Local community doesn’t play around and donates hundreds of items to Christmas Toy Appeal!

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity is delighted to announce that it received a HUGE response to its Christmas Toy Appeal, so much so that over 500 items were donated to help young patients over the festive period.

Most contributions were via the Charity’s Amazon Wish List, a carefully selected list of toys, games and other activities compiled by the hospitals’ Play Specialists. And while the majority of people chose to be Secret Santas, quite a few were keen to unveil their identities in order to thank staff for having cared for their own little ones in the past.

Local organisations also got involved by arranging collections among their employees or members including Cobham Scouts, Santander Sutton, Rosebery School, Sutton Synagogue, RWW Plumbing and Heating, Rotary Club Carshalton and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association.

Items donated included plasticine and play-doh, colouring pencils and felt tip pens, stickers, fidget cubes, wooden railways, various craft activities and lots of seek-and-find books (with ‘Where’s the Unicorn Poo?’ proving a particular favourite!) and even a portable DVD player.

Play Specialists Emily King and Kristy Parrack said: “On behalf of our all our colleagues across the Trust’s children’s services, we wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has donated to the appeal. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of the public, especially when the pandemic continues to make life hard for so many people. Every single item is much appreciated and very welcome and really has helped us to spread some cheer among those children who still had to visit hospital during the festive period. What’s even better is that many of the items will be used throughout the year, so they’re not just for Christmas!”

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity is launching a Write a Will Week which runs from 27 September to 1 October to highlight the importance of writing a will.

Whether you think your wishes would be considered quite typical or a bit more unconventional, a will is the only way to make sure your money, property, possessions and investments (known as your estate) go to the people and causes you care about. With no will, the law decides how to deal with your estate which is not something very many would want for their loved ones.

Yet 54% of UK adults still haven’t written a will.*

If you are one of them, Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity has teamed up with two reputable firms who are providing free will writing services to their supporters and to guide you through the process. 

Crown Law Solicitors LLP, a local solicitors’ firm based in Morden, are waiving their fees (normally £175-£350 +VAT ) to the first 15 supporters who book an appointment during our Will Writing Week starting Monday 27 September and finishing on Friday 1 October 2021. The appointment can take place in their office or remotely by phone or Zoom. Alternatively, you can contact national estate planning company Dunham McCarthy who provide a will writing service over the phone for ESTH supporters all year round.**

Gifts generously left in wills (also known as legacies) for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity are a vital source of income which help towards funding those ‘above and beyond’ projects for the hospital and their community services. There is no obligation to leave a gift in your will to the Charity but if you would like to do so, for the benefit of future generations of patients and staff, it would be much appreciated.

To book your appointment with Crown Law Solicitors LLP, please call 0208 175 6733  or email enquiries@crownlawsolicitors.com and mention that you are booking as part of the Epsom and St Helier Hospitals ‘Write a Will Week’.

Please visit their website for more information: crownlawsolicitors.com

To book an initial 30 minute call with Dunham McCarthy please visit: dm-legal.co.uk/esthc/

*According to Which? research 2018

**Throughout the course of your consultation with a full qualified solicitor or estate planner, you may choose to use other services in preparing your will which may incur a cost. They will ensure that you are always provided with a full and transparent break-down of these costs and you are not obligated to accept any of these services.

A grateful mum is running the London Marathon to raise money for the Neonatal Unit at St Helier Hospital as a thank you to the service that saved her twins’ lives when they were born 11 weeks early.

Local Carshalton mother of three, Camelia Garrett, 47, is taking on the 26.2 mile challenge to give something back to the team who cared for her children when they arrived prematurely back in 2003. Camelia said: “The twins are going to be 18 later this year, but I still remember those early days being cared for on the Neonatal Unit like it was yesterday.

“When Etti and Owain were born so early, it was an immensely frightening and distressing time, but the Neonatal Department were absolutely fantastic in every way. Using my London Marathon place to fundraise for the department seemed like the perfect opportunity to give back to them, and to support the wonderful staff who work there now.”

But in fact, some of the staff who cared for Etti and Owain still work in the department and remember caring for Camelia and her children. Fiona Herbert, now the Department’s Administration Manager, said: “I have worked here for 25 years, and still remember Camelia and the twins when I was a clinical member of staff. It’s always difficult when newborns need care with us, so the fact that Camelia thinks of us fondly and is fundraising for the department is really lovely. Of course, we wish her the very best of luck and hope she’ll pay us a visit with her medal!”

Camelia has undertaken a gruelling training regime to get ready for the big day on Sunday 3 October and her aim is to complete the event in five and a half hours. Commenting on her training, Camelia said: “I am sure all of the hard work will pay off! But I couldn’t do any of it without the continued support and encouragement from my family and friends!”

To support Camelia’s fundraising, please visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Camelia-Garrett1.

