Local family add £35,000 to charity pot after double success at fundraisers

A family who have been tirelessly fundraising for The Sick Children’s Trust for several years have raised a further £35,000 after hosting two charity balls in Chesterfield.

Marcus and Laura Leverton, from Walton, have raised a grand total of £162,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust to thank the charity for supporting them with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when their son, Harry, was seriously ill at 18 months old.

Harry, now nine years old, was rushed to Sheffield Children’s Hospital as a baby after contracting three viral infections, which shut down his airways, caused a bowel perforation and blood poisoning. He had to undergo emergency surgery and was in intensive care and put on a life-support machine. While he recovered in hospital, The Sick Children’s Trust supported his parents at its ‘Home from Home’ Treetop House, minutes from Harry’s bedside.

Ever since, the family have been passionately fundraising for the charity and this year held two charity balls at the Casa Hotel in Chesterfield where guests enjoyed a delicious three course meal, a performance from band ‘Frankie’s Guys’ and a live auction. Dad Marcus, 41, Director at Leverton UK, says:

“Once again both fundraisers were a huge success and our guests were so generous with their support. Everyone had a lot of fun on both evenings but most importantly helped us raise £35,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity very close to our hearts.

“Every penny we have ever raised for The Sick Children’s Trust is our way of saying thank you for the support Treetop House gave my family when Harry was so poorly all those years ago.

“Even today, although Harry is a strong and healthy boy, I still think back to when Laura and I were feeling so scared in hospital that we might lose him. But The Sick Children’s Trust was there to help us, offering us a ‘Home from Home’ so we would never have to leave his side. We were so grateful that we could be right there next to Harry, and not have to worry about travelling or the cost of a hotel. We were both very traumatised seeing our son so poorly and weren’t thinking about where we would stay and what we would do. But the team at Treetop House looked after us, emotionally and practically.”

The charity, which believes keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of sick children, runs ten ‘Homes from Home’ across the country. Two of its ‘Homes from Home’ support families with children undergoing lifesaving treatment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Although the ‘Home from Home’ accommodation is provided free of charge to families with seriously ill children, it costs The Sick Children’s Trust £30 to support a family for one night. Treetop and Magnolia House Manager, Ann Wyatt, says:

“We depend solely on donations from our supporters and every year we are overwhelmed with the ongoing generosity from the Leverton family and their supporters. Words cannot express how much their support means to us, because of them we have been able to support thousands of families with ‘Home from Home’ accommodation and will be able to continue to do so.”

For more information about the Levertons and future fundraising events, please contact Marcus on 07811 182411 or m.leverton@levertonuk.com.