Their Foundation supports families who are coping with a seriously ill child.
The death of a child is an incredibly sad event. Sometimes, despite the best efforts of medical science and incredibly skilled people, the death cannot be avoided.
But there’s always hope.
And that is what parents cling on to. They’ll do everything in their power to help their child survive. Some children are born with incredibly complex conditions…for others, those conditions only appear in later months and years.
However, as their child fights for their life, parents have some incredibly difficult decisions to make because, although their world has been turned upside down, everything else continues around them.
Which is precisely where Sarah and Christopher Cookson found themselves, not once, but twice. Their first son, Charlie, died in October 2013 at the age of two, and his brother, Carter, died only 25 days after he was born on Boxing Day, 2018.
Sadly, Sarah and Christopher aren’t alone in facing a hugely emotional time as a family…and that’s why they set-up the Charlie and Carter Foundation to help other families who are experienced what they went through.
“One or both parents sometimes have to give up work for the simple reason that any child will always receive the best care when it is given by their parents,” said Laura Forbes, Charity Fundraising and Events Manager at The Charlie and Carter Foundation. “The only problem is that bills still need to be paid. Medical care can also be expensive purely in terms of transportation, having to shuttle from home to the hospital. Some parents are lucky in that they have supportive employers, but that’s not always the case and, if someone voluntarily leaves work, they can be not only be left with zero income but they also miss out on any potential benefits.
“Nobody plans for something like this…it’s something which comes at you like a bolt from the blue and means that it is very easy to slip into debt. When dealing with illness in a child, the parents will inevitably be quite young and have very limited funds in terms of savings. But what do you do? Do you go to work or do you go to the hospital? We all know what any parent would do without giving it a second thought.”
Sarah and Christopher had to drastically reduce their working hours to care for Charlie and Carter. Imagine the stress of looking after a sick child but also worrying about utility bills, mortgages, car insurance etc. It was that experience which led them to set up a foundation to help people get through the difficult times.
The Charlie & Carter Foundation provides financial support to parents of seriously ill children with life limiting conditions that require 24-hour nursing care or specialist nursing facilities. Support will generally last up to three months and can be as much as £3000. The Foundation will take care of bills and help with expenses as well as providing a bereavement fund which will help cover funeral expenses.
Every penny provided by the Charlie and Carter Foundation has come from fund raising efforts. The Foundation has a popular shop in South Shields which specialises in the sale of clothes. They also raise funds via a market stall, Facebook site and ebay.
One of their biggest fund-raising events is the annual ball in October (Charlie’s anniversary month). The ball has become a key fixture in the region’s social calendar. This year it will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead on October 25th. The ball, sponsored by South Shields based HTG, attracts up to 300 people. Company tables are always a big success…each table has 10 places costing £80 per head.
You can also make individual donations or become a Friend of Charlie and Carter Foundation whereby you give a monthly donation.
Out of incredible sadness, a wonderful charity has been formed. Sarah and Christopher know what some families have to go through. They want to help those parents get through a stressful time.
Visit thecharlieandcarterfoundation.co.uk or call 0191 466 1428. You can also email contact@ccfemail.co.uk