In Memory of Paula (Polly) McRae

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you will be able to support our cause. Any donation, no matter how small, will mean a huge amount to us and will provide resources to a hospital in Haiti that is going above and beyond to support its community.

Why are we raising money?

My Mum, Paula (but affectionately known as Polly) was a true hero for my family and the community she worked in. She married my Dad, Phil, when they were both 23, after growing up as high school sweethearts before giving birth to me at 24 and my Brother, Matt at 25. Growing up both my brother and I were given more support than we could ever have asked for, with our parents going above and beyond to give us the best possible education and support both of us
through our passion of rugby. Our parents were ‘super supporters’ and growing up they never missed a game, even when both of us were playing twice a week in different places they would divide and conquer to ensure Matt and I had someone shouting for us on the side-lines.

Although rugby was a huge passion for both of us, books came first, a point that neither of my parents let us forget. My Mum in particular would never shy away from giving us a talking to when our school reports came back with anything less than an A. I didn’t always understand this growing up, why was the name of Henry XIII 3^rd wife important? (Not a point I would dare to raise to Mum.) However, both Matt and I would agree that we would not be where we are now without the support, guidance and love Mum and Dad gave to us growing up. 

Mum was a Nurse Practitioner and Partner at Frome Medical Practice. She loved her job and was a huge part of the local community. Those that worked with her will remember her infectious laugh and passion for her work, going above and beyond to support all of her patients. In 2007 Mum was awarded as Nurse Practitioner of the year, a huge accolade for the commitment she put into her role and her community. Eventually Mum had to stop going to the supermarkets in Frome after; everyone knew who she was and would stop her for a chat (or worse, a consultation!) and so it would take her half an hour just to get some bread and milk. Frustrating for my Mum but a true representation of her ability to quickly build a repour with her patients and how ingrained she was in the community. 

Tragically Mum was killed in a car crash in 2019 and as you can imagine this left our family devastated. Both Matt and I had left home at this point and were living with our partners, leaving my Dad home alone, although with a lot of close friends for support. With my Mum spending all of her career helping others my Dad decided to quit his job and use the 25 years’ experience he had in the Royal Navy and his project management experience since to support a number of charitable organisations. In the last three years he has worked out in Australia with ‘Team Rubicon’ to support communities cleaning up and rebuilding after the major bush fires of 2019-20, he then worked with them on an initiative called ‘Salute the NHS’, set up by Ron Dennis formerly of Formula 1, to provide a million meals to frontline NHS workers during the COVID pandemic and has just spent the last year in Haiti with Hope Help Action supporting Hopital de la Convention Baptiste d’Haiti (HCBH) on a number of projects to improve the care it provides to its community. 

The way my Dad has reacted to this tragedy has been inspiring. Not only has he supported Matt and I through this incredibly difficult time, while dealing with his own grief, he has also been selfless in his support for charitable causes to make a difference, in memory of Mum, who dedicated her life to caring for others.

What are we doing?

Inspired by this my partner Chloe and I, with support of our dog Ozzy, are taking time off work to walk the full length of the 630-mile SW Coastal Path. We aim to complete the journey in 44 days, averaging 15 miles per day including two rest days and will be camping each night. We will be starting the trip in Minehead in early-May and finishing in Poole mid-June.

To keep track of how we are getting on we will be updating our Instagram account cbtm_doggos with our progress. 

What will the money fund?

In 2007, Hope Help Action (HHA) co-founded Hopital Convention Baptiste d’Haiti (HCBH), a general hospital in northern Haiti which is now one of the region's leading facilities.  HCBH is a 100+ bed hospital that employs 270 Haitian staff and supports over 20,000 patients a year.   

In 2012 HHA co-founded the hospital's Maternity and Neonatal Unit which now supports over 1,600 deliveries a year, helping some of the region’s most high-risk pregnancies.  The neonatal unit is also a regional referral unit and supports over 600 babies a year, receiving premature babies from as far as 75 miles away.  The hospital also provides general and orthopaedic surgery, trauma, internal medicine, rehabilitation and other clinical services. Every day through HHAs support, HCBH provides life-saving care to those across northern Haiti.

HHA is working on a number of projects currently and therefore we have decided to focus on a couple that resonate with us. We have set a target of £1500 which will go towards: 

     - The first £500 pounds will go towards supporting solar power improvements as Haiti has no mains electricity and so solar is critical to the operation of the hospital

     - The second £500 pounds will support the replacement of the water main in the hospital. A new well has recently been dug but all of the water pipes need replacing and there are plans for new sinks to improve hygiene.

     - The final £500 will be used to overhaul the garden attached to the respite care centre, called Maison de Benediction, allowing it to be accessible for all children at the hospital.

     - Finally, if we are lucky enough to receive any donations totaling over £1500 we would be donating it to the 'exoneration' program. This program has been set up to help parents in Maternity, Neonatal ICU and Paediatric wards that are unable to afford their hospital fees (almost all healthcare in Haiti is private)

If you would like to find out any more information about the charity we will be donating to, Hope Help Action, and the work it is doing to support the Hopital Convention Baptiste d’Haiti, please follow this link https://www.hopehealthaction.org/87+1133/Projects

Thank you very much for taking the time to read about what we are doing and why and I hope you are as inspired as I am by both my parents’ commitment to caring for others. We appreciate every donation to our cause, no matter how small.

Tim, Chloe and Ozzy