I've raised £50000 to make and donate Choob Toob - a pediatric medical garment explicitly designed for children who have a central intravenous line.
Organised by Caitlin Shorricks
Story
Visit tinytesatrust.org for more information
In May 2020, my then 14-week old daughter, Theía, required a Hickman Line to deliver her chemotherapy.
I was concerned that she would pull at her line or catch it under her clothes – I needed a solution and, after a few design modifications, the Choob Toob was born.
Our ambition is to give every child with a central line one completely free Choob Toob before leaving the hospital.
My Aunt, Eva made the first prototype of what is now Choob Toob ahead of Theía's discharge from the hospital. Little did I know that what Eva and I had come up with would also dramatically lower the risk of a line infection.
For 5 months, Theía wore many variations of what is now Choob Toob and she did not have a single line infection or pull her line in all this time.
From our consultant to the nursing team, many people have commented on how rare it is for a child to go infection-free while having a central line and that inspired us to make Choob Toob available to other children in need and so we started the non-profit, community interest company, Tiny Teas Trust.
For 5 months, Theía wore many variations of what is now Choob Toob and she did not have a single line infection or pull her line in all this time.
Our aim is to enable families to reclaim some normality at a time when their lives have been turned upside-down as a result of a baby or child’s serious diagnosis or illness. Tiny Teas relies on donations so that we can provide one free Choob Toob garment to any child with a central line - no matter their age, stage in treatment journey or condition.
Currently, each Choob Toob garment is individually hand-made to order by Eva; which is not sustainable, particularly as word spreads to other hospitals, families, and care-givers.
We want to raise funds to enable us to have Choob Toob manufactured in multiple styles and sizes allowing us to help more children without the wait time of having a Choob Toob made to measure.
This money will also ensure we can keep supporting families through other outreach projects under the umbrella of Tiny Teas and continue to provide one completely free Choob Toob to any child with a central line.
By donating to Tiny Teas, you enable us to continue our outreach to other children receiving treatment and aid in preventing line infections - the knock-on effect being fewer children back in the hospital in between their treatments!
Tiny Teas Trust C.I.C is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, registration number 12971811
Visit tinyteastrust.org for more information.
