Just before Christmas Love Musgrove was thrilled to receive over £17,000 from the family and friends behind Charlie’s Challenge, all raised in aid of the Somerset Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (SNICU).
Charlie spent a number of weeks in the Unit after he was born and so his family spent a lot of time with staff while he was getting better.
Having now turned 1 just before Christmas 2020 and being a happy and healthy boy, and after just under a year of fundraising were able to present the incredible amount to Sue Fulker, Sister of the Neonatal Unit.
So much fundraising happened to help reach the fantastic total and included things like:
- Zoom Zumbathon hosted by Carole-Anne Turner
- Zoom Drag Queen Bingo hosted by Drag With No Name
- Sold donated items online and at Car Boot Sales
- A painting sold on eBay by Ruby Price, a 12 year old twin who was born premature
- A silent auction to sell a piece of artwork by Jurassic Mandela Art, a local artist
- Plant sales and raffles
- Money raised by Minehead Running Club
- Staff at Gwilliam’s of Edington worked in Fancy Dress
Emma and Jo, Charlie’s parents had this to say:
We are completely overwhelmed with the support we had for Charlie’s challenge, it’s so nice when a community pulls together to raise this amount of money. We started off wanting to raise £3,500 in Charlie’s first year.
This was just to say a massive thank you for the support we were given by the SNICU when Charlie was born.
We will never give the unit what they gave us, saving our little boy, but I hope that this money will help to buy more vital equipment to help save and help more babies like Charlie who need this extra support in the first weeks of their precious little lives.
Love Musgrove will have regular updates with what the funds will help SNICU buy, and they look forward to inviting Charlie, Emma and Jo back, when restrictions allow, to let them see what a difference their donation has made.
