City Link helps Lucy deliver a huge thank you
24/01/2012
Premium express delivery company City Link has come to the aid of a Lancashire mum raising funds for a Midlands children’s hospital and an associated half-way house for parents of the young patients.
When Lucy Doughty’s baby Charlie was diagnosed with liver problems at just a week old, it led to a four month stay in Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Lucy and husband Ben staying in the adjacent Ronald McDonald House whilst Charlie was in hospital, so they could remain near their son.
Born in August 2010 Charlie needed a liver transplant at three months old. It wasn’t for another month after this that he was allowed home. As Ben and Lucy had been offered free accommodation at Ronald McDonald House for the duration of Charlie’s stay, Lucy decided she wanted to give something back as a thank you – both to the hospital and the house.
With the help of other resident families she gathered pictures of some of the young patients at Birmingham Children’s Hospital for a charity calendar to raise funds for both establishments.
Lucy called on the help of Birmingham printing firm Tudor Print Management to print the calendars and City Link to deliver them 200 miles from her home near Blackpool to Birmingham. Hoping for a goodwill discount to help her in her fundraising quest, she was delighted when both companies offered their help for free.
Tudor Print produced the calendars while City Link delivered them from Blackpool to Ronald McDonald House and the hospital, where they are being sold for £5 each to families of young patients within the hospital. All money raised from the sales will be equally divided between the hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
Lucy said: “From a week old Charlie was really quite poorly. He had prolonged jaundice and had to undergo so many tests and examinations. The transplant itself was 11 hours and then he had another month in intensive care. It was a worrying, stressful time, but the hospital did a fantastic job and Ronald McDonald House is such an excellent facility – I don’t know what we’d have done without it. I just wanted to do something, to give something back. I’d like to say thank you to City Link and Tudor Print for their support.”
Duncan Faithfull, Sales and Marketing Director at City Link, said: “When we heard Charlie’s story it touched the hearts of everybody here at City Link and we were only too delighted to help Lucy in her quest to give something back to the hospital and Ronald McDonald House. We are delighted to see Charlie has gone on to make a fantastic recovery and we wish them all well for the future.”