Latest News

There’s always something going on in the world of WellChild. Here’s where we tell you about the latest developments – hot off the press. Whether it’s fundraising triumphs, scoops on our work with children and young people or news on any of our many events, this is where to find the latest information.

Pamper yourself for WellChild (February 2010)

Generous diner donates her prize to WellChild (February 2010)

New Chief Executive at WellChild (February 2010)

Collection gives a boost to Helping Hands (January 2010)

Watch a video of our Helping Hands team in action (January 2010)

See the England vs Algeria game in style (December 2009)

Morrisons bag pack raises funds (December 2009)

Thanks for all your support - and please keep it up! (December 2009)

MP's Christmas cheer for WellChild (December 2009)

Christmas e-cards launched! (December 2009)

Duncan Bannatyne brings early Christmas present for children in Barrow (December 2009)

John Evans appointed as new Chairman of WellChild (December 2009)

New hope for sick children in Wales (December 2009)

Dancestars raise the roof for WellChild (December 2009)

Dobbies bring tree-mendous Christmas spirit (December 2009)

Yours Magazine tells Madison's story (December 2009)

 

Pamper yourself for WellChild

Chapel Spa in Cheltenham is holding a special charity week to raise money for WellChild.

Emma Whitelaw, director of Chapel Spa, will be running in this year’s London Marathon for WellChild and she is organising the charity week to help with her fundraising efforts. The WellChild charity week will take place at the Spa in North Place, Cheltenham, from February 15 to 21. To take part in the charity week customers simply need to book a treatment or spa package or purchases products in that week and ten per cent of the proceeds will go to WellChild.

Chapel Spa will also be holding a raffle to win some luxurious goodies and treatments and customers will have the opportunity to sample products, gain extra loyalty points and indulge in a glass of wine and a selection of delicious cakes.

Emma Whitelaw said: “This is an amazing opportunity for me to run the London Marathon and help support WellChild. We have had held charity events before and they have always been extremely successful and is a good excuse for people to be pampered and support a good cause at the same time”

WellChild Chief Executive Colin Dyer said: “We are very grateful to Emma and to Chapel Spa and its customers for supporting us in this way. You can be sure all the money raised for WellChild during the charity week will be used to help seriously ill children and their families in the UK with our programmes of care, support and research.”

To book a treatment during Chapel Spa’s charity week, please call them on 01242 518075 and donate to be pampered!

 

Generous diner donates her prize to WellChild

A Cheltenham woman won an air ticket to Thailand at the opening night of a restaurant in the town – and immediately donated it to WellChild to help our work.

Almost £240 was raised for WellChild at the grand opening of the Thai Family Restaurant in Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham on Friday evening (Jan 29) thanks to a donation from the restaurant and a collection among diners. Now WellChild plans to use the ticket to Thailand to raise even more funds to help sick children and their families in the UK.

Generous winner Carol Fennell, from Hales Road, Cheltenham handed her prize to WellChild. She said:  “I think that it’s a very worthwhile charity and as lovely as it was to win, I would like to give it back to WellChild for it to work twice as hard for the cause. 

“We were just passing by and weren’t planning to go for a meal.  We thought why not when we saw the WellChild banner outside and thought it quite fun when we realised it was the Thai Family Restaurant’s opening night!” 

The second lucky winner of a prize ticket was Laura Brewer, 20 from Winchombe Street, Cheltenham.

WellChild Chief Executive Colin Dyer said: “The evening was a great success and we are very grateful both to the Thai Family Restaurant and to Carol Fennell for her generous donation. You can be sure the money will be put to good use in our programmes of care, support and research.”

Proprietor of the Thai Family Restaurant Sarasil Sathienkarn said: “We are delighted our first night went so well and that we were able to offer some help to WellChild and the sick children they support. We look forward to many more evenings of good food and good company.”

 

New Chief Executive at WellChild

WellChild, the national charity for sick children, has appointed Colin Dyer as its new Chief Executive.

Colin, 41, has been promoted to the post from his previous position as Director of Marketing and Communications at the charity, and has been in the role of Acting Chief Executive for the past few months following the departure of the former CEO.

He joined WellChild in 2008 and has overseen the marketing, media and event operation for WellChild at a time when the charity’s profile and activity has increased significantly.

