ORGANISERS of the annual Karis May Darling Foundation Event Day in Corringham have announced the end of the popular community event.

The event has been one of the highlights of the Corringham calendar and has been a focal point to remember Karis, who passed away in 2011.

Karis was just 12 years old when she died after contracting a bug called Streptococcus A which can develop into meningitis.

Her grieving family decided to donate her heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas, as they knew it was what the kind-hearted youngster would have wanted.

In the years since the charity created in her name by parents John and Kerri Darling has grown and helped hundreds of local young people and many organisations.

Announcing what may yet be just a pause with the fun day, John says: "We have for the last 13 years now worked very hard with our team to promote and put on our KMD day at Gable Hall School, unfortunately we have taken a major decision on the event this year in light of the major costs involved now when budgeting for the annual family day.

"It is with sincere heartfelt apology that I have to announce The KMD Foundation board of trustees has voted to cancel the annual event day scheduled for later this year due to ongoing financial constraints.

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Karis May Darling.

"We regret having to make this difficult decision, as the event day has been a cherished tradition for many years.

"However, given the cash flow realities we face, it is not feasible to host the large-scale event as planned.

"Our costs last year were in excess of £14,000 (security, fencing, stewards, CCTV, toilets, Welfare, stage and sound system, generators and a host of other costs) this puts the foundation at great financial risk if we had a forced weather postponement or worse an issue with health and safety from issues outside of our control, the reputational damage this would have on the charity along with financial risk is now too much to bear.

"There were incidents last year both from a security aspect and illegal goods and drugs being confiscated, this increases the damage risk that could do to our children's and youth charity and was especially difficult to deal with.

"We have not taken this decision lightly as you can understand, and we may once again put on the day when our position changes.

"Post the pandemic it has been difficult to ensure the sustainability of our charity.

"The key thing for our family and our team was that the day was to celebrate our Karis and her love for life. Karis saved five lives with the donation of her organs, giving life and helping others.

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"Her great name will continue for eternity and this relies on the financial strength of our foundation, and we are in a very positive position to continue to help our local community where we can create benefits through our charity goals.

"Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time and effort over the years to make this event a success.

"Thank you to the community leaders and organisations who supported and promoted us on the day.

"Thank you to all the attendees whose participation and enthusiasm made this event so impactful, we will return."