St. Teresa’s pupil, Freddie Howson, tells us about all the fabulous fundraising his school has been doing and how it’s raised £18,000 for Brian House.

What does Brian House mean to St. Teresa’s?

Unfortunately, in early 2017, we lost Charlie Jordan who was not only my cousin, but a Year 6 pupil at our school St Teresa’s. He suffered with a rare DIPG brain tumour for just over a year and he went to Brian House. He was treated with great care as the nurses supported him and looked after him like a part of their family until he sadly lost his battle in February 2017. It is not just Charlie that they did this for – they do this for all of the children at Brian House and continue to do this for every child that needs the care and support Brian House offer. Each individual child is cared for by specially trained staff who treat and supports every child, taking into account their individual needs and conditions. Brian House is an amazing hospice that does wonderful work – we couldn’t do without it in Blackpool and we are forever grateful of the work that they do.

Why do we need to raise money?

The cost to run Brian house for a day is over £3,600. This money doesn’t come from nowhere, which is why they do so many fundraisers throughout the year such as: The Santa Dash, The Bubble Rush, Fun Runs and all other fundraisers by supporters in our local area.

How have St. Teresa’s raised money?

Firstly, our staff did the Yorkshire Three Peaks in October, raising almost £2,000 for Brian House. As well as this, they did a ‘staff soup stall’ during Lent, where each Friday they would make each other soup for a small fee. Across the school, each class held a different fundraising events, such as: Splash the Sixes, toy sales, book sales, a sponsored silence and even a sponsored muddy assault course. We also celebrated Charlie by doing a superhero themed day in his memory; it was so great to see everyone dressing up and getting involved! Finally before Easter, we held an ‘Easter Eggstravaganza’ in which we ran an abundance of ‘eggciting’ stalls! Some of these stalls were a chocolate tombola and the raffle. We also performed a variety of songs for parents in the hall, held an Easter Garden competition and the infants paraded their Easter bonnets!

Overall as a school, we have raised nearly £18,000, which means so much to Charlie’s family and his memory. He will always be remembered in our hearts, minds and our school.

We would like to thank Freddie as well as the staff and pupils at St.Teresa’s primary school, for all their hard work fundraising. We are so grateful for people like yourselves, who take the time to plan and run fun events so that Brian House can continue to provide much-needed care for our children and their families. Well done everyone; we couldn’t do it without your support!

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