A brave teenager who lost her father and her brother in a car crash says she cannot imagine her life without the crucial help of the Noah’s Ark Trust.

Emma Thacker was only 15 when the crash happened, killing her dad John and her younger brother Matty, who was 10 at the time.

She survived, but suffered a broken pelvis.

Miss Thacker said that she “didn’t accept what had happened for a long time” until she went on a residential weekend with her mum Susie arranged by Noah’s Ark.

“That was the turning point for me,” she said.

“I cried a lot and didn’t feel bad about it, because everyone was in the same boat.

“I came home from that thinking ‘I cannot be selfish about things anymore’.”

Miss Thacker, now aged 19, lives in Hill Grove Crescent, Kidderminster, with her mum.

She has just started a new job as a trainee at a jewellers having recently returned from a trip to Australia.

“I know I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t had the help of Noah’s Ark,” she said.

We reported yesterday how the trust has had to cut half of its paid staff after the economic downturn affected the money it gets from trusts and private donors.

The charity is about £18,000 down on its £42,000-a-month running costs.

It means Noah’s Ark has had to pull out of Wyre Forest, Redditch and Bromsgrove altogether and 50 children promised support will now have to go without.

Gabby Beddowes, the charity’s chief executive, says without the severe cut now it will not survive and unless things improve the long-term future of the trust is in doubt.

Miss Thacker said she got one-to-one support for more than a year after the crash through bereavement co-ordinator Brenda Houghton, following a referral from her teacher at Holy Trinity School, Kidderminster.

“We would meet every Wednesday, then every two weeks and whether it was to moan about a boyfriend or whatever it was good to have someone I could trust to just talk to,” she said.

“I was thinking about the children who will be getting letters this week saying they cannot get counselling now.

“I don’t know what I would have done without Noah’s Ark.”

She is now part of the group’s youth forum while her mum sits on the board of trustees.

How you can help

• People are being asked to fund-raise for the trust by arranging events, and can contact the charity for literature and leaflets.
• People with events coming up, such as a 21st birthday or a wedding, can nominate Noah’s Ark for donations rather than receiving presents.
• People can also include the trust as a beneficiary in their will, or in a trust.
• If 30 schools in Wyre Forest raised £1,000 each, the service could be kept for a year.
• Children can collect money instead of sweets while trick or treating over Halloween.
• Businesses and community groups looking for a charity to support, could also help.

For more details

• Phone: 01905 340019
• E-mail: info@noahsarktrust.co.uk
• Twitter: @NoahsArkTrust
• Facebook: Noah’s Ark Trust
• Website: noahsarktrust.co.uk