Since 2014 families with children in hospital over Christmas have been able to enjoy some festive treats thanks to a wonderful project set up by a Sussex mum in memory of her son Aidan.
Parents Lucy and Simon Pond originally set up Aidan’s Christmas Dinner Project twelve years ago in memory of their little boy Aidan who sadly passed away in 2014 at just 19 months old. Their aim was to raise funds to create beautiful festive hampers and deliver them to families spending the festive season in hospitals across Sussex.
We now run the project, fundraising and recruiting volunteers since Lucy made the decision to step back from the role after 10 years.
Spending time in hospital with a poorly child or premature baby is always difficult, but when it’s over the festive period, it’s even worse. Families are planning for a lovely family celebration at home with all the normal food and gifts, but something will happen that means that suddenly those plans change and they will find themselves unable to have the Christmas they expected as they are stuck in hospital with a poorly child.
But with your help the charity can deliver another year of support to hundreds of families who find themselves in this situation.
Families like Emma, and her husband James, who had their son Rudy two months premature in December last year. Instead of the family Christmas they had planned, they found themselves in the Trevor Mann Baby Unit looking after their baby.
It was an incredibly stressful time but receiving a hamper from Rockinghorse made a huge difference to the new family.
“It was such a scary time. We were completely knocked sideways by having Rudy so early and were just so worried about him that everything else just took a back seat.
“Suddenly we found ourselves in hospital with him over Christmas, which is not where we expected to be at all. All the plans we had were abandoned and we were just living from day to day.
“Then on Christmas Eve we were in Trevor Mann Baby Unit with Rudy and we were given one of the hampers by Rockinghorse volunteers. We weren’t expecting it and if I’m honest, it made James and I burst into tears. It was such a wonderful thing to know someone was thinking of us at such a stressful time.
“We can’t thank you enough for such a kind gesture. It was definitely a very different Christmas than we were expecting but it made a huge difference to all of us.”
The impact on families like Emma, James and Rudy has been enormous. At their darkest moments they have been comforted by the kindness and support of people within their local community and a charity that understands the impact of being in hospital at Christmas time.
Which is why we are appealing to our wonderful supporters to donate to this amazing project and make sure families get that little bit of extra support at what could be a really difficult time.
With your help we can deliver another year of support to hundreds of families like Emma, James and Rudy, who might have no idea that they will be in hospital over Christmas. They are probably planning for a lovely family celebration at home with all the normal food and gifts, but something will happen that means that suddenly those plans change and they will find themselves unable to have the Christmas they expected as they are stuck in hospital with a poorly child.
They are then delivered to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and Trevor Mann Baby Unit in Brighton, Special Care Baby Unit in Haywards Heath and Worthing Hospital.
And on Christmas Day itself, we arrange for another group of volunteers to assemble in the Royal Alex to serve a delicious festive meal to families and staff in the hospital to make sure no-one misses out on some delicious food despite being away from home.
Fran Masey O’Neill, Project Manager at Rockinghorse, is co-ordinating this year’s project. She said, “We are so proud to be able to continue this amazing project that Lucy and her family set up 12 years ago. We have seen first hand the difference these hampers make to families in hospital, and we can’t wait to be able to deliver them again this year.
“We know times are tough but anything people can spare to help us continue this incredibly important project means such a lot to us. So, if you can, please donate to help us support these families.”
If you would like to donate to help make sure this happens, just head over our donation page here, and choose ‘Aidan’s Christmas Dinner Project’ in the ‘What does your donation relate to’ box.
