Long Covid: Children affected take fight to Downing Street

All the children who visited Downing Street have suffered with multiple symptoms of long Covid

Children affected by long Covid have travelled to 10 Downing Street to ask the government for more support.

Dorset-based charity Long Covid Kids (LCK) was set up to offer help and guidance to families across the UK.

Children who have been helped by the organisation delivered a new support guide and letters for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to read.

The government said it had allocated £50m to research the long-term impacts of the disease.

The guide has been created by LCK to help parents and healthcare professionals provide suitable care to children with long Covid.

Emily went to Downing Street with her mum, Louise, and sister Grace

Sammie Mcfarland set up LCK from her home in Dorset after she and her then 14-year-old daughter caught Covid in March 2020.

"We spent eight months in bed," she said.

"We were unable to access any medical support - at that time long Covid didn't even have a name.

"We're hoping the prime minister is going to recognise long Covid in children enough so that he invests in indoor air quality being improved in schools to prevent other children from getting the same condition our children are living with."

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The group is also calling for an education policy to support children living with long Covid, who struggle to study with symptoms like fatigue and brain fog.

Sammie Mcfarland set up Long Covid Kids after she and her daughter both caught the virus in March 2020

Nine-year-old Emily, from Yeovil in Somerset, contracted Covid in September 2021 and lost the use of her legs.

Almost six months later, she relies on a walking stick.

She said: "It's an indescribable thing because it's nothing like I've ever had before and it's just crazy, it won't give in."

Eva, 14, from Alton in Hampshire, said she would "probably be quite tired tomorrow" but the trip was "worth it".

She added: "I want it to be recognised and then it's a known disease and hopefully there can be research to help with long Covid, maybe even a cure."

Eva went to Downing Street with her mum, Lou, and brother Corbin

Her mum, Lou, said taking the fight to Downing Street had been "a long time coming" but she was grateful to LCK for its support.

She added: "It's almost like it doesn't really exist. Now they've taken the mask restrictions away and say we're going to live with Covid - well these kids clearly aren't living with Covid, they're struggling every day with long Covid."

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said there is a "long lasting impact" of covid for many.

They added: "We are backing our exceptional scientists with over £50m for research to better understand the long-term effects to ensure the right help and treatments are available for those who are battling long-term symptoms."