A Birthday Treat For Scarlett
Following on from the social event held at Chichester on 11th
September 2021 to commemorate our first Admiral, Bob Dixon, the charity
funds raised were presented to Scarlett and her family by the current
Admiral (Colin) and the Purser (Tony) at her family home in Chichester
on 11th November 2021.
About 15 months ago Scarlett, an active and energetic 10 year old, suddenly found herself with no feeling in her legs and is now in a wheelchair having suffered a Spinal Cavernoma.
The family moved to Chichester recently and the Pallant Cork Lodge were
very pleased to present a cheque for £500 to Scarlett who is 12 years
old on 13th November 2021. Scarlett is thinking of having a new
laptop computer for her birthday which will help her tremendously with
her studies at school.
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A Little Help For Scarlet
Following
the last meeting of the Pallant Cork Lodge in Chichester on 29th
February 2020 the charity funds raised were still being held by the
Purser, awaiting presentation to a worthy cause. Through a
local neighbourhood news letter Fran Hoare, Mark’s wife, spotted the
right deserving cause.
The
Admiral (Colin) and Jimmy-the-one (Mark), suitably attired and
socially distanced, were able to present a young family with a small
token of financial support on 27th November 2020. The picture
shows Scarlet and her mother Bianca, of Barnham West Sussex, accepting
£500 (placed on the chair) from the Pallant Cork Lodge.
Scarlet
is 9 years old and is suffering from a brain tumour. She is on a
course of 130 Chemo sessions (69 still to go). As can be
seen here Scarlet is too weak to stand unaided and is being supported by
her mother. The presentation was very quick due to being unable
to enter their home and the weather being too cold for Scarlet to be
outside for more than a few minutes.
We wished them well for the future and left Scarlet with a lovely smile on her face.
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Latest Corkies Donations – July 2020
As
a result of the Coronavirus outbreak and the efforts made by many
charities and organisations to continue their sterling work with
diminishing resources, Pallant Cork Lodge decided that rather than
support just one recipient for our charitable giving, on this occasion
we would split our usual donation between two local and worthy
charities. The two selected were Heads On based at Swandean and Ferring Country Centre, curiously based at Ferring!
Both were unanimous winners in our online poll to decide who we wished to support on this occasion.
Heads On
Shipmate Ian Cutler sponsored Heads On and was able to organise a meet up with himself and Rachel who received the funds on their behalf.
Ferring Country Centre
On completion of the presentation to Heads On, our “old” [some would say very old] Admiral, Bob Dixon, travelled on to Ferring where a similar presentation was made to Ferring Country Centre’s Sam Kirk.
Shipmate Paul Swarbrick was their sponsor, but work commitments at the
last moment prevented him from attending the presentation. Again,
Bob was impressed with the commitment and dedication everyone at the
centre displayed towards their primary function of raising funds and
caring for the many disabled people who passed through the centre on
their way to greater independence. Sam, pictured below right, was joined
by her colleague Hannah Tombs CEO, who received the money on behalf of
the Ferring Country Centre.
Both brilliant organisations received donations of £250 which hopefully will help them in their continued work with disabled and disadvantaged people.
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Finley’s Helping Hand
On Wednesday, the 18th March
2020, Shipmate Frank Carrie was able to present £450, from our last
meeting, to young Finley and his mother Clare, as a significant help in
renewing their flooring ruined by a leak, so that Finley could leave the
confines of his wheelchair and play like normal children with his toys
scattered around him on the floor. This is probably more essential
now as the coronavirus spreads amongst us and the family may have to
self-isolate for a considerable time. Clare thanked the Corkies
for their generosity and Finley gave us a round of applause.
Because of the deteriorating health situation throughout the country, our next Pallant Cork Lodge meeting has been postponed,
so if any Shipmate has any ideas for raising some funds in the meantime
to allow us to continue helping out these worthy families, please get
in touch with the Ship’s Admiral at colstanbal@gmail.com 
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A Little Assistance for Penelope
Christmas Eve [2019] was a particularly poignant time when the Admiral
and Highly Worshipful Purser were able to present another young family
with financial support towards furnishing their new home. Lucy and
Charlie are the proud parents of little Penelope who was born in
September with Duplication Q6 (a rare chromosome abnormality) and has
remained in intensive care, either in St. Richards or Southampton
General Hospital, ever since. Further tests have revealed a brain
abnormality, a cleft palate and inset chin and, because of this,
Penelope is going to need 24 hour around the clock ongoing help and
support for some considerable time.
