FAMILY of a York girl who died last year will celebrate the launch of a new charity to honour her "inspirational" life.

Millie Wright, of Poppleton, York, passed away in August last year, aged just 13. She had been suffering from an underlying auto-immune health condition, and fell ill in March 2021.

Before her death, Millie - described by her family as “inspirational and courageous” - was diagnosed with aplastic aneamia, a complication of acute hepatitis and acute liver failure.

And now, Millie’s family have set up a new charity in her honour, called The Millie Wright Children’s Charity, to help families in a similar situation.

The charity launches today (Saturday, May 7), on what would have been Millie's 14th birthday.

The new charity's mission is to make life a little easier for the families of children diagnosed with rare and life threatening non-malignant liver, renal and haematological conditions being treated at Leeds Children’s Hospital, specifically Ward L50 where Millie was treated.

Millie's mum, Ceri, said: "We look forward to working with Ward L50 to close the gap in support between malignant and non malignant conditions that are still life threatening.

"We recognise the importance of hands on help and what a difference this makes when supporting a family with a critically ill child with a life threatening illness. We can not do this without the support of others."

To mark the launch of the charity, a special event will be held at The Green in Upper Poppleton today, where there will be a memorial tree planting and a day of raising awareness of conditions similar to what Millie was diagnosed with.

A spokesperson for Leeds Children's Hospital said they are "incredibly grateful" for the support from The Millie Wright Charity.

They said: "Charities like Millie's help us provide the best care for our patients and look after their families through incredibly tough times. We couldn't do what we do without them."

Earlier this year, Millie's family organised a fundraiser for The Candlelighters Trust, who also helped to care for Millie while she was in hospital - as they wanted to thank the charity for everything it did to support them through such a difficult time.

They put together a charity raffle and auction, which raised more than £3,600, at an evening event hosted at the Dawnay Arms in Shipton-by-Beningborough. Over the course of the night, they auctioned off donations including weekend breaks, beauty treatments, theatre tickets, house cleaning, art and yoga sessions.

“Candlelighters continue to support our family and we were overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and the community who helped to make the fundraising event a success," Ceri said.

Further details on the new charity can be found on the website at: www.millieschildrenscharity.org