Maidenhead author appears on ITV1 and scoops national award in one week

An author from Burchetts Green has won a national book award in the same week she was recognised for her work on an ITV1 wellbeing show.

It has been ‘quite a week’ for Carolyn Mayling, founder of children’s charity Rosie’s Rainbow Fund, who appeared as a guest on Katie Piper’s Weekend Escape on Sunday.

The new show, fronted by the Loose Women star, treats someone who has ‘triumphed through adversity’ or ‘done amazing things’ for the community with a countryside pamper retreat.

Carolyn shared her charity’s origins, set up in memory of her 11-year-old daughter, Rosie, who died from an autoimmune disease in 2003, and her debut memoir, The Future is Rosie, with viewers.

The Burchetts Green resident was named Katie’s ‘Haircut Hero’ and given a makeover by celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas.

Carolyn enjoyed a party with Katie, Michael, TV guests and friends, including Rosie’s Rainbow Fund trustees, Candice Eales and Rifat Jan, in the episode available on ITVX.

“What they said was it’s for people who work tirelessly for other people,” Carolyn said.

“It was really special – I enjoyed every second of it. I was amazed by the end result.

“I want to show others that even in the darkest times, when people have been through significant loss, illness or unbelievable challenges, that they still have a future and despite everything, there is still joy to be found.

“Rosie’s spirit lives on through everything we do.”

The Redroofs School for the Performing Arts co-director made a number of hospital visits when Rosie was diagnosed with vasculitis and struggled with a lack of support for parents in their situation.

“Rosie was a very talented musical little girl and a pupil at Redroofs, and when she was in hospital, there was literally nothing for the children to do,” Carolyn said.

“She said, ‘when I’m better, I’m going to raise money by putting on shows for children, so they’re never going to feel like I am’.”

Her tragic death compelled Carolyn to set up Rosie’s Rainbow Fund to honour her daughter’s wish to raise money for other children going through lengthy hospital stays.

The charity has brought music therapy, emotional and bereavement support to thousands of children and families in hospitals across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

“The power of music is unbelievable,” said Carolyn.

“It can calm children down before a very serious operation – it reaches children who are non-verbal in extraordinary ways. It reaches them in ways words can’t.

“It’s easy to say it’s a great charity, well done, but it’s difficult to sustain if we don’t have the funds.

“We can’t be sustained on fresh air, so we just need people to help in any way they can.”

Carolyn was awarded the Beryl Bainbridge Award for a First Time Author by the People's Book Prize 2025 on Wednesday.

She is ‘over the moon’ by the national recognition for her memoir, which charts her journey through grief, the birth of her son in 2008 when she was 54 years old, a painful divorce and being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016.

Carolyn never considered herself an author but an avid diarist, and putting the book together took many years.

She said: “I feel so proud not of me but of Rosie’s legacy, more and being able to express that through my writing.

“It’s just amazing.

“I’m able to reach people who quite often have been through difficult journeys themselves.

“To show people there is joy at the end of that and they can have a ‘Rosie future’ – it’s been an extraordinary journey.

“I’m honoured to get this award, but the reason I did it is to raise awareness of the charity because it’s just a difficult time for small charities like us.

“What it’s about is trying to create longevity for a charity that we’re trying to keep the funds rolling in for.”

Carolyn said all funding is derived through donations and fundraising efforts, including a Redroofs charity gala at the Wycombe Swan on Sunday, May 18.