Seventeen-year-old Mariella Rose’s legacy will live on in a foundation that will help other young people
Mariella Rose ‘brought sunshine and joy into people’s lives’(Image: Family of Mariella Rose)
In a few weeks’ time, family and friends of Mariella Rose should have been joyously celebrating her 18th birthday. Instead they will be gathering to mourn her loss at a funeral service at Beverley Minster.
Mariella was the “gorgeous girl” of Christine and Chris, who have bravely shared insight into the light of their lives, their only daughter, a nature and music-loving teenager who was proudly forging her way towards a career in the police force. Mariella, who would have been 18 on May 20, tragically passed away on March 30 in a road traffic accident between her car and a tractor at Everingham, East Yorkshire.
She was on her way to a shift at McDonald’s, Shiptonthorpe, a job she was doing part-time while studying at Askham Bryan College for a level 3 in Uniformed Public Services, and where she was held in high regard and about to be promoted to the role of crew trainer. It was a route Mariella knew well and a journey that would only have taken Christine and Chris’s “risk averse” daughter less than ten minutes.
Her mum and dad were at pains to let people know how Mariella passed her driving test first time, at the end of January, and was a “competent driver with excellent observation skills”. They said: “She was conscious of her black box and, due to her career aspirations, a conscientious and diligent driver.
“She was always risk averse from being a small child. Mariella had her own clear set of principles, which included her determination to build a life she wanted to lead.
“From a very young age all she ever wanted to be was in the police service.” Mariella had been serving as a Humberside Police Volunteer Cadet for three years, just one of the steps she believed would help her achieve her dream career.
“Her Cadet leader was in the Marine policing unit. She would go out with him at holiday time on the boat down the Humber.”
Mariella also generously gave her time as a volunteer with East Yorkshire MIND at their retail shop in Pocklington, her first Saturday job. “She was a selfless, kind-hearted, force of nature, beautiful inside and out who daily brought sunshine and joy into our lives and to everyone who had the privilege of being part of her world.”
Their girl had a love of travel and the sea, enjoying the many family holidays they took to Greece and to Kefalonia and Ithaca in particular. “She loved snorkelling and jumping in the sea.”
Mariella was also up for open-water dipping in rivers, when the opportunity arose, and closer to home, she “loved village life and the countryside”. “She would walk across the fields to meet her friends or walk, run or Segway around the village, as she loved being out in the fresh air.”
Walking and hiking took the family on visits to such as Stoodley Pike and there were college walks to Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire. Her dad said: “I’ve lost my adventure mate – she loved her adventures.
“Whatever it was, even a trip to B&Q, Mariella would suddenly have this idea and say, ‘let’s do this’.”
Mariella, who had been doing boxing training for three years and was learning Welsh, also loved music, with Tom Grennan, Noah Kahan and Mark Ambor being among her favourite artists – “along with the ones she wouldn’t admit to, Chic and Take That”. Classical music would also feature, with visits to see the Halle Orchestra with her father.
“She was a big fan of Tom Grennan,” said Chris. “She met him at the BBC and we went to Berlin and Brussels to see him.
“After the Brussels show we got to talk to him for about half an hour. I told him what his music had done for my daughter and that it had got her through some of her darkest times at school.”
After struggling through the early years of her education, Mariella was diagnosed as dyslexic when she was 14. Her mum said: “On receiving the results she said, ‘I’m relieved – if they’d said I didn’t have dyslexia, I would have gone through life thinking, what’s wrong with me?’ It broke my heart.
“We were fortunate enough to have the means to pay for the private diagnosis, which runs into hundreds of pounds. It’s so far out of reach for so many parents and families.
“Mariella displayed real courage in how she shared with others her dyslexia diagnosis and the challenges she faced daily. She was a true champion and ambassador for dyslexia and became a student representative at college, as she felt students with dyslexia did not get the same level of support as others.”
It is why Christine and Chris have set about creating The Mariella Rose Foundation, inspired by their daughter. It will be committed to “shaping a world where no young person has to say no to opportunity because of dyslexia, where every individual has the confidence to speak out, the support to thrive, and changes the impossible to I’m possible”.
The Foundation will provide help to young people aged 14 to 25 with dyslexia and those seeking a diagnosis through financial bursaries and a mentoring programme supporting them through school, college and the workplace. It will also raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia and the barriers faced by those affected, to help them to participate fully in education and the workplace.
Christine and Chris have set up a JustGiving appeal page for The Mariella Rose Foundation. It had already reached £4,550 of its initial £5,000 target at the time of publishing.
Christine said: “It makes such a difference when things are done right. In March last year, Mariella applied to McDonald’s and at the interview, the HR manager said, ‘you’re dyslexic so I know how stressful this will be, so let’s grab a drink and have a chat’.
“When she got back to the car she told me the questions she had been asked – they were exactly what you would expect – but framed as a chat, he brought out the best in Mariella. He offered her the job there and then, ‘because I think you are fantastic’.
“She was really, really nervous about the interview. Her confidence from that day rocketed.”
Mariella’s dad said: “Everyone there supported her; her team were so lovely, they changed our daughter’s life. It also meant they got a great worker in Mariella.”
Devastated colleagues and friends from McDonald’s paid tribute to Mariella. One described her as “an amazing, kind, unique, selfless caring girl who would do absolutely anything to make you laugh – it was honestly always a happy moment when I saw she was in work with me”. Another said: “She really did make an impact to my life and always made my struggles seem so much lighter”, with one person telling Christine and Chris: “Your daughter meant so much to so many people, including me who was lucky enough to work with her and have her as a close loyal friend.”
One tribute said “She brightened up everyone’s day, always smiling, laughing, joking, and so very kind.” A further comment said: “She was really good at her job, it just came naturally to her, chatting to customers and keeping everyone positive throughout the shift.”
There were more tributes, including: “You could never be down around her because her positivity really did rub off. She just brought happiness and laughter to everyone’s lives wherever she went” and “She was just the loveliest girl, always putting other people first.”
One McDonald’s customer who left a comment on the Humberside Police Facebook tribute to Mariella said: “I know who this girl is, she made my babies smile, she made our day whenever we saw her.”
A funeral service for Mariella will be held at Beverley Minster on Thursday, May 7, at 1pm, followed by private committal. Spring colour dress code with a splash of yellow is welcomed.
The request is for family flowers only, please. Donations would be appreciated towards The Mariella Rose Foundation.
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