The mother of the seven-year-old Northiam child shot dead by her estranged father has set up a fund in memory of her daughter to raise money for children’s charities, including The Music Well in Rye which offers music therapy to children who have suffered trauma. In just a few days the fund has already raised more than £4,000.
Mary Shipstone was shot outside her home in Spring Hill, Northiam on Thursday September 11 as she returned from Beckley Church of England Primary School with her mother. Her father Yasser Alromisse turned the gun on himself and died at the scene. Mary died the next day of her injuries in King’s College Hospital, London.
Her mother Lyndsey agreed for Mary’s organs to be donated, which has helped five other children including two babies.
Launching the Mary Shipstone Memorial Fund, Lyndsey said: “Mary had her life snatched away from her so cruelly when there was so much promise, but I would like people to remember her little smiling face. She was such a happy child and I think that is the memory that will stay with people who knew Mary.
“It was important to allow Mary to make the gift of her organs because she was such a healthy girl. She’d never been sick in that way. I thought it would be a way of Mary living on in these children in some small way. It is a great comfort to know that other children will survive through Mary.”
Liz Butt, founder of The Music Well, told Rye News: “Little Mary had music therapy with me for a while last year to help her process the emotional difficulty of ‘being on the run’ from her father who had been abusive towards Lyndsey.
“Lyndsey contacted me a few days ago to say that this music therapy support had been one of the most useful things for Mary and that she would like some of the fund set up for Mary to come to The Music Well to help other children and their families access music therapy. She and her family are happy for me to spread this information.”
Here are links to both the memorial fund and The Music Well