Being the Easter Bunny!

Monday, May 08, 2017


Before we get on to the good stuff, apologies for the long delay in posting. On the plus did I've been up to lots of fun things and will be writing lots of posts so keep an eye out or sign up to subscriptions so you don't miss any! 

Right! As you may have seen in my last post, I had an idea to fundraise to provide Easter goodie bags for patients on the transplant wards at Harefield hospital. Check out that post in full here  Anyway, people were so generous it was amazing! Here's a proper update to show you how they turned out. 

To start with I was aiming to provide a few goodies for the two wards. One of my first donations was from Harper Collins  who were so kind that they donated books to everyone on the Harefield wards. It was such a kind thing to do and very much appreciated. Then I had a message from Walker books offering some children's books. It was too good an offer to turn down! So I extended the goodie bags to the respiratory ward at Great Ormond Street too. They looked after me as a child and it was a memory of someone bringing me an Easter bunny while I was in over Easter that made me want to put the whole thing in place! 


It was a lot of fun to go round and find deals/offers and sale items that would be great for the Easter baskets! I got a great deal on Easter eggs, and searched discount shops etc for other gifts for kids of different ages and for items requested by other transplant patients. Popular choices were moisturisers, something to entertain, and snacks. I felt a real responsibility to shop in order to make your donations stretch as far as possible.


These were all the bags by the time my mum and I finished packing! 

I also made some baskets for the nurses on the wards because they definitely deserve treats too.

I was in contact with a few of my old team at GOSH who were able to give me the gender and age of the children on the ward. There were a lot of 1year and unders so I had to run out last minute for a few more supplies. A typical bag as pictured below included a book, a soft toy, an egg, a lolly and some bubbles.

This bag was for an older boy of around 7, he received a sticker book and stickers, an Easter craft kit, an Easter egg, a lolly, some haribo, and a joke kit.


Last example is for an older girl of 11. She received, an Easter card making set, haribo, Easter egg, lolly, crime egg, a scrapbook kit, some felt tips and sticker/sweet box.

Unfortunately I was unable to deliver the bags in person due to illness and also wouldn't have been able to go onto the ward because of being immunosuppressed. My parents delivered them and the staff were so grateful! I heard many reports of how it made the kids days. 

 

This gorgeous photo was sent to me by one of the mums whose two boys were on the ward, Kristie. She said that the boys really liked their Easter bags which kept them entertained over the quiet Easter weekend and sent a huge thank you. On the left is Ronni and on the right is Fredi. This photo is exactly why I wanted to do this, to give these kids a bit of treat and create those smiles! Everyone who helped to donate did that. 

 


The next day, we packed the car with 34 goodie bags and drove up to Harefield to deliver them. I made a video of what went into the bags and am hoping it's going to appear here!!!! 




One of the lovely nurses Helen helped us to deliver the bags and I was able to meet a lot of patients. They were all really grateful, and surprised at how packed their bags were! Many were a bit shell shocked to be getting anything at all. I had a couple of lovely messages saying thank you from patients. Below is a photo of Angie, with her bag.


I also had an email from the ward sister who said how much positive feedback she had received from patients and how we had made lots of people smile. Again, these messages made all the hard work worth it. 


A huge thank you to everyone who donated to my just giving page. Due to the success, I'm planning on doing the same thing for Chrristmas too. There was some money left over and I have already bought a couple of Easter bits in the sales as well as a few Christmassy bits and lots of adult colouring books and crossword/sudoku books and felt pens to go in Christmas bags. I'll be picking things up as I see them and will be reopening my fundraising page ifs gone would like to donate. 

Often mental health can struggle during such long and gruelling hospital stays. These little things just say, you are not alone, and hopefully provide some positivity, humanity and distraction.

Xxx










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