EVIE'S GIFT CIO

Evie’s Gift is a charity dedicated to the memory of Evie Clover, who passed away from a brain tumour in 2018, aged 13. Her father, Bryan, set up the charity in her name after seeing first-hand how many parents slept in chairs on the ward or in their cars, went without food, and incurred heavy parking and travel costs whilst their critically ill children were being treated in hospital.

We partner with major hospitals across the UK in cities including Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, London and Manchester to ensure parents and carers in financial hardship receive the support they need when their child is hospitalised with a life-limiting or life-threatening illness or injury. We award grants to assist with food and travel costs. We can also pay for hotel accommodation immediately after a child is admitted so that parents have somewhere to rest if they are not able to access accommodation through the hospital.

We have supported almost 1,500 families to date, many of them more than once, particularly in cases where children have ongoing or palliative illnesses, or when they are hospitalised for long periods. We have only one paid staff member, no physical office, and have streamlined and digitised our processes so that we can focus our money on the people who need us. Donating to Evie's Gift means your money reaches the people we support.

Gifts of just £50.00 can ensure the parents of a critically ill child are able to eat properly and stay at the hospital while their son or daughter is being treated. Similarly, £100.00 helps ensure a family can cover travel costs to and from the hospital each day whilst also making sure there is food on the table for their other children at home. Our support makes an immediate tangible difference, as little Arthur's mum explains:

'Our third child, Arthur, was born in October 2021. It was a normal birth and we came home the next day. At two weeks, we visited a midwife and she confirmed he was still jaundiced so the day after we were invited to a clinic for prolonged jaundice at Hereford Hospital.

We didn’t think much of it and went to the appointment, but once we were there things started to look more serious. Upon checking his blood pressure, the doctors noticed a distinct difference between the pressure in his legs and his arms. We were whisked off to the Special Care Baby Unit and a doctor diagnosed Arthur with coarctation of the aorta, a life-threatening heart condition requiring surgery to correct.

On the Wednesday, we were transferred via Critical Care Ambulance, and Arthur was put in what can only be described as a small spaceship-like pod to transport him to Bristol Children’s Hospital. Suddenly we found ourselves seventy-five miles (an hour and a half’s drive) from home and our two other children. The hospital provided a bed that evening, but after that we were told we would need to find somewhere else.

Thursday came and we had nowhere to stay as the hospital accommodation – Ronald MacDonald House – was full, so we were pointed in the direction of the Family Liaison Team. They got in touch with Evie’s Gift, who immediately began looking into accommodation for us. They paid for two nights of hotel accommodation and awarded food and travel grants to help us manage these unexpected costs. They subsequently paid another night’s hotel accommodation prior to Arthur’s operation. Fortunately, Arthur’s surgery was successful and he was subsequently placed in intensive care, after which we were provided somewhere to stay by the hospital.

The financial support from Evie’s Gift helped enormously and meant we didn’t have to take on debt – it also allowed us to bring our other two children down to Bristol so we could spend a few hours with them and explain what was happening with their new baby brother face-to-face rather than telling them over the phone, which meant a lot. 

Until you are in a position of need you don’t really appreciate what charities like Evie’s Gift do. They are just incredible, and without them our experience would have been so much harder. When your child is sick you don’t think about sleep, food, money or travel costs, so to have someone else think about that side of things for you means you can focus on being the best parents you can be.

Arthur is now one and he is doing well (that's him below with his bro and sis). He has another heart condition, but with regular scans and monitoring we are hoping he’ll be okay and live a normal life. Evie’s Gift will forever be in our hearts This is a charity we will always support. Thank you just isn’t enough, but thank you.’

So that's us. Our work is very focused. When you help us, we help them. Your money goes where it matters. Simple!