Advocate story – Mimi Cook

Why am I part of LLGL?

I decided to join Live Life Give Life as an Advocate whilst I was completing my Queens Guide Award (the highest achievable award within Girl Guiding for adult members). I had to complete a year’s research project on a subject of my choice; this element was split into two parts – research and practical.

Having undergone a heart transplant myself, aged 18 months, organ donation has always been something close to my heart (no pun intended!), so it was naturally my choice of topic. For the research part of my project I chose to look into facts and opinions surrounding organ donation for children. Not only was it of particular interest to me, but I also felt it was an area of organ donation that was somewhat overlooked and/or not talked about. For the practical part I applied to become an Advocate for LLGL because I figured I could use my story to educate people on the topic of organ donation and get them to talk and think about it.

A lot of my work is still done within Guiding as I visit different units and talk to them about organ donation. I include the Orgamites in my presentations as they are a brilliant resource for explaining things, especially to younger children. Organ donation is often seen as a taboo subject and people don’t want to talk about it; but I feel that this is wrong and that talking to children about it is a great way to start loosening the taboo. Children are open and accepting of new information – if it is given to them in a way they understand that is fun and factual – as they don’t have the fear or preconceived ideas that many adults do. So the more we can talk about it with children, the more normal the subject will become.

At Live Life Give Life our Advocates have all been directly affected by organ donation and include recipients, live donors and donor families.  It is this personal touch which makes our charity so special.  All have been chosen because they are forward-thinking, self-motivated, imaginative and positive role models within the transplant community.

If you are interested in joining the team and would like to learn more about becoming an Advocate for Live Life Give Life, please email us at info@livelifegivelife.org.uk