Having worked at senior level in the media and then marketing sectors, Colin spent the five years before his arrival at WellChild heading the marketing and fundraising operation for the Steve Redgrave Trust.

He said: “WellChild is a very ambitious and committed organisation with huge potential and I am looking forward to growing and developing the charity with the aim of reaching as many children, young people and families as we possibly can. I am relishing the challenge.”

Chairman of WellChild’s Board of Trustees John Evans added: “We are delighted to appoint Colin to the post of Chief Executive and have great confidence that he will be able to provide the focus our team needs as we grow and develop over the coming years. We all share the same resolve to increase the services and funding we currently provide, and Colin will now play a vital part in implementing our ambitious strategy.”

 

Collection gives a boost to Helping Hands

WellChild would like to give a big thank you to 3D Entertainment Group, the Echo Trust and all the customers and staff of the Chicago Rock Cafes in Manchester, Warrington and Wigan who raised almost £300 towards our Helping Hands projects in the Greater Manchester area. We are extremely grateful to everyone for their support. Find out more about the Echo Trust from their website here.

Helping Hands is a scheme which enlists the support of volunteers from local companies to carry out improvement projects in the homes and gardens of sick children. If you know of a sick child who would benefit from a home or garden makeover or know of a company who could provide volunteers please contact Lee Trunks our Helping Hands Manager on 01242 530007 or e-mail at Helpinghands@wellchild.org.uk

 

Watch a video of our Helping Hands team in action

Here’s the chance to see a video showing WellChild’s Helping Hands scheme in action.

In August last year WellChild took a team of volunteers from John Lewis department store in London to the home of Mr and Mrs Saglam is Southwark whose son Bekir  has a serious condition which causes him health problems including learning difficulties and weakness in his arms and legs. During two days of hard work the team was able to remodel the garden making it a safe, pleasant place for Bekir and his family to enjoy.

WellChild was put in touch with the family by the charity Contact a Family which provides support, advice and information for families with a disability. Contact a Family made a video of the garden transformation taking place so now you can see the WellChild team hard at work here.

 

See the England vs Algeria game in style

Why not take the chance see one of England’s key World Cup games in style – and raise money for WellChild’s work with seriously ill children at the same time?

As official partner of the Team England Footballers Charity WellChild is organising a fantastic event in central London where guests will watch the England vs Algeria game live on the big screen and enjoy a great evening’s entertainment.

The event, on Friday June 18, will take place at the Brewery in London – starting at 6pm for the 7.30pm kick off. As well as the live match broadcast, the evening will include a drinks reception, celebrity host and guests, dinner, an exclusive interactive prize draw, football games and competitions, after dinner entertainment and England stars from the past will be in attendance.

As well as being a great evening out with colleagues or business contacts the event will raise vital funds for WellChild’s work of care, support and research for seriously ill children and their families throughout the UK.

To register your interest in the event click here.

WellChild is an official partner of TEFC right up to the end of the World Cup – the players donate their wages from England games to charities including WellChild and they have also appeared at WellChild events, met the children we support and taken part in other fundraising events such as contributing their handprints for WellChild’s Christmas Cards.

For more information on the event please email events@wellchild.org.uk or call 0845 458 8171.

 

Morrisons bag pack raises funds

WellChild raised and amazing £845 at a bag packing event at Tewkesbury Morrisons on December 19 when around 20 volunteers turned up to raise money and support the cause.

A team of helpers aided busy Christmas shoppers at the store from 9am to by packing their groceries for them in return for donations which will go to fund WellChild’s work of care, support and research for seriously ill children in the UK.

WellChild Communications Officer Chris Hill said the event was a huge success and he thanked Morrisons the shoppers and the WellChild volunteers for their kind support.

“It was a great day and everyone at the supermarket was lovely. We are very grateful to all the volunteers who came along to help us and they can be sure the money raised will be well used in our programmes of care, support and research,” he said.

WellChild is always on the lookout for volunteers to help at events and if you wish to volunteer please contact Cheryl Clapham at WellChild on 0845 458 8171 or email volunteer@wellchild.org.uk

 

Thanks for all your support - and please keep it up!

