DOORSTEP DONATIONS

RAISING OVER £1300 FOR GREAT ORMOND STREET

Wow! What can I say?! This was an experience I will remember and treasure forever. I am lucky enough to be in a friendship group with some other lovely photographers. During the pandemic we all had to temporally close our businesses. We missed doing what we loved best, photographing people. Once restrictions aloud, we all did our individual doorstep projects to raise money for charity.

I chose to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. A dear friend of mine works at GOSH. What the staff do there is amazing. Throughout my fundraising many people spoke to me of how they have been directly helped by GOSH. The work they do there is vital to not only help our little ones but support their families. At the time I starting Doorstep Donations my baby, Aidan was just 8 months old. During his first few months he was admitted to hospital on more than one occasion. Seeing your little one poorly is just so utterly terrifying. Having had Aidan admitted to hospital so close to the pandemic, seeing how busy the hospital was night and day even then, really brought home how very much the NHS need our help especially now during this COVID-19 crisis.

Over the course of a month I photographed nearly 60 families during the weekends. Thankfully I never had a rain delay’s but did once have to stop due to heat exhaustion. 100 thanks you to the lovely lady (who happened to be a nurse) that sat me down and gave some water. Speaking of lovely people, but not only did people donate to very generously to my campaign but I got given wine, chocolates and even some flowers by a variety of clients. Their gifts were not at all expect but were very much treasured. The kindness of all the lovely people I photographed will never be forgotten :).

All in all we raised over £1300 for Great Ormond Street. I was in communication with the fundraising team during Doorstep Donations. They were able to give me the following information about where the money will go.

Your donations will help us to:

Support research into cures for childhood diseases and to develop better ways to treat patients.
Fund specialist equipment to deliver better care to our young patients.
Rebuild two thirds of our hospital, replacing outdated and cramped wards with modern facilities.
Provide accommodation for parents to stay near their child when they need it most.
£1,291 could fund a week’s research on a project in Dr Karin Straathof’s lab in London, aiming to harness the power of the immune system to treat a rare and aggressive childhood brain tumour that currently has no cure.
£1,283 could fund a week’s research on a project in Professor Andrew Copp’s lab in London, helping to discover the causes of a devastating brain defect associated with spina bifida, and explore whether groundbreaking surgical techniques that can be performed while a baby is still in the womb could help reduce the effects.