“LET MY CARE BE YOUR LEGACY”
FIVE-YEAR-OLD CARMELA STARS IN JULIA’S HOUSE RADIO CAMPAIGN
A new radio campaign from Julia’s House children’s hospice aims to raise awareness of how Gifts in Wills help the charity support children with life-limiting conditions in Dorset and Wiltshire. The campaign is voiced by five year-old Carmela Chillery-Watson, one of the children who benefits from legacies of this kind. Time is precious for Carmela, who has an aggressive rare form of Muscular Dystrophy which causes her muscles to get progressively weaker.
Amy Martin, Legacy Fundraiser for Julia’s House said: “People who leave a gift in their Will are supporting one in four of the children we care for. That’s a tremendous legacy to leave, and costs nothing now to do. We hope that when the time is right, people might consider that even by leaving just 1% from their Will to Julia’s House they will be making a life-changing difference to children such as Carmela.”
Carmela, who lives in Wiltshire with her mum Lucy and dad Darren, spent an exciting day recording three thirty second adverts, which air on local radio stations in Dorset and Wiltshire this summer and autumn.
Mum, Lucy, said: “By leaving a gift in your Will you would be helping Julia’s House to provide respite to families like ours. Julia’s House is a lifeline for us as a family and Carmela’s carers are just amazing with her – all I hear are her giggles and screams of laughter. It’s normally just me and Carmela 24/7 as my husband works away most of the week. It can get very difficult emotionally and physically but knowing Julia’s House is there once a week, to provide a couple of hours respite for me to have some time to feel like me again, gets me through it.”
Julia’s House relies on public donations such as legacies for 95% of the money required to run its vital service. The charity currently supports 166 families across Dorset and Wiltshire. Medical and scientific advances are enabling more children to be born and live longer with life-limiting conditions, and because of this the number of children requiring the support of the charity is expected to have increased by 40% by 2022.
To find out more about leaving a gift in your Will to Julia’s House, call Amy Martin on 01202 644220 for an informal chat, email [email protected] or go online to juliashouse.org/legacy where you can request your FREE Gifts in Wills guide.
Photo: Carmela Chillery-Watson with mum Lucy