Scotmid customers and colleagues raise £375,000 for CHAS

Last week marked the official close of a highly successful charity partnership, which has seen more than £375,000 raised to help support families in need of care services.

Scotmid customers and colleagues have raised £375,000 for CHAS

Scotmid colleagues, customers and members have raised the funds for charity partner Children’s Hospices Across Scotland, better known as CHAS, along with three other children’s hospices: Jigsaw Children’s Hospice in Cumbria, Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice and St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle upon Tyne.

For thirty years, CHAS has offered full family support services for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

Each week, three children die from an incurable condition in Scotland - and the need for CHAS’ services is on the rise. There are currently more than 16,700 families across Scotland living with the constant fear and heartbreak that their child might die young.

The partnership will ensure CHAS and the other children’s hospices can support families during some of the most difficult times. Funds are being directed by CHAS towards the expansion and development of its vital CHAS at Home service.

CHAS at Home teams provide all the essential care that families would experience in a hospice from the comfort and safety of their own home. This can include everything from nursing care, respite, physiotherapy, fun activities and, most importantly, the emotional support families need to create wonderful memories with their children.

Nicky Bridges, Associate Director of Outreach, said: “We are incredibly appreciative of the efforts made by Scotmid staff, members and customers to raise funds and awareness for CHAS. Thanks to them, we can now reach more families across Scotland, even those in the most remote parts, and provide essential care and respite in the comfort of their own homes during the toughest of times.

“The funds raised through this partnership get us one step closer to achieving our ambitious mission of reaching every child and family in Scotland that needs our help.”

John Brodie, Scotmid Chief Executive, said: “Our customers, members, and staff have raised a fantastic amount. The work of children’s hospices resonates deeply with us all, so we are delighted to be able to make a difference to families and children when they need it most.”

Staff working in Scotmid’s food stores, Semichem stores, Scotmid Funerals and Lakes & Dales stores across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England came together to raise vital funds to support the charities through a range of fundraising events including Kiltwalks and climbing Ben Nevis.

An Aberdeenshire family has spoken in support of CHAS to raise awareness for the specialist work it can now do across the region after they lost their son, Fin, last year when he was only 11 years old.

Mum, Gillian Donald, said: “Many people think CHAS is mainly about the hospice facilities, but don’t realise that they do so much more than that.

“Fin had a very rare degenerative peroxisomal disorder, called D-Bifunctional Protein Deficiency, also known as pseudo-Zellweger.

“During the last few years of Fin’s life, his care needs escalated and included the need for respiratory support through Bi-pap, chest physio, regular suction and oxygen; a special Gastrojejunostomy button through which all his feeds and medicines went to his small bowel and numerous pain medicines to help him with the chronic pain he was constantly in.

“CHAS became involved in supporting us during this time. Spending time in a hospice, with other people involved, was not what we wanted. CHAS respected us as a family and wanted to provide help in a way that worked for us. The CHAS at Home team knew that we wanted to provide fulltime care to Fin ourselves, without having outside carers involved, making the most of every minute with him.

To support this, every few weeks they arranged for two nurses to care for Fin for a few hours, giving us some time to rest, and Fin lots of fun with specially chosen activities. We were always nearby in case Fin needed us, and Fin really enjoyed his special time with the team.

“We are so grateful to them for all they fun and love they gave him.

“Louise Esson, the CHAS Diana Children’s Nurse, became a very special person in our lives. Louise helped us prepare our Anticipatory Care Plan and CYPADM, the formal documentation detailing what would happen when Fin died.

"There are no words to explain how hard it is as a parent to plan for your child’s death. Louise guided us through making these plans, supported us during Fin’s deterioration, and did everything she could to ensure Fin had the right death for him.

“In the last few months of Fin’s life, Dr Fiona Herd, the Aberdeen CHAS palliative care consultant, also became involved in Fin’s care. Dr Fiona was able to come to our home and spend as much time as was needed to help us through Fin’s last few months. We have a lovely memory of a visit from Dr Fiona and Louise a few days before Fin passed away, in which we were all entertained by his love of rude noises.

“We are particularly grateful to CHAS that despite the covid-19 pandemic, Louise and Dr Fiona worked in partnership with the RACH team to ensure that our plans for Fin’s death were honoured, and he died in his own home. We will forever be grateful for all their support during the last few years of Fin’s life. Thank you, CHAS.”