WellChild’s Christmas Cards in partnership with the England football players have been a huge hit this year – with more than ten thousand sold throughout the country bringing in vital funds to help sick children and their families.

And our Christmas Nurse appeal has also hit the mark – provoking a great response from our supporters who have read about it in our newsletter and online.

 

But our appeal goes on as we still need to raise as much money as possible so we can further roll out our WellChild Children’s Nurse programme nationwide.

Our Christmas cards featured England and Chelsea captain John Terry, his club-mate Ashley Cole, Aston Villa pair Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, and Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge. They lined up to paint their hands and make their mark so that seriously ill children could decorate the prints with Christmas designs to make the novel and unique cards. They proved a great success selling well across the UK.

Meanwhile our Christmas appeal highlighted some of the success stories we have had getting children home from hospital and some of the cases where children are still in hospital – longing to be back with their families.

We still need as much financial help as we can get to expand our team of nurses – our eventual aim is to offer help to every seriously ill child and their family who needs it. If you would like to donate to WellChild click here.

 

MP's Christmas cheer for WellChild

WellChild was featured on Christmas cards sent by Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood to 25,000 homes in the town this year.

The design on the front of the cards was a drawing of a robin by seven year old Finnley, who has a complex and serious bladder condition and is one of the many children WellChild helps. Inside the card was Finnley’s story and a short explanation of the work of WellChild.

Each card carried a message from Liberal Democrat MP Mr Horwood who said: “WellChild is a charity based in Cheltenham which helps seriously ill children and their families right across the UK. Having seen their work first hand, I know how valuable a Christmas gift to them would be.”

Mr Horwood also sent out another 25,000 cards promoting the work of the Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund which is based at Cheltenham General Hospital.

Martin Horwood said "We're lucky to have a wonderful NHS locally but even with fantastic professional care, there is always a little extra help that can make all the difference to people and families facing illness and sometimes difficult treatment.  LINC and WellChild both support those coping with illness in their different and highly specialist ways and I know that those who have used their services cannot praise them highly enough. 

“Cheltenham should be very proud of both charities and I'm certainly proud to do a little to help them.  I know money is tight for many people this year but anyone who is in a position to support them will know that their gift will be very much appreciated."

 

Christmas e-cards launched!

If you have not sent Christmas cards yet and fear it’s too late – don’t panic – we have the answer with our exclusive e-cards created with the support of the England football team. The e-cards feature the work of some of the children WellChild supports and the handprints of England football stars - click here to start sending Christmas greetings!

England and Chelsea captain John Terry, his club-mate Ashley Cole, Aston Villa pair Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, and Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge lined up to paint their hands and make their mark so that seriously ill children could decorate the prints with Christmas designs to make the novel and unique cards.

The printed version of the cards has been a huge success – with card sales running into many thousands - our printed cards are still available to order here for a few more days only - buy some for next year!

 

Duncan Bannatyne brings early Christmas present for children in Barrow

One of our Ambassadors, Duncan Bannatyne, was on hand to welcome the latest addition to our unique and growing team of WellChild Children’s Nurses. From the start of December 2009 WellChild Nurse Melanie Hill will be working with families of children with long-term and complex care needs in and around Barrow-in-Furness.

Duncan, the Dragon’s Den star and multi-millionaire businessman' has donated more than £150,000 to WellChild to help fund the new WellChild Children’s Nurse in Cumbria. This appointment guarantees a WellChild community children’s nurse for families in Barrow for years to come with the aim of giving these children the best possible start in life.

Duncan has been supporting us for the past few years and is a regular at our annual WellChild Awards ceremony, presenting Awards this year alongside WellChild Royal Patron Prince Harry at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel.

Duncan’s attendance at that ceremony – which celebrates some of the bravest young people in the UK as they cope with serious illness and allows some of the children cared for by the charity to mingle with celebrities – has given him the chance to learn more about the work of the team of WellChild Children’s Nurses. At the 2009 Awards Duncan made an impassioned plea to the star-studded audience to follow his lead in supporting WellChild so that other areas of the UK could benefit in the way that Barrow is about to.

All of the WellChild Children’s Nurses attend the WellChild Awards ceremony, and it was that opportunity to listen and learn about their work which first led Duncan to investigate the possibility of investing in the growth of the team. He said: “The work which is being done by WellChild and the WellChild Nurses across the country is absolutely remarkable, but there is so much more to be done.

