THE SUSSEX SNOWDROP TRUST

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The unique local charity for local children who have
life threatening illnesses.

The charity provides
Care at Home for these children,
with nursing and financial help for their families.

THE SUSSEX SNOWDROP TRUST

When a child is diagnosed with a life threatening illness, the entire family and community is affected -

Mothers and Fathers,
Brothers and Sisters,
Grandmothers and Grandfathers,
Aunts, Uncles & Cousins,
also school friends, family friends and neighbours.

all are grateful for the support that The Sussex Snowdrop Trust is able to provide .

'Snowdrop' helps families to cope with the day-to-day problems of caring for a very sick child by providing nursing, emotional and financial support, at home ........surely, the best place to be.

Children diagnosed with a life threatening illness spend some time in hospital receiving treatment or undergoing an operation, but for most of their lives they are at home living life to the full. And it is here that parents need special support.

Sometimes children become terminally ill, and parents usually chose to care for their child themselves, at home. Here they can be supported, not only by their own families and friends, but also by the Snowdrop Care at Home nurses, counsellors and Dr Wallace, who are on call 24 hours a day,at this very difficult time.

The Sussex Snowdrop Trust Care at Home Team and the Community Paediatrician Dr Ann Wallace, who heads the Team, work from offices in Barnfield House, on St Richard's Hospital site.They are provided by the NHS/PCT

HISTORY OF THE CHARITY

In 1992, Dr Ann Wallace, the Community Paediatrician for the Chichester area, and Children's Ward Sister, Beth Connolly , researched the needs of families who were caring for a seriously ill child .
They learnt from this research that parents

* wanted to know more about their child's illness.

* They also asked if someone, possibly a qualified nurse, could give them some time off for themselves, and also so that they could give more time to caring for other children within the family

* They wanted to be shown how to look after their child.
e.g. To perform simple proceedures such as
changing dressings and giving medicines
To be shown how to feed their child, particularly if the child has a nasal -gastric tube.

* They also said that they needed financial help, as caring for a very sick child put huge demands on their resources. Travelling to and from hospital was very expensive; household bills, such as electric and telephone costs increased during this stressful time.

Some couples were in financial difficulty because the mother, who had been working, had to give up her job to look after the sick child. In other families, the father has to look after siblings
and many want to be with their child when they are in hospital .
Financially, enormous pressures are felt by many parents.

Dr Wallace and Sister Connolly unsuccessfully applied for a Government Grant to provide the service that they knew these special families needed , so they turned to The Friends of St Richards Hospitals for help However,their constitution made it impossible to provide funds for community care and so 3 members of that Committee offered to set up a charity which would provide the funds to address the needs of these local families.
Kate Shaw, Diana Levantine and Frank Snell, were the Co-Founders of the charity, and launched 'The Sussex Snowdrop Trust' in 1993.
(Sadly Frank Snell died in April 2004.)

The Sussex Snowdrop Trust is managed voluntarily by the
Chairman Diana Levantine who keeps in daily contact with the Snowdrop Care at Home Team
Every request made by a member of the Team for financial help for 'Snowdrop' families, is acted on as quickly as possible.
The Administration Office for the charity is in West Stoke north of Chichester.
and the Office Manager is Joanne Rule.

Fund raising for the charity is incredibly important as over £240,000 is spent annually on direct

family care.. which includes employing the Care at Home Team of nurses and counsellors and the urgent financial help that is given to parents.

The Fundraising Committee, who are also the Trustees of the Trust, meet every month. They help at all events organised for the charity by other groups,clubs, churches, schools etc., and at all events organised by the Trust.

TRUSTEES

Mrs Geraldine Hamilton President
Mrs Diana Levantine Chairman and Co-Founder
Mrs Pauline Blumer
Mrs Marilyn Brooks
Mrs Suzi Clark
Mrs Elizabeth Edwards
Lady Miranda Emmet
Mrs Rita Hope
Mrs Kate Shaw Co-Founder
Mrs Valerie Seddon

Di Levantine and Kate Shaw worked from their homes for the first 12 years and in 2006 rented an office at West Stoke
the address is :

3 Kingley Centre
Downs Road
West Stoke
Chichester
West Sussex
PO18 9HJ

Tel & Fax No : 01243 572433
e-mail address : sussexsnowdrop@btconnect.com

Registered Charity No 1096622
Registered Limited Company (Limited by Guarantee)No 4557686

The Chairman gives talks about the work of the Trust to Groups such as WI, Rotary, Lions, Schools etc. So, if you know anyone who manages the Speaker's diary for an organisation, and would like to hear more about the work of the Trust, please ring
Jo Rule on 01243 572433 to arrange a convenient date/time etc.

Civic Awards were awarded to Kate Shaw and Diana Levantine in February 2008 by the Mayor and Councillors of the Chichester Council.

THE QUEENS AWARD

In 2005 The Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, Hugh Wyatt, presented The Queen's Award for Voluntary Services to Kate Shaw and Di Levantine, the Co-Founders of The Sussex Snowdrop Trust, who had been nominated by local people who appreciated their tireless and voluntary management of the charity over the previous 12 years

In their speeches,
Di and Kate dedicated the Award to all volunteers who have worked in many different ways for the charity :
- the exceptional Snowdrop Committee, many of whom have been members since the charity was founded in 1992
- the Snowdrop Volunteers, who give so much of their free time to support the families
- many other people in the community who have supported the charity by raising money and helping at events .