Lots of love at Sick Children’s Trust

The Sick Children’s Trust (SCT) firmly believes that keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children. As many as 2 million children in the UK require hospital treatment every year. At SCT, they provide a free, high-quality ‘Home from Home’ accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support, to families with sick children in hospital in the UK.

Each day, children are diagnosed with severe and life-threatening illnesses or endure serious circumstances that leave them fighting for their life. Regularly, they have to be transferred to specialist hospitals, away from home to receive much needed medical treatment. Life for their whole family is suddenly thrown into complete confusion.

Ahead of this Valentine’s Day, ELBA & the Financial Conduct Authority worked together to set up a volunteer day with a difference to take place at the Trusts’ Whitechapel branch, Stevenson House. The team wanted to ensure families have love and warmth with a very special lunch or dinner at the Sick Children’s Trust.

Volunteers pre-planned the special menu with plenty of care and thought, completing an online order to arrive on the day. The menu included Chicken Chasseur & Spicy Root & Lentil Casserole, with rice & seasonal vegetables alongside desserts including Raspberry & Peach Pavlova and Banoffee pie.

Our kitchen cupids from the FCA split into groups; one half to get the lunch all sorted in time for the families & hospital staff.  The other half put their oven mitts on to bake cakes; make sweet favours, and cookies to be sold off at a Valentine’s Bake Sale! Ellie Johnson, one of the team leaders on the day, said ‘the FCA volunteers are very happy to be at the Trust and volunteer in such an exciting way by cooking and baking for the families, it’s a pleasure!’

The Sick Children’s Trust is extremely dependent on the generosity of such volunteers to aid the high level of services that they provide. Alan Booth, head of the Trust said ‘they were a great team and cooked delicious food! I have been asked for recipes for certain dishes from parents and nurses. The cakes and Goody bags they made sold really well we raised £100.00 at our cake sale the next day.’ He explained ‘such events, like the ones with ELBA add a sincere touch and some sparkle in the lives of families, children, carers and the community!