So now all the hullabaloo of Christmas has died down I wanted to reflect on this project and what it has meant to our family and the families we helped. Firstly a huge thank you to Caroline at Middle Farm Lewes who so enthusiastically and so thoughtfully took on the project. We as a family test ran the Christmas dinner kit in Christmas Day, it was truly delicious. The veg was peeled chopped and vacuum packed all the families had to do was cook it. Just to remind you, inside the hamper was: A smoked chicken (the taste of this was amazing) Pigs in blankets (full size sausages with a whole rasher of bacon!) 2kg of veg including potatoes, sprouts, broccoli, carrots A jar of cranberry sauce with claret Turkey gravy with sage that you just poured from the packet and heated up. A packet of delicious stuffing which we added water to to make A jar of brandy butter A Harveys brewery Christmas pudding (20 of which were donated by Harveys in Lewes) 4 crackers 4 napkins A sugar mouse A pair of socks for dad Hand cream for mum A Harrods Tree decoration and a Rockinghorse diary. A family pass to Middle Farm valid for all of 2015 We handed out a total of 39 hampers. I met so many families on the day, the staff at Ronald Macdonald house told me that they had 6 families staying (there were just 2 other families when we stayed last year) and another family were on their way in with a sick child who regularly receives treatment at the Alex. They were receiving a hamper which I left with the nurses in the ward. Some parents just didnt know if they would be going home, some like my friend was discharged but missed her Christmas with family in Cornwall so had no supplies in. One mum I met had just been told her 10 week old baby had meningitis, she simply couldnt even think about Christmas, but was so grateful that her family would be able to share a meal together. Some mums and dads were too emotional to come down and pick up a hamper so the nurses took them to the wards. Some mums and dads gratefully and quietly received the hamper and then upon reading the letter about our family and our brave little Aidan, came running up to me with tears and hugged me so much. I will never forget that sense of achievement. It is the strangest thing to feel so elated at helping someone less fortunate but to at the same time feel so utterly heartbroken that we were experiencing our first Christmas without our Aidan. Since handing out the hampers a lot of families have contacted me to say thank you. But the biggest thank you we as a family have is to our son Aidan who taught us some much about the resilience of sick children and who brought us together with some incredible families. We wish all our followers a very happy new year. If you have been inspired by the project and would like to be a part of it for next year (since we and Middle Farm are committed to providing families at the Alex with a Christmas dinner every year) you can donate directly here: https://justgiving/aidanschristmasdinnerproject/ Lucy, Simon and Evie Pond x
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 22:10:07 +0000
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