Kate: I’ll plant a hospice sunflower to remember your brave little brother
THE Duchess of Cambridge has vowed to plant a sunflower in memory of a little boy whose brother raised £18,500 for the hospice that cared for him.
Kate’s pledge came as she and the Duchess of Cornwall spoke to Stuie Delf, who ran more than three miles every day in memory of his brother Fraser, nine.
The children’s hospice in Milton, near Cambridge, where Fraser spent his final weeks saw a dramatic drop in fundraising because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stuie’s feat was inspired by that of NHS fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore, 100.
Cheered on by neighbours, Stuie, 13, initially aimed to raise £500. But by last week he had nearly £16,000 and with gift aid it had become £18,500. Stuie said:
“Fraser wasn’t just my brother, he was my best friend.”
Kate and Camilla spoke to Stuie and parents Stuart and Carla, of Huntingdon, Cambs, during a video call with charity representatives. It was released yesterday to mark Children’s Hospice Week.
Kate tells Stuie:
“I hear you’ve been doing lots of fundraising, which has been amazing,”and
Camilla said: “You must be very fit.”
The family spoke about the seven weeks they spent living in the hospice with Fraser before he died in January from Coats plus syndrome – a rare condition that affects multiple organs and causes brain abnormalities. Kate, 38, asked how the care had been at the hospice run by one of her patronages, East
Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (Each). Stuart, 42, said: “She said she was going to plant a sunflower in memory of Fraser,” adding that it would be at an Each hospice.
The sunflower is the emblem of hospice care – a symbol of joy with the seeds representing patients and the petals symbolising love, care and compassion.
Carla told the duchesses hospice staff arranged for a vicar to come so she and Stuart could renew their wedding vows for Fraser, who never understood why he was not in pictures of their big day.
Kate, who became patron of Each in 2012, described the work of children’s hospices as extraordinary and awe-inspiring.
She and Camilla were joined on the video call by Eddie Farwell, co-founder and CEO of Children’s
‘He wasn’t just my brother, he was my best friend’... Fundraiser Stuie Delf, 13, below, with Fraser, nine, who died in January
Hospice South West, and Clare Periton, chief executive of Oxford’s Helen & Douglas House, the world’s first children’s hospice. Camilla is patron of both charities.
Eddie, whose children Kate and Tom died from a rare degenerative disorder after spending time at Helen House, said the Covid-19 lockdown had forced the charity to do more community work.
Clare said: “Our doctors have never done as many outreach visits and nor have our team.”
Camilla, 72, thanked hospice staff “for the incredible job you do and allowing families to treasure their moments together”.
Recalling her visits to children’s hospices, she said: “It’s an uplifting experience, isn’t it, going in? Which was the opposite to what I thought it was going to be.”