Amy was born on 20th January 1995, she was a quiet, settled baby who slotted into life as our second daughter very quickly.
She enjoyed nothing more than watching her elder sister Lucy, she learned to crawl and then walk very early, because she was so determined not to miss out on all the fun!
When Jess came along only 18 months later, she settled into her position as the middle child. The three girls grew up happily together and for the most part were firm friends as well as sisters. Her first loves were Scooby Doo and the Power Puff Girls.
She was probably the quietest and least demanding most of the time – but could throw a really good paddy when she didn’t get her own way!
Amy attended Holly Primary School from 2000, with Sandra as her childminder, and then Garibaldi in 2006. She enjoyed school and made lots of friends. She enjoyed parties and sleepovers and worked hard to get good grades all the way through her school career.
She also attended clubs and groups out of school and enjoyed swimming, dancing, Brownies and Guides. She was an avid reader and a massive Harry Potter fan.
We attended Church as a family and Amy was a part of Sunday School and youth groups. She went on to volunteer in Glasgow and Albania as part of those groups.
Amy’s A levels sent her down a scientific path and she chose to study Biology & Forensic Sciences at Keele University.
Again, Amy made lots of friends, enjoyed her studies and worked hard to achieve well. She also enjoyed being a member of the ladies’ hockey team and the dance club.
In her second year she was delighted to spend a semester studying in Sydney, Australia. She had an amazing sense of adventure and bravery. While she was there, she took the time to explore more of the country as well as New Zealand.
During her third year she met and fell in love with Gabe, and once she had graduated, they moved to Mansfield together.
Amy also completed a charity climb in Africa where she scaled Mt Kilimanjaro to support the Dig Deep water charity.
Amy had a couple of short-term jobs, but then found a position at Brightwake in Kirkby.
Despite being very quiet and shy, they recognised her potential and nurtured her. They allowed her to grow in confidence and she became a much loved member of their work family. We are grateful to them for seeing her, in their words, “as a diamond who just needed some buffing up”.
Amy and Gabe’s family grew with the addition of two cats, and then when they bought a home of their own, Rosie, their beautiful German Shepherd puppy. They took her out on their adventures, set her up with her own TikTok and Instagram accounts and nurtured her as their baby. Amy also enjoyed family holidays and days out with Sam and Otis.
From 2003 to 2013 we became a female only household and our bonds grew even stronger.
As the girls grew older and went on their ways independently, we still chatted virtually every day.
Our family group chat was called ‘Little Women’ where each of us adopted the name of a character from that much loved story. Amy would often send us photos or funny stories. She brought her sense of humour into everything she did, and I know I deeply miss those daily interactions and constant insight into what she was doing. Recently it became the platform for the daily Wordle competition. Some of our last outings were to Wedding Fayres and dress shopping for Lucy’s wedding next year. They were happy days to share together.
Amy’s most massive passion in life was travelling. She had visited over 20 countries – with family, with friends, with Gabe and on her own. She loved to explore new places, take photos, and bring back souvenirs.
She set up the Travel Fairies blog and website so that she could offer advice and insight to other travellers. She spent a lot of time researching and collating information to make her posts as accessible and informative as she could. If you haven’t ever read any of it, there are some very interesting articles, and they give a real insight into what Amy was all about. (https://thetravelfairiesblog.com)
She had also joined the ‘Outdoor Adventure Girls’ group. She loved the idea of young women having the opportunities to travel and explore in a safe and responsible way. Here again she made friends and was a popular member of the group. She made the most of opportunities to try out new activities such as paddle boarding, pot holing and abseiling.
Amy had a social conscience and as such was aware of those who had much less than her. She particularly supported charities providing clean drinking water, so any donations made today will be divided between Water Aid and Dig Deep, both of whom Amy supported by her personal giving.
Amy’s untimely death has been such a huge shock to us as a family, as to her friends. Our only comforts have been that her last weeks on Earth were spent travelling abroad and celebrating with her favourite friends, and that she died peacefully in her sleep.
We miss her dearly and will always have a huge gap in our lives when she would have been. We will never forget her, and hope she will live on, coming with us when we travel, and also through her blog which we plan to continue in her memory.
We are so incredibly proud of everything she achieved in her short life, and so glad now that she chose to make the most of every moment that she had.
We would like to thank all those who have supported us over the past difficult week. Your comments, memories, cards, and flowers have helped us to remember all the best things about Amy and to celebrate them. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Amy's life - she was a treasure!