The Sheffield branch of a national building company has started a fundraiser to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust.
MKMB is the largest independent builders merchants in the UK and the Sheffield Parkway branch has been raising money for the charity who provide specialised housing for families with sick children.
The annual charity fundraiser, which will take place next month, has become inclusive with the company’s ethos to raise awareness of what the charity provides.
The fundraiser involves online donation where people can donate through a paypal account ran by Sheffield Parkway’s manager Colin Day, or the donations are accessible on a Facebook page.
The fundraiser was set up following the death of 12-year-old Lydia Trinder, who was the daughter of a close friend of Sheffield Parkway MKMB’s manager Colin Day.
Mr Day, who is also chair of the #TeamLyds fundraiser said: “To date we have raised a massive £21,079 which is phenomenal.
“This equates to 527 nights of accommodation for a family at ones of our houses.”
Sheffield schoolgirl Lydia died in 2016 after she was diagnosed with pulmonary atresia, a congenital heart defect and Alagille’s syndrome which affects the liver.
Mr Day said: “In the weeks and months that followed Lydia’s illness, friends, family and the local community rallied together to raise awareness and funds for the family’s adopted charity, The Sick Children’s Trust.”
Mr Day said without this charity, Lydia’s family wouldn’t have been able to stay at her bedside and give her the love and support she so desperately needed.
“Each room costs roughly £10,000 per year to run and maintain. Our goal is to sponsor a room in Lydia’s name so that another family can benefit from this amazing charity.”
Mr Day added: “When Lydia passed away I became an ambassador and wanted to promote the charity trust.”
The fundraiser the company have set up is named #TeamLyds, to honour the amazing life she had before she had that cruelly taken away from her by the severe heart defect.
Richard Stainthorpe, Communications Manager of The Sick Children’s Trust, said: “Colin Day is a wonderful supporter of the SCT. We supported the Trinder family at our Rainbow House ‘Home from Home’ while Lydia was being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
“We provide welcoming, comfortable ‘Homes from Home’, to keep families together when they have a seriously ill child in hospital.”
Mr Stainthorpe added: “Two of our ‘Homes from Home’ are located in Sheffield, with both Treetop House and Magnolia House supporting families of sick children being treated at Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital.”
In 2021, the charity’s Sheffield Homes from Home supported over 500 families, providing more than 6800 nights of accommodation.