on Friday to see Stuart Broad rip through the Aussie's batting.
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29/10/2009 | We have been aksed by a Friend of Katie if it is possible to donate directly to Katie's burgeoning Little Haven's fund via this site.
The answer, unfortunately, is no however it is simple to donate to Little Havens by following their link on our site and clicking on
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28/01/2010 | Police in Norfolk are on the lookout for the pair seen here in the snow at Sandringham.
Members of the public are advised not to approach them! Katie would be so embarrassed by her G-Mar and Uncle Richard!
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27/09/2009 | This week is Children’s Hospice Week which aims to raise awareness of the unique services available to children with life-limiting conditions and their families.
It’s also about raising vital funds for the UK’s children’s hospices. During this week last year Katie's parents went on BBC Essex Radio to talk about Katie and Little Havens.
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26/10/2009 | We are pleased to announce that the total raised at the golf day for Little Haven was £2,080.
Please read on for details of the cash raised and of the golf itself.
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25/11/2009 | The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed there was no blog last week.
Anyway, we are pleased to say Katie's Dad has put pen to paper and here is his latest effort..
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25/05/2009 | The six hour football marathon is over and so are some of the players' football careers!
The weather was kind and over £2,500 has been raised so far. Full story here.
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25/02/2010 | As some of you know this Friday (5th February) is Katie’s birthday and she would have been 17. Every day without Katie is tough, it’s just that Friday will be just that bit tougher.
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25/01/2010 | Despite the inclement weather Katie's Dad has managed to write another blog and he's moaning again!
We can only apologise about the content of this week's ramblings and also for the quality of his latest joke. Read on if you wish.
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24/12/2009 | As the Christmas juggernault rolls on Friends of Katie are giving you the chance to condemn the things we don't like about the festive period to Room 101.
Room 101 comes from George Orwell's novel 1984 and the TV & Radio shows by the same name allow you to banish items to Room 101 for ever. We would like to give our readers the same chance.
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24/08/2009 | The first version of the 2009 cricket match gallery is now on the site.
Please do send us any phtotos you have of the day and we will add them on to the gallery. Any of Katie's Dad's innings would be particularly welcome!
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24/07/2009 | Back in September last year Katie's Dad wrote about life without Katie.
Ths Southend Echo and the Essex Chronicle published the article and it is reproduced here.....
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23/09/2009 | The Saturday evening quiz raised £430 for LH & AIS at the Danbury Mission.
Sunday saw Friends of Katie complete the Southend Half Marathon for Little Havens.
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23/08/2009 | Katie's Dad realises that when he did his Thankyous he forgot some people.
So to all those who helped make the day so special, and you know who you are, THANKS!
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23/06/2009 | Katie was at it again as her Dad celebrated his birthday on May 10th.
While enjoying lunch there came overhead an amazing vapour trail that can only have been one thing!
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22/11/2009 | Another bad experience for Katie's Dad as he bets on the greyhound Katie Two in the 3.28 at Hove to win and you can guess the rest.
As if supporting Southend United was not a big enough gamble!
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22/02/2010 | We are pleased to say there is a piece in this week's Essex Chronicle about Katie.
The piece is lovely however I don't remember Daniel Radcliffe at our golf day!
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21/07/2009 | We are pleased to announce the current total raised for LH by Friends of Katie.
We have now raised over £16,300 for Little Haven Children's Hospice in Southend.
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21/05/2009 | Leeds United fan Gareth Boggis's amazing fund raising for Little Haven.
Here is Gareth's story.....
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21/05/2009 | The Quiz was a great success with £1,050 being raised for the two charities.
The Questions, along with the answers, are now on the site for you to try at home. The winning team scored 84 points out of a possible 100.
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21/05/2009 | Katie attended St Mary's C of E Primary School in Woodham Ferrers and loved her time there. There is now a bench at the school in her memory.
Please read the story of the bench and an interview with her half brothers Toby and Charlie.
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20/05/2009 | Wednesday 1st April saw the first Friends of Katie Awards Evening that recognised the hard work of the last 12 months.
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20/05/2009 | Think it's fair to say that Katie did a great job of making us smile and in many ways continues to do so.
We all must remember how she would brighten our days even when she was unwell and we would like to hear from you..
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20/05/2009 | Katie loved her cricket, she loved playing it and more importantly she loved beating her Dad at it!
Her Dad writes......
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20/05/2009 | Katie spent some time in Great Ormond Street Hospital and her Mum has recently revisited GOSH.
The story of the visit will be on the site soon and attached is GOSH's leaflet that uses the iconic photo of Katie.
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20/05/2009 | There were many highlights of last years Cricket Match one of which was the number of spectators resplendent in their white Friends of Katie Tee Shirts
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20/05/2009 | Katie's Service of Celebration was held at the Danbury Mission and there was standing room only as speakers from the church and from Little Haven spoke about our amazing Katie.