“Having looked at the way in which WellChild fund their team of nurses, and the fact that the funding ensures a long-term resource for families with seriously ill children in each region, it really made sense for me to invest. I would urge as many people as possibly to join me in investing in the future of these children and young people.”

WellChild Nurse Melanie has experience of working in both a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Community Team, Primary Care Out of Hours General Practice and Paediatric A&E services. Her appointment was welcomed by several local families with experience of seriously ill children, including Mum of Harrison, Jo Holmes from Barrow, who joined staff from NHS Cumbria and WellChild in selecting the right person for the job.

Dr Amanda Boardman is NHS Cumbria’s Deputy GP Lead for Children’s Services based in Barrow. She commented: “The new WellChild Nurse is an addition to a large and expanding team of community-based specialists in Furness. By working alongside these families in hospital and at home she will provide them with the vital personal support they need, closer to home and help people access the excellent services already in place and planned in Cumbria. We are delighted to commit to the long-term funding of this invaluable post which exemplifies all we are striving to achieve for children’s health services in Cumbria.”

 

John Evans appointed as new Chairman of WellChild

John Evans has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at WellChild, the national charity for sick children, following a board meeting held on Thursday (December 3rd).

John, who has been Acting Chairman of the charity’s board for several months, is Managing Director of Osiris Commodity Consultants Ltd which operates in the wholesale energy markets.

Previously he was with the Spectron Group for 12 years, a global energy broking company, where he was MD of business development. He started as a money broker in 1974 and later spent 17 years with EXCO ending up as Director of Capital Markets before moving into what was then the new market of energy in 1996. At Spectron he ran the UK electricity desk for five years before moving into a senior management role.

John has been involved with WellChild since 1981 when he participated in a hot coals walking event, and has been a Trustee for the last seven years. He is married to Linda and has one son Paul, who works in the City, and enjoys golf and travelling.

New hope for sick children in Wales

WellChild is funding a new post at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to provide a WellChild Children’s Nurse. This role will help seriously ill children with complex health needs across South and Mid Wales to leave hospital and return home with the care and treatment they need. The new nurse post was launched on December 7.

The WellChild Children’s Nurse, Rhian Greenslade will be based in Cardiff as part of the Children’s Community Nursing Service and will work with staff and the community in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to support families locally and from a wider population across South and Mid Wales.

The WellChild Children’s Nurse will arrange and coordinate the care needed for children to live at home as well as providing emotional and practical support.  Rhian has previously worked with children and young people with complex health needs in Ty Gwyn Special School in Cardiff.

In those parts of the UK where there is still no WellChild Children’s Nurse to provide a dedicated link between all the health professionals and different services required to care for a child with complex health needs, children can remain in hospital for months, even years, when it is better for their emotional and physical wellbeing to be at home with their families. It is also more cost efficient to care for a child at home than in hospital.

Children who will benefit from the new WellChild Children’s Nurse are those like baby Daniel who was born at 24 weeks and has serious breathing problems. Daniel might not have had to wait 12 months in hospital while the care he needed was prepared if a WellChild Children’s Nurse had been available to start the planning his discharge home as early as possible and to follow up on all the necessary arrangements.

WellChild’s pilot Children’s Nurse programme began in 2006, and the success of that pilot has resulted in the creation of permanent posts in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London and Oxford. A further nurse will be added to the team in Cumbria in 2009 funded by a generous donation from WellChild Ambassador and entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne.

WellChild continues to fundraise to add to its team so that long-term sick children across the United Kingdom will benefit from these services. WellChild’s programme ensures that each new nurse appointment has a long-lasting impact. A WellChild Children’s Nurse costs approximately £55,000 per year, with the charity provides funding for the first three years. The relevant local healthcare authority should then continue that post’s funding and management to guarantee an on-going legacy of care.

Linda Partridge, WellChild’s Director of Programmes, said: “We have worked to make sure that the essential service now provided by WellChild Children’s Nurses in regions of the UK have a long-reaching impact. Our target is for every seriously ill child or young person to have access to a WellChild Children’s Nurse, and I am delighted that we have now been able to extend that support into Wales.”

