A FAMILY’S special tribute to their beloved daughter, Danielle, who lost her battle with mental health has way exceeded all their expectations.

This week her parents, Debbie and Steve Cornish, were able to hand over £10,000 to the Samaritans in the hope that no other family will have to go through the same ordeal as them.

A groundswell of heartfelt support from their family and local community in Ideford helped them achieve this.

Steve and Debbie arranged a day of cycling and cakes at Ideford back in March as a tribute to Danielle, who was 29 when she lost her life.

The original aim was to raise around £500 for the Samaritans to thank them for the help they gave Danielle during her times of greatest need for support.

However the  Justgiving page  has now passed the  £10,000 mark, which is much more than both Steve and Debbie ever expected.

‘Danielle was a huge advocate of the Samaritans and we will be forever grateful for this.’

‘She was a loving cat mum to Travis and filled her time running and volunteering with local groups and played clarinet with The Cardiff wind band. 

‘Well done to us all and a massive thank you if you helped to raise an amazing £10,000 for The Samaritans.

‘Collectively we cycled nearly 3,000 miles, baked a mountain of delicious cakes and made endless cups of tea and coffee. To give back to an essential, amazing voluntary organisation.

‘We can’t replace our precious daughter, Danielle, but we can give back to a service that gave their time to listen day or night and be on the end of the phone without passing judgement or prejudice.

‘Thank you to our friends, family and neighbours for all their very generous donations and even those who we have yet to meet and who donated on the Justgiving page.

‘The money raised will ensure more people will have their call answered in moments of need. Sadly, due to mental health, Danielle did take her own life but we know that she made contact with The Samaritans on occasions and we thank them for the times they must have saved her. We’ve had nothing but positive feed back and uplifting stories from the cycle ride and we hope to hold a similar event in the future.

‘If you’d like to donate our Justgiving page is still open.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/steve-cornish-1674591469811?utm_source=whatsapp

‘Ten thousand pounds is an amazing amount to raise and we are so incredibly grateful,’ said Mel Whittock, the Samaritans director for Exeter, Mid and East Devon.

‘The money will go towards ensuring that our volunteer-manned phone lines remain open 24 hours a day to support people who need us. It really is a positive end to a sad story and we can’t thank everyone involved in the event enough for raising such a fantastic event.’