Ellen Roome and Matthew Sweeny are Crowdfunding
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our funding page. Neither of us ever envisaged that we would be sitting here writing this together.
On the 13th of April, our beautiful 14-year-old son Julian (known to everyone as Jools) took his own life.
There are no words to describe how devastated we are. Jools was our world, and we cannot begin to fathom our lives without him. He was an intelligent, adventurous, and fun-loving boy who was always quick to smile, and make others smile too. His death came entirely out of the blue and has left his family, friends, and entire community totally shocked.
There were absolutely no warning signs. He was a regular teenager who rarely appeared stressed or anxious about anything. And perhaps more significantly, we talked about everything, openly discussing topics such as drugs, sex, and alcohol. We spoke about bullying and internet safety and believed he knew that he could come to us if anything was troubling him.
What did we miss? Was there something we could have said or done that would have prevented his death?
We may never get the answers to these and so many other questions that we have, but we are determined that something meaningful should come from his death. And so, to this end we have decided to set up the ‘Pinky Promise Foundation’ in his memory.
The name of our foundation stems from something Ellen and Jools did when promising to tell the truth to each other, linking their little (pinky) fingers together to seal the promise, no matter what was asked. It allowed them to connect with each other honestly, openly, and safely, and discuss anything however uncomfortable or difficult.
Whilst we haven’t yet decided on the foundation’s exact mission or scope, we know that we want it to focus on supporting children who are struggling and offering help to their families.
We’ve been blown away by the love and kindness we have been shown following Jools’ passing, not just from family and friends but from people up and down the country and abroad. So many wonderful people want to help and have asked to donate money. This page has therefore been set up for anyone who wishes to donate in Jools’ memory.
This will be his legacy. For a beautiful life lived, that tragically ended way way too soon.
We will continue to share progress on our foundation with you on this page as well as on Facebook and other social media platforms.
With our continued love and thanks to you all.
Ellen and Matt. (Mum & Dad)
Donate here!
