A team from our Sheffield office will be taking part in the Sheffield Half Marathon on 7 April 2024 in aid of our office charity, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

We have chosen this charity as it is, apart from being an extremely worthy charity in any event, close to many of our hearts having provided support to one of our colleagues who had a beautiful baby girl, Nancy, in 2020.

After 9 days in hospital mum and baby were allowed home. Everything seemed to be going well, until after being at home for a week, Nancy had a fit and stopped breathing. Dad resuscitated Nancy whilst Mum called 999.

After a week in the Children’s Hospital Nancy was again allowed home, the doctors having diagnosed reflux. A week later this happened again with Nancy having to be resuscitated by her dad. A further week in hospital and Nancy was again discharged with a diagnosis of reflux.

A week later Nancy had a third episode, only this time when Dad resuscitated her she went on to have another fit. Nancy was rushed by ambulance back to hospital, where she remained for around four months on a ventilator whilst the doctors ran numerous tests. A diagnosis of mitochondria disease, a life limiting genetic disease for which there is no cure, was given.

Mum and Dad made the difficult decision to return home with Nancy to spend what precious time they had with her. It was at this time that Blubell Wood became involved, offering the family much needed support. They sent a team of experts to the home assisting with the specialist care Nancy required, daily at first, then less as Mum and Dad learned how to provide Nancy with the intricate care she needed, even rushing to their aid during the night when needed.

Three weeks after returning home Nancy passed away in her parents arms.

Bluebell Wood support children and young adults whose lives are, unfortunately, too short. All of their services are completely free to the families of those they support, however this means that they cannot operate without generous donations from members of the public.

To that end, we have selected Bluebell Wood as our charity to support throughout 2024 in the Sheffield office to ensure that those who need the support of Bluebell Wood are able to access their services.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.