I’ll swim to keep tragic mums’ memories alive
AWOMAN whose son plays football with Burscough Dynamo is taking on an outdoor swimming challenge in memory of two fellow mums whose lives were cut tragically short.
Karen Bishop, 50, is completing the John West Great North West Swim later this year and will swim two miles in Windermere to raise money for two good causes and pay tribute to the lives of the women whose children played for the same teams as her son Matt.
Jemma Cottier, a teacher at Greenbank High School, died in 2016 after suffering a stroke. A proud mother of three boys, Leon, Toby and Theo, and stepmum to Lucy and Becca, she was just 42 when she died.
Her death caused shock and heartbreak in the community and a series of fundraising events have since been organised by friends, family and even former pupils.
Karen, of Southport, said: “I met Jemma as another mum whose son played for Southport Trinity
“I only knew her for a short while but her impact was always felt so very positively on those she encountered in many different ways. She was a working mum like me, a teacher, a friend and a great encourager to all who knew her.”
Karen’s efforts will pay tribute to Jemma by raising funds for the Walton Centre, a specialist brain injuries clinic in Liverpool, while also honouring the memory of Lorraine Holland through money given to Lupus UK.
The charity, which is close to the hearts of Lorraine’s family, supports families and sufferers, produces a magazine with lupus articles, letters, reports, and photographs, and operates a grant programme for research purposes and welfare.
Lorraine, whose son Ollie plays with Matt, died unexpectedly in June 2018, just days before the boys’ team was due to fly out for a tournament in Portugal.
Ollie stayed home but his friends took his number 11 shirt, which they proudly displayed in team photos.
Lorraine would have been 50 last October.
Karen said: “All of the coaches, parents and boys felt the sadness and shock of that situation and it was hard to go away at the time.
“We went in the end to play the tournament for Ollie and his family. Burscough entered two teams in the Benfica tournament at the Stadium of Light and we ended up winning in one team final and coming second in the other.
“It was a great testament to their coaches and the team spirit among the lads and parents.”
Karen, a former Norwood, Meols Cop and KGV pupil, volunteers as a Beaver leader in her free time but hasn’t done a challenge like the swim before.
She said her training has been inspired by Russell Crook, who coached Matt at Trinity and Dynamo.
“His positivity and clear direction both for his teams and the lads in his charge have been really impressive. It’s all voluntarily done and he has his own business and is a retained firefighter too.
“In a day and age where mental health problems for teenagers rear are so much more at the fore he has shown the lads a clear plan of how to have a positive mental approach to life, to organise themselves, focus on the positives and put the team at the heart of everything they do.
“Also of course bringing them on individually sport wise.
“As a parent I have listened from the sidelines often and that’s spurred me on too. So it’s about the positivity of sport and volunteer work too.
“Anything I can do to raise money in memory of Jemma and Lorraine is my focus in taking up this challenge.
“I am lucky enough to be here still to see my son and daughter grow up”
To support Karen’s fundraising, visit www. justgiving.com/fundraising/karen-bishop13