Turn a kind thought into real support for families like Carmela’s.
Being isolated from loved ones is a reality that the families cared for by Julia’s House experience every single day. For them, the pandemic has added an extra layer of vulnerability to their already uncertain lives.
Lockdown has been especially sad for young Carmela, who has the muscle wasting condition Muscular Dystrophy.
Carmela has been missing her dad, who spends his days delivering COVID-19 test kits to hospitals. The odds of him coming into contact with the virus are so high that he sleeps in a log cabin in the garden.
“I was really anxious because Carmela’s muscles are so weak now that catching coronavirus would almost certainly prove fatal for her,” explains mum, Lucy. “She could not cuddle her daddy. He would stand at the window and they would communicate using sign language.”
Carmela also missed her Julia’s House carers and needed some distraction from her aches and pains and the sadness of it all.
“To start with I was really cautious and didn’t want anyone in the house for fear of infection, even though the nurses and carers were using strict infection control measures to keep families safe.
“Once she started having care sessions again the giggles and the laughter returned, she was upbeat and happy again. Carmela had them doing all sorts – dressing up as mermaids complete with PPE, lots of crafting and she even got them to pretend to give birth to her dollies!
“These visits didn’t just boost Carmela, they helped me too. They took my mind off a myriad of things and gave me the mental space I was craving.”
We’ve been there for families throughout the pandemic, caring for seriously ill children in their own homes and supporting mums, dads and siblings, too. Our nurses and carers are in regular contact, delivering food and vital medicine or providing virtual play sessions and story times – we’re helping to keep them safe and well at home and relieving the pressure on local NHS services.
But did you know that for one in four of the children, this vital care is funded by Gifts in Wills? These gifts have never been more important now traditional fundraising has been swept away due COVID.
We understand that it’s a tough time for many people financially at the moment, but the wonderful thing about legacy giving is it costs nothing now. So, you can turn a kind thought today into real support for families in the future.
A Gift of just 1% can make 100% difference to a child just like Carmela. Find out more about leaving a gift in your Will and discover our new online Free Wills Service at www.juliashouse.org/legacy