Pupils raise over £240 to thank charity for supporting teacher

Pupils at Haileybury Turnford School have raised over £240 for The Sick Children’s Trust to say thank you for supporting their teacher when her baby was seriously ill.

Children at the school held a Big Chocolate Tea party which raised £242.50 for The Sick Children’s Trust which supported Arts and Photography teacher, Helen Ledster, when her son Flynn was born 13 weeks prematurely.

The charity supported Helen, husband Daniel and eldest son Bradley with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation at Chestnut House when Flynn was born at just 27 weeks at The Rosie Hospital, over 45 miles away from their family home. Flynn spent a total of 16 weeks on the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the specialist hospital before being transferred back to the family’s local hospital for two weeks. Flynn, who celebrated his first birthday last month, has since made excellent progress. Mum Helen says:

“We’re so thankful that we had the opportunity to stay with Flynn while he was at The Rosie Hospital. It meant we could relax as we were close to him and could be there to do as much as possible in those most important and early days.

“Chestnut House is called a ‘Home from Home’ and it is exactly that. I will always be grateful that I didn’t have the additional stress of being away from Flynn and travelling every single day when he was so poorly. At one point, Flynn’s condition deteriorated so much that it was critical. This was the hardest time of our lives and without The Sick Children’s Trust we would’ve had to leave him, knowing he may not make it.

“Since being home, Flynn has been doing really well and he is very much looked after by his brother Bradley. Earlier this year we were invited back to Chestnut House for its Big Chocolate Tea party and it was really nice to see other parents who had been through a similar situation. We decided then that we would take part in the charity’s Big Chocolate Tea. And what better way to do it than with my school who have been so supportive. The children absolutely loved it and every single pupil bought a cake to help the charity which was incredible. So I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Haileybury Turnford School for their support.”

The Sick Children’s Trust runs ten ‘Homes from Home’ across the country, supporting families with seriously ill children in hospital. Although the accommodation is provided free of charge to families, it costs the charity £30 to support a family for one night. The Sick Children’s Trust’s Community Fundraising Manager Elisa Cappello-Dowd, who attended a cheque presentation at the school, says:

“It was lovely to meet all the pupils from Haileybury Turnford School who got involved with Big Chocolate Tea and made such generous donations.

“As a charity, we rely completely on voluntary donations to keep our ‘Homes from Home’ running. Thanks to the generosity of everyone at Haileybury Turnford School, we will be able to support many more families who have seriously ill children in hospital, and keep them together during these tough times. For that, we would like to say a huge thank you.”

Big Chocolate Tea is The Sick Children’s Trust’s biggest annual fundraiser which encourages supporters to hold a chocola-tea event to raise money to support families with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when their child is seriously ill in hospital.

For further information about The Sick Children’s Trust and Big Chocolate Tea, please visit http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/