The
Local Authority have offered the couple a flat and are in the throes of
installing oxygen and a feeding unit into the wall, whilst the couple
themselves try and decorate the place. Regrettably, because of the
suddenness of all this, Lucy and Charlie have had no time to accumulate
furniture or white goods, and this is where our donation was able to
assist in some small way.
Again,
it was most humbling to receive the heartfelt thanks of such a young
couple who have suddenly had to take on the responsibility of caring for
a youngster with major medical problems.
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Haley’s Help
A
recent donation to help those in need was presented by the Purser, Tony
Palmer and Admiral Designate Colin Ballard on 16th November 2019.
Haley, one of three
sisters, is 38 years old and is terminally ill, having been diagnosed
in August 2019. Her husband James has had to give up work to
become her carer and their two children, Connor and Regan are, as you
can imagine, suffering from emotional and financial hardships.
Haley was too ill to receive the money from us, so we visited one
of her sisters who is going to pass it on to her for use by them as a
family in this soon approaching Christmas season.
The
whole family is, at this time, still trying to come to terms with the
illness. Haley’s parents are distraught as are the sisters,
Emma-Louise and Kerry-Anne and all their families. Emma-Louise,
seen here receiving the money on behalf of her sister, expressed the
family’s gratitude for our donation. Whilst the money will not
help Haley with her condition the family will hopefully have their last
Christmas together with a bit of cheer.
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A Helping Hand for Zachary
Tuesday, the 22nd October
2019, saw the Ship’s Purser, Tony Palmer and Admiral, Bob Dixon,
hand over our third cheque by way of a contribution towards helping
young Zachary and his family overcome the next few difficult months.
Zachary, who had a cold during the presentation, is due surgery at
Great Ormond Street in the next few weeks. Our contribution is to
facilitate travel and accommodation for the family up there if his stay
goes beyond the scheduled 6 weeks; meaning the family can all be
together over the Christmas period – vital for Sophia, Zachary’s 6 year
old sister. Both Mum and Dad were most grateful for the
‘unexpected’ assistance with their finances and thanked all the members
who contributed so generously.
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Delighted to be able to help Jaxson
On July 23rd 2019,
the Purser, Tony Palmer and Admiral, Bob Dixon, were privileged to be
able to present £450 to young Jaxson and his parents to help in making
his bedroom somewhere special for him, and to enable this young family
to enjoy a couple of days out. Jaxson, who is three, suffered from
retinoblastoma and as such has been back and forth to hospital for
various bouts of chemotherapy. This meant that trips the family
took out to stimulate him, and bearing in mind his young age, he never
fully benefitted from, and so their intention is to try and improve his
lot over the coming summer period. Jaxson is physically doing well,
though his sight in the affected eye is unlikely to fully recover.
Despite all this he remains most upbeat about his life and was
keen to show us his Lego and favourite toy, Morph. Jaxson’s Mum
and Dad are both in the caring professions and it was genuinely nice to
be able to help people who in turn help and assist others.
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A Little Bit of Help for Leo
On
the 10th May 2019, the Highly Worshipful Purser, Tony Palmer, and
Admiral, Bob Dixon, met up with young Leo and his mum, Joanna.
They had just come from X Rays and tests at St Richard’s Hospital,
Chichester and weren’t looking forward to Leo’s next bout of
chemotherapy commencing on 13th May at Southampton. We were
able to present them with the £550 that was pledged by our Cork Lodge
members at our last meeting and Joanna and Leo were most grateful for
it. Joanna has had to give up her work to give Leo almost 24 hour
care and, what with the expenses in travelling back and forth to
Southampton and looking after a young family, our contribution will be
put to good use.
Pictured above is Joanna with Leo and our Highly Worshipful Purser.
Admiral’s Note: Shipmates, this is the very first donation our Lodge has made and it could not have gone to a more deserving cause. This lovely and deserving family will, I hope, be just the first of many.