Thank you so much but now it's time for someone else

But her determination and courage live on thanks to charity launched by her parents, Mike and Claire Wren of Marton.

They have raised £42,000 since the charity's launch in July 2007 for the Leukaemia Research Fund. In addition, £5,000 has been used to sponsor a room in Charlotte's name at Crawford House in Newcastle which provided Mike and Claire with a home from home while Charlotte had treatment at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

During last year's Wish Campaign Claire and Michael, pictured above with the tokens collected last year, found themselves counting tokens almost every night.

They wrapped bundles of 10,000 in pink ribbon in memory of their "pink princess", eventually converted 155,484 tokens into £1,084.66.

Mike, 42, said: "The Wish Campaign for us was absolutely amazing. The sense of community spirit that kept Charlotte at number one was truly overwhelming and raised over £1,000 for vital research and awareness into JMML. We remain eternally grateful to all of our family, friends, schools, parishioners and Gazette readers who continued to support us so generously.

"We were very privileged to be part of such an important campaign, along with so many really worthy groups trying to make a difference to others, and we would really encourage other groups to join in this year's campaign.

"We want to say in the words of Charlotte "Thank You So Much" to the Gazette and their readers for remembering our beautiful, brave girl and giving our vital work in Charlotte's memory such a fantastic boost."

Claire, 33, pictured with Charlotte,said they would not be taking part in Wish 2008 as they have decided to let others have a chance of scooping the Wish Campaign number one prize this year.

Mike added: "It's a long-term campaign for us. The Wish campaign was just a starting point in trying to find a cure for this horrible disease.

"There have been difficult times but we have had more highs than lows. The fact so many people have backed us in this campaign has kept us going."

For details on running the Tees Pride Middlesbrough 10k for the Charlotte Wren Forget Me Not Fund, email m.c.wren@talktalk.net

How to register

Our Wish campaign is giving away £30,000 to community groups, clubs, schools and charities across the Tees Valley.

• Just apply to be registered on our Wish List and get ready to save tokens.
• Once accepted we will send you a free information starter pack.
• From Wednesday, October 1, we will be printing tokens in the Evening Gazette every day for nine weeks.
• You will be guaranteed a share of the money - the £30,000 cash pot will be divided by the number of tokens collected, so the bigger your share, the bigger your slice of cash.
• Simply fill in the application form in the paper today or go online to www.gazettelive.co.uk/wish.
• If you have any questions, email Wish Campaign co-ordinator Dan Gaydon on danniel.gaydon@ gazettemedia.co.uk or call 01642 234233.

Click here to download a Wish application form
in PDF format