Graham and Gill's Appeal in memory of Edward
We appreciate that everyone is always after your money for charity but, in memory of our grandson Edward, we are asking our friends and colleagues to help us support what we think is a wonderful charity - the Evelina Family Trust. (We apologise that we can't claim to be running marathons or cycling round Britain, but 2009 was a bit of an uphill marathon in itself for our family!)
The Evelina Family Trust provides for a need that most people wouldn’t even realise exists until someone close to them is suddenly the one needing it. As a family, we were really impressed by the facilities and the non-intrusive support provided by this small charity which has only three full time employees + volunteers.
When a child is seriously ill and has to be treated in a big city hospital, quite far from home, his/her parents, brothers and sisters want to be close by so they can visit many times a day, or be in the ward instantly if he takes a sudden turn for the worse, day or night. But they also need to eat, sleep, wash, do laundry and have some private thinking and talking time away from the clinical atmosphere of the ward.
Accommodation in central London is incredibly expensive, and this is where the Evelina Family Trust at Ronald Macdonald House comes in. It provides free, simple, comfortable, self-catering accommodation and support for families of very sick children being treated at the Evelina (the new children’s hospital on the St Thomas Hospital site). The current house is near Guy’s Hospital but the facility is soon to be relocated to a building on the St Thomas’ site. The trust also equips and maintains a few bedrooms and a kitchen/sitting room, in the actual hospital, for short stays by parents of critically ill children in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
It needs to raise £300,000 a year from donations to carry on its very valuable work, so any contributions are very welcome.
For anyone who did not know about Edward: He was born with a very rare metabolic condition which meant that he could not produce enough energy for his needs. After a precarious first month of life, he astounded everyone by bouncing back and living a very nearly normal life, of much enjoyment, at home, out and about in Surrey, West Sussex and Edinburgh, and on holiday in Ireland and County Durham, for almost a year. In the early summer of last year, however, the illness began to affect the respiratory centre of his brain and he gradually became unable to breathe without support. When it was realised that nothing more could be done to help him, he was transferred from PICU (the paediatric intensive care unit) at the Evelina to The Chase Hospice for Children in Guildford , where he died peacefully on 10th July 2009. (see Clare and Michael's pages to support the hospice)
There is also an appeal to buy entrance hall bricks, at £50 each, which can have your own or your company's name on.You can find the form for that, and more information about the charity, at www.ronaldmcdonaldhouse.org.uk. Click fundraising at the top; then bricks.
(If you should buy a brick, do let us know, or mark your form as in memory of Edward, if you would like us to add your donation to the off-line total.)
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate
