Zehra, along with her mother Meyrem and her brother and cousins, are set to feature alongside Tom Daley in an incredible programme for Comic Relief on Monday 14 March on BBC 1 at 9pm.
It will highlight the joys of kinship families, as well as the challenges they bring. Zehra’s blog documents their journey and offers a look behind the scenes at what they experienced.
Part one begins with an exciting wake up call…
By Zehra Sonerman
5th February 2022:
On the 5th February 2022, I was awakened by my mum bursting into my room with an excited aura surrounding her and a smile that widened across her whole face. I stared at her with mixed confusion and happiness, her gleaming smile and zestful energy was something that I woke up to every morning, but today she appeared even happier.
“Zehra! Wake up! Tom Daley and the BBC want to film with us!” She shouted whilst jumping up and down excitedly.
“Huh? Tom Daley the Olympic diver?” I responded.
“Yes! It’s for Comic Relief so that we can raise money for the Kinship charity.” She replied in a gleeful manner.
“Are you sure it’s not a scam?” I responded quite pessimistically, but still hopeful. The opportunity appeared too good to be true, and my incredible mother is always so keen to help anybody, that I didn’t want her to be taken advantage of.
You see, my mum had always been an incredibly remarkable woman and I’d always seen her as a star that shone brighter than others, but the thought of her unimaginable, incredibly inspirational story being televised made me want to cry.
After twenty years of appreciating her and telling her that she is the best, most inspirational person in the world, I couldn’t believe that I was going to share the best part of my life with the rest of the world.
“It’s not a scam Zehra. They’re coming on Tuesday!” She replied smiling with anticipation and happiness.
“Tuesday?! Tom Daley’s coming here on Tuesday? To our house? But that’s so soon!” I responded.
“I know Zehra.” She replied with a twinkling gleam in her eye. “You know how fast everything is within the TV world.”
To be continued in part two…
We’ll share part two of Zehra’s amazing account next week, where she explains what it was like filming with Tom Daley and Comic Relief for kinship care.
Also, be sure to tune in to Comic Relief’s ‘Hell of a Homecoming’ on Monday 14 March on BBC 1 at 9pm.
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