GMB's Charlotte Hawkins explains how her dad's death changed Christmas for her

ok.co.uk:

This Christmas will hold a poignant significance for Charlotte Hawkins of Good Morning Britain as she remembers her beloved father, Frank, who passed away in 2015 at age 78 after bravely fighting motor neurone disease for three years.The festive season has become a time of mixed emotions for the presenter, who'll be honouring her dad's memory, as she consider it "a time to embrace and think of others"..

In the wake of her father's passing, Charlotte, 49, committed herself to the campaign against MND by becoming a patron of the MND Association, pledging to fight on behalf of sufferers until a cure can be found. "When people get that diagnosis, it's a death sentence," she said. "It's horrific that in this day and age there aren't treatments that can help people." Encouraged by conversations with experts, however, she believes progress is happening. "It will hopefully just take a final push to bring everything together, to find a cure, which will give people who have MND something which they don't have currently – hope.", reports the Express.

Her ambition is to carry on the inspirational legacy left by rugby legends Doddie Weir, who sadly passed in 2022, and Rob Burrow, who died in June, both of whom significantly raised awareness about MND.

Charlotte recalls a resonating message delivered at Rob's funeral, when the speaker said: "It's over to you now, to pick up that baton, to make sure that his work is not forgotten." Living in Surrey with her husband Mark Herbert and nine-year-old daughter Ella Rose, Charlotte shared that Christmas at their home is filled with traditional games and songs.