As inspirational stories go, Angie Holford's takes some beating. For most nannies, caring for children is an arduous job that consumes most of their time and energy. But during a career spanning 16 years Angie has managed to combine the roles of mother, nanny, charity fundraiser - oh, and she also found time to write a book to help nannies and their employers understand their roles better.
But it is in her capacity as a fundraiser for children with cystic fibrosis (CF) that she has left an indelible mark on the West Sussex community of Burgess Hill where she lives with husband Steve and their children, aged nine, six and two.
And her inspiration? Her nine-year-0ld son, James, who has the inherited condition which affects vital organs in the body, especially the lungs and digestive system, by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus.
'I was looking after two children when James was diagnosed with CF. I had never nannied babies, but I could see that he was not well,' she recalls.
For the next ten weeks while James was in intensive care, Angie and her husband took turns to be at his bedside. 'But I was determined to carry on nannying,' she says. 'The children who are in your care are always a high priority to you as a nanny, and if the parents got stuck at work and were home late I couldn't walk away from the job.'
The children Angie cared for, a six-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy, 'were amazing and totally accepting of James's condition. They even helped out, she says, during the twice-daily routine of physiotherapy he needed to clear his lungs of mucus.
Faced with James's illness, did she ever consider giving up nannying? She shakes her head emphatically before hearing the end of the question. 'It was very daunting at first, having all the usual things to handle as a nanny and this on top of all that. But I had a bloodymindedness to continue nannying. I was determined that CF was not going to stop me, I was involved in my own personal battle against CF.
'I also wanted things to be as normal as possible, and having a boy and girl to look after was, for James, like having an elder brother and sister,' says Angie.
'Everyone has their own way of dealing with things. But after James was diagnosed with CF, I chose to do fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the only CF charity that provides research, education and support.'
For five years Angie was a stalwart fundraiser for the Trust. She became a member of its Sussex committee, holding sales of cuddly toys in local schools, coffee mornings and other fundraising activities while still holding down a job as a full-time nanny.
Then out of the blue she was contacted by the chairman of the Burgess Hill Rotary Club, David Hayman, informing her that the CF Trust had been chosen as the Rotarians' charity of the year. 'He asked me if we had a wish-list.
I said that new nebulisers, which all those with CF need to use, and physio beds would be useful.
'I said, almost as an afterthought, that what we really needed was a community nurse to help all the children with CF in East and West Sussex.
He said he was "thinking big".'
Angie admits now that she really had no idea just how 'big' this venture would become. Local campaigns usually raised between 1,000 and 2,000 a year for the CF Trust. This one begain with a trickle of donations that rapidly became a steady stream and then an avalanche as Angie found herself invited to a series of events.
On one occasion she found herself placed at a dinner next to Paul Watson, editor of the local paper, the Mid-Sussex Times. By the end of the evening he had agreed to feature the Cystic Fibrosis Community Nurse Appeal in a full page of the paper and then to continue to back the campaign with weekly reports.
Angie says, 'We decided to aim for 25,000 in a year. The CF Trust agreed to match that, and the 50,000 was to provide for a nurse for two years based at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton. The local NHS Trust pledged to take over the financing of the nurse from then on.'
But the campaign snowballed to such an extent - helped with support from astronomer and Sussex resident Patrick Moore, TV chef Tony Tobin and Russell Floyd, a Lewes resident and actor in 'EastEnders' and now 'The Bill' - that a staggering 75,000 was raised in the year. It captured the imagination and generosity of local people in a way that Angie had never envisaged.
'We were getting cheques for 1,000 from people and organisations we had simply written to months before and they had just got on with raising the money.
'I was just put in situations and then Ijust sold the appeal to people,'
she says modestly. Her efforts were recognised by the CF Trust, which gave her a 'Thank You Award'. The Burgess Hill Rotary club also won an award for community service.
Before the remarkable fundraising campaign, Angie had already earned some distinction among nannies with her book, The Briefcase and the Baby: A Nanny and Mother's Handbook, which she co-wrote with one of her employers, Amanda Cuthbert, a Sky TV producer of children's programmes.
As an experienced nanny, Angie was being inundated with calls from other nannies complaining about their treatment. The complaints ranged from the failure of their employer to pay national insurance, to being asked to walk the dog. 'I was rapidly becoming an unofficial agony aunt - so that's where the idea for the book came from,' she explains. 'We thought it would be good to show it from both sides, the nanny's and the parents.'
The process of writing the book 'meant we had to admit things to each other that we would normally not want to admit to', she says of her relationship with her employer. Stripping away barriers and encouraging honesty in this working relationship led to two appearances by the authors at Nursery World-sponsored conferences for nannies.
Now Angie is no longer nannying, though she says she is 'keeping her options open' as she considers a further career in childcare. What she remains most proud of is the fundraising campaign, with the result that young CF patients attending the Royal Alex hospital in Brighton now meet a friendly face when they come for treatment.
It was a relief to return to the Royal Alex for specialist care after Angie's son James broke his arm and elbow badly, and had to spend an agonising 26 hours waiting in another hospital's accident and emergency department for an intensive care bed, deprived of his regular physiotherapy and antibiotics to combat infections.
The extra service is also proving a good investment for the health service, she adds. 'Having the nurse is a great advantage and they are able to handle things so that the consultant doesn't have to be involved all the time.'
With such an eventful life you would think it must have been difficult to maintain a normal routine, but that is exactly what is required in caring for a child with CF. Someone must ensure that physiotherapy is done twice daily and medicines are taken to fight infections and assist digestion.
Through all her campaigning, Angie has made achieving normality a prime aim, and the result is that James is thriving at a mainstream school. 'He does all the normal things other nine-year-olds do - he enjoys sailing and is mad about David Beckham.'
FACTS ABOUT CYSTIC FIBROSIS
* Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that affects vital organs in the body, especially the lungs and digestive system, by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus. It affects 7,500 babies, children and young adults in the UK.
* For a baby to be born with CF, both parents must be carriers of the faulty gene which causes the condition. But even then it is not certain that the baby will be born with CF.
* There is no known cure at present. But the faulty gene has been identified and doctors and scientists are working to develop a technique for replacing it or repairing it.
* Regular enzymes are taken with meals to help control digestive problems.
Physiotherapy and drugs are used to help clear mucus from the lungs and antibiotics are taken to combat infections.
Source: Cystic Fibrosis Trust, 11 London Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1BY, tel: 020 8464 7211, e-mail: enquiries@cftrust.org.uk,website: www.cftrust.org.uk