A Welford family have undertaken two fundraising projects in order to support a charity which made it life easier for the couple when their child needed to have lifesaving heart surgery. Sarah Walpole and her partner, Jody, were able to stay at The Sick Children’s Trust’s Guilford Street House on two occasions, four nights in April 2011 and 16 nights in October 2012, when their son, Theo, underwent heart surgery. Now, Sarah’s mother Clare, 50, has hosted a Big Chocolate Tea Party on Sunday April 14 at the Community Centre in Welford, raising £225.
According to Clare, “Theo was born with Congentially Corrected Transposition of the Greater Arteries (CCTgA) which in short means the bottom chambers of this heart are the wrong way around. He was born with the condition but had defied everything doctors have said and is our little miracle. He was transferred to be treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital but as we live in Welford in rural Northamptonshire it would have been impossible to travel to and from London every day and very expensive to find accommodation nearby.’
Clare noted that, without the charity, family wellness would have suffered during this time. ‘Without the support of The Sick Children’s Trust we wouldn’t have been able to stay together as a family so we want to give something back that will hopefully benefit others,’ she explained. ‘We had a brilliant time at the event. We were selling home-made chocolates delights as well as running a raffle and book stall too.’
She added that this isn’t the only event the family is carrying out to thank the charity for taking care of their wellbeing. ‘This is the first Big Chocolate Tea Party I have hosted for the charity but this year there are also nine of us including myself and my three eldest children, Sarah, James and Tom running in The Great North Run for them,’ Clare said. ‘My youngest daughter also wanted to run but she is only 16 so has to wait until next year. We couldn’t resist the challenge!’
Clare was inspired to do her event as part of the Sick Children’s Trust’s Big Chocolate Tea Party campaign, which encourages people to host chocolate–themed tea parties to raise funds for the charity’s eight houses across the UK, which provides accommodation to families of sick children. Clare noted, ‘Theo is doing much better now so we can focus our attention on helping the charity that means so much to us.’
Fundraising Family Inspired by Heart Surgery Child’s Care
