A group of friends and mothers at local primary school Wimbledon Chase, amazed us with their achievements at a fundraising event they organised which took place at the David Lloyd Health Club in Raynes Park in July.

Mandy Bynon, Louise Bellamy, Helen Somerville and Denise Yamaguchi presented ‘The Vinyl Countdown’ to their friends and family, a ticketed event offering ‘cheesy choons’ from the past few decades, which packed the dancefloor all night.  The evening also boasted a raffle and silent auction to raise further still.

Inspired by the fantastic care that one of their children received when he spent time on Nicholls Paediatric ward, they raised over £4500 plus donations of equipment making the value of their gift to Nicholls Ward over £9000!

In September, the team returned to the Hospital for a thank you event hosted by St George’s Hospital Charity, clinical staff from Nicholls Paediatric ward and two members of the Play Specialists team.  The four organisers of the retro tunes event were accompanied by their children who had helped much with preparation for the evening, and Louise Bellamy and her husband Wayne explained to the gathering their experience on Nicholls ward and the value of play therapy when their son was admitted to St George’s a couple of years ago, and why they were inspired to help children on the ward in the future.

In addition to donations of Portable Sats machines, DVD players and Wii games, funds raised will purchase a variety of additional items for the ward such as a Dinamap blood pressure machine, baby toys & cot mobiles and many toys, games, electronic games and art & craft materials for the ward and playroom.

Sister Julia Sexton and Rosie Littleboy thanked the fundraisers on behalf of their teams and the children they help, and a short film charting the Bellamy family’s time on Nicholls ward was shown.