Lovely people,
As some of you know, our beautiful son, Ben, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and Lyme Disease in June 2018. He subsequently underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant from an Angel unrelated donor in October 2018.
He relapsed in July 2019 and died in my arms shortly after his 12th Birthday, in August 2019.
Last year, we created beautiful Epic Christmas Gift Boxes for the children on the three wards our Ben was treated in;
Starfish Ward, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth
Piam Brown Ward, Southampton Hospital and
Starlight Ward, Bristol
This year, we have been in touch with the hospitals and understand that with Covid restrictions in place, our lovely Ben’s Epic Christmas Boxes will have to wait until next year.
However, not to be put off, we are setting up a fundraiser to raise money for Ben’s Epic Christmas Amazon Vouchers! This will be a safer option for the families and will still allow us to bring some fun into the ward in a different way for those who are unable to get home for Christmas.
If we meet our target which we’re just working out this week, we hope to offer Amazon cards to siblings as well (perhaps a slightly smaller token gift) and possibly make up a ward box of goodies for the staff in each hospital.
Any funds in excess of the target figure, will be donated to The Rhys Daniels Trust this year, who provided us with accommodation while Ben was receiving his stem cell transplant.
We’ll set up the fundraiser in the next few days. We know that times are tough and extraordinary this year, but we really hope we can find a way to make this happen for these children. It matters so much to us and will be another statue in Ben’s name of his legacy of kindness.
Love to you all xxxxx