If you would like to take on a challenge or host an event to raise funds for Epsom and St Helier hospitals (even a specific ward or community service), please visit www.esthcharity.org.uk

Two lucky staff members have each bagged themselves £1000 from playing Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity Lottery for just £1 a week. See what they had to say about winning!

Emma who works at the Woodlands Nursery at St Helier Hospital said: ‘The funny thing was that I was at the hospital cashiers with my friend, and when I saw the Lottery leaflets there I told her that I played it but that I’d not won anything yet. Then a week later, I got home on a Monday evening, and there was a letter with the cheque inside – it was such a lovely surprise! First of all, I used some of it to treat my family to a really nice meal. And then it came in very handy to fix the car when the exhaust fell off! I’m saving the rest for a rainy day.’

Thomas, a doctor at Epsom Hospital, said: ‘I had signed up online about a year ago at £1 every week. I recently returned from a visit to my parents and bereaved aunt in India to find the cheque in my letter box. I was extremely grateful to God for having won this. The travel home had been very expensive with all the COVID testing, multiple cancellations and rebooking at escalated rates. Though this amount didn’t cover it, it helped ease the burden.’

So if you’d like the chance to win £1000 or even the £25,000 jackpot you have to be in it to win it! Sign up today and you’ll be supporting the hospitals and community services at the same time!

Once again frozen food retailer Iceland in Wallington and their customers have supported Team ESTH and raised over £1200 with their fun-tastic fundraising! During June and July, long-serving employee and Charity Champion Joani O’Brien donned her charity cap and helped raise funds with a range of in-store activities including a raffle and tombola.

Dr Neelani Nackeeran from St Helier hospital – and a Wallington resident – visited Joani and the team at Iceland this week to thank them for all their hard work and support throughout the year. And we’re pleased to report that we’ve been selected as their ‘Charity of the Year’ – so keep an eye out on what they have planned next!

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity (registered charity number 1049197) always welcomes support from local people and businesses – if you would like to find out more about the charity, fundraise or make a donation, please email team@esthcharity.org.uk or call 01372 735262.

On May Bank holiday weekend twenty primary schools across Sutton took part in the Captain Tom 100 Challenge to raise funds to support Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity. As long as they reached the target of 100, the young pupils could do whatever they liked. So they hopped, skipped, walked and ran their way to raising a staggering £28,000!

The fundraising will initially help fund services and equipment which was discussed and agreed upon by children at school council meetings held via Zoom before the event.  In recognition for all their hard work during the pandemic, the council chose first and foremost to support staff health and wellbeing. They also wanted to help the Magic Carpet appeal for Casey Ward’s young patients, and then they added a new bladder scanner for Urology to the list, and got to learn about why we have bladders at the same time!

To celebrate this massive achievement, forty pupils – two from each school – gathered on the Open Space in front of St Helier hospital. Collectively they handed over a huge cheque befitting the size of their fundraising to Deputy Chief Nurse Marion Louki, Hazel Gleed of the Women’s and Children’s Division, and Joanna Cooper of Urology who in turn took the opportunity to thank the children for their phenomenal efforts.

Marion Louki said: “Raising £28,000 for our hospitals is an absolutely remarkable amount! On behalf of my colleagues here today and everyone at Epsom and St Helier, we can’t thank the children enough, and all the grown-ups who no doubt gave them a helping hand! They are truly another shining example of our community, and also of the younger generation, coming together to thank and support their local NHS. They are ALL heroes.”

We were recently invited to a presentation at St Christopher’s School in Epsom to congratulate all the young pupils on raising an amazing £3094 for Casey Children’s Ward at Epsom Hospital! The school’s fundraising has made a huge contribution towards the ward’s Magic Carpet Appeal.

Deputy Head Boy Rumi and Deputy Head Girl Holly gave a speech summarising everyone’s fundraising ventures, which included using their pocket money from completing household chores (such as making their bed) which was then deposited in small Ambulance Money Boxes provided by the school. Rumi and Holly’s speech was followed by an orchestral interlude, and then Head Boy Reis and Head Girl Megan handed over the large cheque for Casey Ward. Also on show was a magnificent mosaic Magic Carpet created by the pupils.

Thank you St Christopher’s – we’re truly grateful for all the kindness and hard work of the children (and the grown-ups!)

Between Friday 30th April and Tuesday 4th May, around 20 schools across Sutton took part in the Captain Tom 100 challenge to raise money for #TeamESTH.

Pupils participated in sponsored walks, runs, hops, and skips to reach their 100 targets, and there was even a ‘guess how many sweets on the cake’ game – we’re thinking the lucky number was 100!

Thank you to all the pupils and organisers for choosing to support Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity with their mammoth fundraising event. We can’t wait to hear what the grand total is – we’re sure it’s going to be BIG!