EMMIE NARAYN-NICHOLAS
Schoolgirl leukaemia patient and her family were inspired to provide meals, support and comfort to the families of seriously-ill children
EMMIE, 11, was taken ill after returning from a family holiday in 2017 and diagnosed with leukaemia. She spent a total of 100 days and nights at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and has received two and a half years of treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. She was able to finally ring the bell to mark the end of her treatment in December 2019.
While in hospital, Emmie saw how patients’ families struggled with being away from home at the most stressful time of their lives. As Emmie underwent treatment, her parents, Eve, 42, and Stephen, 45, were lucky enough to receive home-cooked meals from grandmother Jacqueline and friends. Stuck in her hospital bed, Emmie noticed how other parents existed on snacks and fizzy drinks.
That was when she came up with the idea of making wholesome, home-cooked meals for the families of other patients.
“We live locally, so people were able to drop food parcels over for my mum and dad,” says Emmie. “But not everyone has that luxury, many families come from really far away and are by their children’s bedside all day and night. They just basically survive as all they want to do is to be with their child.
“What I wanted to do was offer food served with love.”
In June 2018, she started Emmie’s Kitchen at the Ronald Mcdonald House next to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital which supports families with children in the hospital.
Emmie’s Kitchen is open to all parents with a child staying at the hospital. Since starting, it has served more than 3,500 people and is now a registered charity.
“It was all Emmie’s idea,” says her mum Eve, who works for a local authority in Manchester. “The idea of the kitchen is so much more than just providing a meal. It is about support, and a place