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20/05/2009 | Just over two years ago and just after Katie found out that her condition was terminal she was baptised at the Danbury Mission along with her Step-dad Rob. In front of a packed church and showing immense courage Katie read out a truly moving testimony.
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20/05/2009 | At Katie's funeral at St Mary's Church Woodham Ferrers her former youth pastor at The Danbury Mission, Nick Jackman, read her eulogy. Nick would like to share it with you a year on...
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20/05/2009 | It is just over a year since we lost Katie. Katie's funeral was held on March 3rd 2008 and Rob, Katie's step-dad, has written movingly about the extraordinary step-daughter he loved.
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20/05/2009 | Thanks to monies raised by Friends of Katie two extra long teenage beds have been installed at Little Havens. Please read more about where some of your money has gone.
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20/05/2009 | Saturday February 21st 2009 was the first anniversary of Katie's passing and her family faced the difficult decision of how to spend the day.
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20/05/2009 | Across the pond in the US there is the another Friends of Katie website which is dedicated to 13 year-old Katie McBride who passed away on March 1st 2008 following an 18 month battle against leukaemia
The website contains her story, photographs, a Guest book plus information on fundraising events.
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20/05/2009 | Football fans often get a bad name, Southend supporters show this is not always the case....
When Katie died we put a note on the message board of Shrimperzone (A forum for fans of Southend United) as we knew that would be way of telling Southend fans who knew of Katie the news.
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20/01/2010 | All at the Friends of Katie website wish you a Happy 2010. Thank you for your support as amazingly since our launch in February we have had over 8,000 visits.
Also thanks for supporting Little Havens and our other chosen charities that would make Katie so happy and proud of what we have achieved. We miss Katie every day and 2010 will be no different but you make it a lot easier.
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19/10/2009 | The third blog written by Katie's Dad is now available to read.
We hope you enjoy his attempts at humour and also the more serious stuff too. Don't forget the previous blogs, if not on the front page, can be found via the Articles tab.
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19/09/2009 | On the day of the cricket match and summer party one moment in particular touched Katie's family.
The nine year old daughter of one of Katie's Dad's neighbours had a lovely surprise for us....
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19/08/2009 | We have not counted all the money yet but it seems that the total will be around £1,500
All this will help Friends of Katie fund up to £20,000 and help the Danbury Mission too!!
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19/02/2010 | Welcome to the 13th blog which of course could be unlucky for some. Actually for those of you who have read these blogs you will probably think yourself extremely unlucky anyway.
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18/02/2010 | Colleagues of Katie's Dad have been amazingly generous and donated £280 to Little Havens in lieu of sending Christmas Cards.
Add to that £221 raised through a raffle at the company too and Little Havens will soon be receiving a cheque for over £500!...
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18/01/2010 | After a couple of weeks off Katie's Dad returns with a message for you all and some news about this year's Cricket Match.
Bad news is there is no joke this week, this of course maybe viewed as good news by many! A New Year is with us and those New Years Resolutions have already been broken, the weather is grotty, the trains are not running and we are all miserable.
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17/07/2009 | Among the 100s of beautiful photos of Katie this one has been chosen to publicise the cricket match.
Look out for it in the papers, in the match programme and on this site.
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16/11/2009 | Every day is Rememberance Day as far as Katie is concerned but now is the time we remember all those who have died in conflict.
Also, November 8th would have been Katie's Grandad's (Nick's Dad) 90th birthday so we remember him too.
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16/11/2009 | Katie's Dad has been on that PC again reminiscing about our beautiful Katie.
Please have a read and we hope you enjoy this week's joke - it's of the usual standard.
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16/08/2009 | Katie's Dad thought it was an omen in the bookies yesterday when he saw a dog called Katie Dear running in the 12.47 at Oxford.
It was 5/2 favourite so naturally he had bet on it to win and.........
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15/12/2009 | October 21st meant it was 20 months since we lost Katie.
It has been an emotional time for all Friends of Katie but a lot has been achieved in her memory and this website has helped in keeping her legacy very much alive.
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14/10/2009 | Please see the new gallery, courtesy of Mitch, with loads of action shots from the game and read on for a full report of the match that resulted in a win for Nick's XI by 29 runs.
A brilliant game played in beautful sunshine and played in the right spirit. Katie would have been impressed, if not a little shocked, by the Man of the Match winner!
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14/09/2009 |
When Fan Brown, Katie's Auntie, decided to arrange a fund raising event in aid of Little Haven Children’s Hospice we needed an idea ..
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14/07/2009 | Poster to advertise the Cricket Match is available here to download.
Please use it to publicise the event.
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13/01/2010 | Thanks to those who took time to send in suggestions for our Christmas Room 101 - Some of you clearly have many issues with Christmas!
Anyway, after much debate the committee, Katie's Dad, have come up with this definitive list. Unfortunately the decision is final and there is no right of appeal.
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12/08/2009 | Not quite sure how the table holding the cakes did not collapse under the weight.
