About Matt's Canaan Trust

The words, “Dad, I’ve got a headache, can you pray for me?” may not seem earth-shattering but they changed the lives of Mark and Lynette Leitch forever in April 2001.

Within eight hours, their normally healthy twelve year old son Matthew was on a life-support machine, with a suspected brain tumour.

The following two months in hospital and subsequent seventeen months at home are chronicled by Matt’s Mum and Dad in his book – Infinity and Beyond, A Love Story Without End.

When Matthew died, they moved to France from England, and opened their big farmhouse to families facing various life-limiting illnesses: to share special times together and make precious memories. After four years, believing it is time for change, they returned to the UK. Now, the vision for Matt’s Canaan Trust has widened, and they seek to provide holidays uniquely suited to each individual family’s needs, whether that be abroad or nearer to home. Based in West Sussex, they help families from all over the UK, and the criterion for consideration is not limited to children as the patients. They consider each referral on its own merit, irrespective of whether the patient is a child or adult.

Until now, funds have been raised by sporting events and the proceeds of the book Infinity and Beyond, generating sponsorship and donations from faithful supporters, but Mark and Lynette hope to raise awareness of their Trust and attract even more donations to their worthy cause in 2008.

Five families, all linked with brain tumours, were treated to time away in 2007 and there is one holiday in the pipeline for early 2008. You can read about them in the latest newsletter.

It is now over five years since Matthew died and Mark and Lynette still face daily reminders that their precious son is no longer with them in person, but the memory of his life lives on through them as they seek to show they care.