Sussex actress and Titanic star, Kate Winslet's £17k donation allows the set up of ‘Fund for Freya’ to help keep seriously ill children alive

The new fund, donated by the Titanic star who lives in West Wittering, will help out other families struggling to help look after their seriously ill children amongst the energy bill crisis.

Mum Carolynne Hunter wants more families to get the financial help too and has decided to divert further donations to the new emergency fund.The new Cost of Living Support Fund from the UK charity for children’s palliative care, Together for Short Lives, will ensure these struggling families receive much-needed aid.Soaring energy bills are affecting most of the population, but for mothers like Carolynne, they have no choice as they need to run necessary equipment to keep their child alive.Carolynne said: “We were faced with the prospect of not being able to care for our daughter Freya at home due to the rising costs, and so I have been campaigning since March. It was devasting to even consider putting Freya in to care, but we were running out of options. And I know we are not alone with this heartbreak.“We were humbled by Kate Winslet’s donation, and everybody else's kindness, and indeed Kate’s commitment to highlighting this very real struggle we face, and many, many more do too. She has shone a light on families like mine, and that means so much to us. But celebrities shouldn’t have to pay our bills, which is why I am continuing to fight for other families like mine.“We now know we can pay our bills to keep our beautiful daughter Freya by our side and make sure she is comfortable and cared for with love all around. But we wanted our story to also help others trying desperately to be heard too. That is why we decided to divert any more donations to the Together for Short Lives Cost of Living Support Fund,so together we can help as many families and seriously ill children as possible right now.”There are an estimated 3,000 seriously ill children requiring long-term ventilation to stay alive; and around 6,000 are dependent on ‘assistive technology’ in the UK.

Many of the families are just not able to pay energy costs associated with running this equipment.Kate Winslet said she was deeply moved by Freya’s story and the fact mum Carolynne was having to think of putting Freya in care because of the soaring energy bills “destroyed” her, which is why she made a sizable donation to help the family.The Hunter family were moved to tears at the Oscar-winning actress’ generosity, as well as the incredible generosity of members of the public, and are so grateful that they could now concentrate on spending quality time with Freya, who has severe cerebral palsy.Carolynne added: “I am so glad that what was a heart-breaking situation for us has now led to the possibility of helping many, many others in the same position. We are indebted to Kate Winslet, her generosity, and her unbelievable support, as well as everybody else who has donated, to helping families like ours be heard and helped.”