Harry and Sam raise £33,000 at family’s annual charity balls

Two young Chesterfield brothers have helped their parents raise a grand total of £196,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust to thank the charity for supporting their parents over nine years ago.

For the first time, brothers Harry and Sam Leverton ran the show at the annual Leverton Ball, a charity gala dinner, organised by their parents, Marcus and Laura Leverton, for The Sick Children’s Trust. The duo received a film star welcome as they opened the evening and thanked everyone for attending the event to support the charity on their behalf.

The Sick Children’s Trust runs free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation for families with seriously ill children in hospital and in 2009 supported Marcus and Laura at its Treetop House when Harry required lifesaving treatment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Since then, the couple have held an annual charity ball, which in recent years has been held twice in a month, to raise nearly £200,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust’s ‘Homes from Home’. But this year, it was Harry and Sam whose smiles stole the hearts of the guests, raising an additional £33,000 for the charity. Ten year old Harry, who is now thriving, says:

“We had lots of fun on the night, Sam and I did the raffle and when we went round we also told everyone about a signed David Beckham shirt and Antony Joshua boxing glove which we had for auction, which was really exciting! Thank you to everyone who came to the ball and for helping The Sick Children’s Trust.”

The Sick Children’s Trust runs ten ‘Homes from Home’ across the country supporting families with seriously ill children in hospital. In Yorkshire, there are three houses, Treetop and Magnolia Houses supporting families at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Eckersley House, supporting families at Leeds General Infirmary. Although the accommodation is provided free of charge, it costs the charity £30 to support a family for one night in a ‘Home from Home’. Dad Marcus, who hopes to top the £200,000 mark by the start of 2019, adds:

“This year was the first time that the boys could be at the event for the entire night and it was great fun. At every ball we produce a video that features them both so that they are always part of the night, and this year we based it on Mission: Impossible. We had a countdown and the boys entered the room to a standing ovation – it was an incredible moment.

“I am so proud of my sons. Seeing them standing on the stage and thanking all the guests was a real proud dad moment for me. They did an excellent job on the raffle too, raising thousands of pounds! They are two very inspirational young people, and I know that they will go far and continue to help this charity so close to our family’s heart.

“The Sick Children’s Trust was there for us at a time when Harry was critically ill. And as the boys have become older they have understood a little bit more about what the charity does. I have spent 500 hours this year pulling together the two gala balls but it has been worth it to see how much money they have raised and to know how many families are going to be supported because of this.”

The money raised by the family so far is enough to provide over 6,500 nights of ‘Home from Home’ accommodation to families with seriously ill children in hospital. Treetop House Manager, Ann Wyatt, says:

“We would like to thank Harry, Sam, Marcus and Laura from the bottom of our hearts for the years of commitment and dedication they’ve spent helping more families with seriously ill children in hospital. The amount of money they have raised has had a significant impact on so many families whose lives get thrown into turmoil when their child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or involved in a serious accident, and we can’t thank them enough for that.

“We know that they will reach their £200,000 target and we will be with them every step of the way!”

For further information about The Sick Children’s Trust, please visit http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/