Funeral date set for girl who broke card record

The funeral of eight-year-old Amelia Kolpa, the Black Country girl whose dream of receiving a record-breaking number of birthday cards captured hearts around the world, will take place on 1 April.

Amelia Kolpa, from Rowley Regis, died earlier this month after almost six years of treatment for neuroblastoma.

She had been receiving palliative care and had been in and out of hospital since the age of two.

Her family asked for donations to be made to Matt's Mission Children's Charity in her name.

Amelia's family said her funeral would be held at 13:30 BST on 1 April at Waseley Hills Crematorium. They have asked attendees to wear bright colours instead of black.

They added that close friends and family would be inside the chapel and requested that the public stay outside during the service.

Matt Denning, who runs the Birmingham-based children's charity receiving donations in Amelia's honour, said she had made an extraordinary impact.

"She's such a brave girl," he said. "I met her actually when she was two years of age.

"She was invited to one of the charity events where she was a VIP, a special guest for the day. Quite a shy girl to start with, within five minutes she was jumping up trying to dance, but unfortunately she couldn't really walk at that point due to the treatment.

"But she just touched everyone in the room that day and obviously she's touched the nation now as well. She's just amazing. Every room that was dark, she'd just walk in and it would instantly be bright."

Denning said Amelia remained focused on lifting others' spirits even while seriously ill herself.

"Even though she was poorly herself she was always trying to send videos to other people to get them back up again if they're feeling down," he said. "She was still smiling, she was still wanting to help people. She was just so inspiring."

Amelia's dream of receiving 8,000 birthday cards grew into a global campaign with 341,000 eventually delivered, breaking a UK record. Cards arrived from as far as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with hundreds of motorcyclists forming a convoy to deliver them in February.

Denning said Matt's Mission's new hub in Birmingham would include a permanent tribute to Amelia, created with donations from her family.

"We're going to put some cards around the wall space," he said.

Money raised in Amelia's name would support the charity's sensory room and help grant wishes for other seriously ill children, he said.

Amelia's aunt, who is scared of heights, has pledged to climb Snowdon for the charity in May.

"She'll have Amelia in her thoughts," Denning said.

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