£12,000 THANKYOU
A DEVOTED daughter has raised £12,000 to thank hospice staff for the support they gave her mum during her final 12 days in their care.
Touched by the care given to her much-missed mum Karen, Elizabeth Skelton from Nuneaton was inspired to show her thanks to the Myton Hospice.
The Attleborough resident’s mum was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016 when she was studying for her A-Levels. After going through all of the necessary treatment everything seemed okay, until one day, her mum had a fall, and was taken to A&E.
Upon further investigation into her injuries, it was sadly discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain and, the next day, Elizabeth and her family were told the devastating news that her mum would only have four to six weeks left to live.
But, in a matter of weeks, Karen’s condition had deteriorated and, following a nurse’s recommendation, the family decided to look into the Myton Hospices.
“Our priority was making sure that she was comfortable,” said Elizabeth, who is a University of Leicester student.
“We visited Myton and immediately loved it. Each person has their own private room and bathroom, and there were doors opening out to a beautiful garden. It was really nice because we were able to spend quality time together and be her family.”
Elizabeth’s mum went on to spend 12 days in the hospice, where she sadly passed away on March 22 last year.
Having read a leaflet and saw how much it costs for care at the hospice, Elizabeth was inspired to raise money to ensure that other families could benefit from the hospice’s support.
“One day in the hospice I was milling around the family area and picked up a leaflet,” the second year student in the School of Modern Languages explained.
“It said that it costs around £1,000 a day for each patient’s care and they have to raise £8.8 million this year alone to keep doing the work that they do.
“In that moment I thought ‘I’ve got to do something.’ My dad and I slept in her room so we basically lived at the hospice and were able to stay with her throughout. The staff are amazing. To do the work that they do, you have to be so strong. They are genuinely lovely, and so caring.”
Her fund-raising began by setting up a JustGiving page, where she raised around £1,500 through the generosity of family and friends.
“That gave me a flavour for what we could potentially do”, said Elizabeth.
“And so I thought ‘let’s make this significant.’ I decided to set a target of £12,000, as my mum was in there for 12 days, and it costs just over £1,000 per day. If we could effectively pay for her stay, it would be amazing.”
Elizabeth and her team of family and friends spent the following ten months taking part in numerous sponsored activitiesincluding a ‘Walk for Myton,’ a ‘Glow in the Moonlight’ walk and a golf day.
They also organised an array of their own fundraising eventsfrom selling homemade saltdough models to cake sales, race nights and even laying on an afternoon tea event at Elizabeth’s house.
One of the cake sales took place at the university: “Staff members from my department made all sorts of different baked goods and brought them to the bake sale, I was so touched,” she said.
“They did everything, and were absolutely amazing. That cake sale pushed the total to way over £10,000.
She added: “Both academically and also on an emotional level I have been heavily supported at the University, especially within my school. My personal tutor Michelle rang me every couple of days at home and at the hospice and she genuinely cared about me and what was happening. Michelle was fantastic, she held my hand the whole way and helped immensely with all the mitigating circumstances forms and general things I had to do.
“My seminar tutors Emma and Marc have also been excellent in supporting me with my work and ensuring that topics were communicated sensitively. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a more supportive academic team behind me, pushing me and genuinely caring for me and wanting me to succeed and move forward. So, thank you so much. They are all such a credit to the University of Leicester.”
On February 3, just ten months after Elizabeth began her JustGiving page, she had reached her £12,000 target.
The total currently stands at £12,700, as Elizabeth and the team have since held a quiz night, supported by the University of Leicester through a donation of vouchers to buy raffle prizes for events.
“I’m so pleased that something positive can come out of such a horrible time in our lives,” she said.
“She was the strongest, most amazing woman, my best friend, and this was all for her.”
Charlotte Ingram, director of income generation at The Myton Hospices said: “The fundraising Elizabeth and her family have undertaken in the last ten months is absolutely incredible.
“Elizabeth’s dedication to fundraising in memory of her mum is admirable, and will help Myton to care for more people like Karen, now and in the future. We cannot say thank you enough to the Skelton family for their support and generosity, and to the University of Leicester for all they have done to help Elizabeth.”