WellChild’s research demonstrates that at any one time there are around 200 children in England alone who have been in hospital for more than three months. Many of these children have spent the majority of their lives sleeping in wards rather than bedrooms and, because of all the specialist care they need, they are unable to join their parents and siblings even for key family events such as birthdays and Christmas. Our Better at Home campaign, in conjunction with the Royal College of Nursing, explores the issues around improving care for children with complex health needs at home will be moving into Wales in 2010.

The WellChild Nurses programme was established to address this clear gap in the provision of care and support for sick children with long-term serious illness and complex conditions. They provide practical and emotional support, where often no other support exists, allowing such children to be cared for at home.

Dancestars raise the roof for WellChild

Youngsters from Gloucestershire dance school Dancestars put their heart and soul into their performance at their Christmas show on Friday and raised £450 for WellChild, the national charity for sick children.

Dancestars is based in Gloucester and teaches ballroom and Latin dance to pupils of all ages, from young children to adults. Its Christmas party took place on December 4 at St Peter’s Social Club, Gloucester.

At the event pupils from the school put on a cabaret of dance and acting based on a pantomime of Robin Hood to show what they have been learning throughout the year. Money was raised through ticket sales, a raffle and a collection for WellChild, the national charity for sick children, which is based in Cheltenham.

Dancestars principal Sarah Hall thanked everyone who came along and made the evening such a big success.

“It was a fantastic evening full of energy and enthusiasm,” she said, “I’m really pleased everyone turned up to support Dancestars on our 10th anniversary and raised such a lot of money for a good cause too.”

WellChild Communications Officer Chris Hill said: “The dancers put on a fantastic show and the support WellChild received at the event was wonderful. It was a pleasure to go along to see everyone enjoying themselves and tell them a bit about the work WellChild does for sick children and their families.”

 

Dobbies bring tree-mendous Christmas spirit

Garden Centre chain Dobbies is asking the public across the country to get in the festive spirit and send in photographs of their beautiful Christmas trees, in a competition which will raise money for children’s charity WellChild.

All you need do to enter is take a photo of your brilliant Christmas tree and send it to Dobbies via their website here. A prize of £250 in Dobbies vouchers will go to the winner in each of four categories – most traditional tree, most colourful tree, most stylish tree and biggest tree.

And in the true spirit of Christmas, for each picture uploaded, Dobbies Garden Centres will donate 50p to WellChild, up to a maximum of £2,000 – to aid the charity’s work with seriously ill children throughout the UK.

To take part in the competition simply go to the website and send your picture with a short description of your tree and say which category you are entering. The closing date for entries is 9am on December 24, 2009 and the winners will be announced on December 28, 2009. A panel of judges made up of Dobbies plant experts, visual merchandisers and interior designers will select the winners

WellChild Chief Executive Colin Dyer thanked Dobbies for their support.

“Christmas is a time for children and they all love the tree and colourful decorations so it is fantastic that Dobbies have chosen to support us in this way,” he said.

“The money people help to raise by sending in photos of their wonderful Christmas trees will all be put to good use in WellChild’s work of care, support and research to help sick children and their families.”

 

Yours Magazine tells Madison's story

The current issue of Yours magazine has a feature about one of the young children supported by WellChild - two year old Madison who is now at home with her family thanks to the help of WellChild nurse Elaine.

The popular fortnightly magazine tells the story of Madison’s illness and her fight to get well enough to return to her family home in Lancashire after spending most of her life in Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool.

Yours tells Madison’s story through the eyes of her gran Colleen Laffy and Collen’s mum Margaret both of whom are delighted to have Madison back at home in time for Christmas.

In the article Colleen tells how both she and great gran Margaret have done their best to help out the family throughout the tough times when Madison was in hospital and how delighted they both are to have the little girl back at home with the familiy where she belongs.

Margaret says: “Madison is full of fun and mischief. She’s really excited about Father Christmas leaving toys in her bedroom. At the moment she’s learning to walk so she’ll be involved in everything that is going on around her.”

You can read the feature on the Yours website here

Madison’s story is also part of WellChild’s Christmas nurse appeal in our current newsletter. You can download the newsletter here