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How did we do?
Raising funds in memory of a loved one
Last year, almost £124,000 was donated by people who wanted to remember a loved one. Our community
fundraising team helped build relationships with families and friends and supported their fundraising
efforts, while our grant-making team honoured the wishes of the families and established how the funds
could be used to make a real impact in our hospitals.
For the love of Evie
Howard and Katie were devastated when they received
the news that their twelve-year-old daughter Evie
had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Following
a seizure, a CT scan at their local hospital revealed
something on her brain and within twelve hours she
was admitted to King’s College Hospital.
Cared for on Lion ward and Princess Elizabeth ward,
Evie underwent brain surgery, radiotherapy and
chemotherapy, and received regular immunotherapy
treatment. After a year-long battle, during which she
continually amazed everyone with her humour, bravery,
and positivity, Evie sadly passed away in March 2022.
Inspired by her incredible courage and resilience, as
well as their friends’ desire to give something back to
the King’s wards that cared for them, Matt Paxton
and Simon Hagger had began fundraising for King's
while Evie was alive and are now continuing in
her memory.
The two friends had an initial target of £10,000 but it
became clear that many of their colleagues from Holiday
Extras also wanted to show their love and support. To
date, the team has walked, run, cycled, swum, raffled,
quizzed and comedied their way to over £50,000 –
halfway towards their incredible new target of £100,000.
The group is not planning to slow down any time soon:
a team is taking on Ride London in May and they are
busy recruiting participants for the Great Hospital Hike
on 17th September. Simon is planning to swim from
Jersey to France and back again, and Matt is taking on
a series of events, including a hilly Iron Man in Wales.
“Howard is a lifelong friend of ours and our children
have all grown up together. We desperately wanted
to do something to help and when Howard and Katie
suggested raising money for King’s we immediately
agreed,” says Simon (pictured on right).
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