Thanks to all those who baked cakes and also to those who bid successfully in the auction for the leftovers!
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12/02/2010 | We are pleased to announce that the 2010 Friends of Katie Cricket Match will take place on Sunday July 25th at Little Baddow Cricket Club.
This is the third such event and we aim to make it the best yet. Please keep the date free and regular updates will appear on this site as the date approaches. Don't worry It will soon be Summer!
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10/11/2009 | Katie's Dad was wasting his (and his brother's) money again recently as Kool Katie failed to win the 4.25 at Ayr.
How could he resist a horse with a name like that and with numerous greyhounds with Katie in their names too it could be an expensive time ahead!
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10/10/2009 | Like London Buses you wait all that time for one Blog and two come along almost at once!
Katie's Dad has written his second piece, hope you find it enjoyable.
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10/09/2009 | Katie's Auntie Penny completed her climb to the top of Ben Nevis in aid of Little Havens
She finished by lunchtime having set off at dawn. Penny talks of the climb, of peanut butter sandwiches and of being flooded....
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10/08/2009 | A cricket bat signed by Freddie Flintoff, Kevin Pieterson, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss etc. will be in the auction.
Also a signed Southend United shirt and cricket ball signed by Glenn McGrath and Darren Gough.
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10/06/2009 | Sarah and Kay complete the Race!
10 minutes quicker than last year despite the heat......
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10/02/2010 | All the recent bad weather obviously proved too much for one snowman in Newcastle as he took time out from his daily grind.
This brilliant snowman is actually the handiwork of Katie's Auntie Penny who clearly has too much time on her hands!
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10/01/2010 | Our Christmas Room 101 has certainly got people talking and made us realise that are some spectaculalry grumpy people about - in a nice way of course!
To enjoy a real master moaner at work have at look at the excerpt below that is taken from a piece Jeremy Clarkson wrote about leaving the UK to live somewhere else. It's priceless.
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09/01/2010 | A quick note from all of us at the Friends of Katie website office to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.
Thanks for being part of the site and almost daily we hear of a new Friend who hears Katie's story and so her legacy grows a little more.
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08/07/2009 | Local cricketers raise funds for Little Haven.
Cricketers young and old don their whites for a good cause.
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08/03/2010 | Katie’s Dad has found his keyboard and has deigned to share his latest words of wisdom with us.
It is a wonder his computer has survived as after Southend United’s run of bad results on and off the field in 2010 a number of household items have been hurled at various walls.
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07/12/2009 | Bet you thought, or hoped, he had forgotten.
No such luck, here is the latest from the keyboard of Katie's Dad as he does a fine impression of Ebenezer Scrooge as Christmas draws ever nearer. Also, thanks to our friends at weaveaweb you can now look at the old blogs via the blog tab above.
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07/10/2009 | Here it is, Katie's Dad's first blog. We hope you enjoy his first effort.
Now he knows what a blog is you can enjoy his thoughts and hopefully it wont be too long until the next one. Please read on......
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06/07/2009 | £480 is raised for Little Havens and the Forget-Me-Not charities
A great effort as friends & colleagues put on pounds but give pounds too!
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05/10/2009 | One of Katie's many teddy bears has gone with Katie's cousin, Helen, on a three year jaunt to Australia.
Read about Daisy's adventures soon as she begins to enjoy life in Brisbane. Helen has been busy taking Daisy to the beach and the zoo and we now have the photos to prove it!
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04/11/2009 | Ex England cricketer Mark Butcher's two hour set at Club Riga in Southend was enjoyed by many Friends of Katie.
Mark was asked after the gig if he would like to play for Nick's XI in Katie's match next year! His answer is confidential.
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04/03/2010 | We are delighted to announce the new total raised in Katie's memory.
We have received this update from the hospice which of course means we are edging closer to our latest target of £25,000. Thanks to everyone for their continued support. It means as much to us now as ever!
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04/02/2010 | We are delighted that the local press have printed a piece about Katie and our fundraising.
The article was printed last Friday and was also published in the Southend Standard. The full article is attached and also please cut and paste the link below to their website.
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04/01/2010 | Little Havens have been in touch to give us a new total raised by Friends of Katie.
The current total raised is actually £23,131 - The good work will carry on but Thankyou Everyone.
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03/11/2009 | Apologies for putting this upon you but as I am sure Katie would not mind it becomes Katie related therefore ok for the site!
If you are from Southend your local football club needs you, if you bring your boots who knows!
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03/02/2010 | You would think the New Year might have chilled him out a bit, especially in all the bad weather.
Anyway, if you cannot stomach anymore then please at least check out a beautiful photo of Katie.
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02/12/2009 | The seventh blog has arrived – Katie's Dad cannot believe he has inflicted so many on you already!
Oh well, read on and we hope you enjoy it. Beware of the bad joke though.
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01/07/2009 | April 2007 saw Katie and her family enjoy two wonderful days in London.
The trip was thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation....
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