Last Tuesday night, Tim Minchin, Quentin Blake and Heston Blumenthal joined Samantha Cameron at Number 10 Downing Street to celebrate the work of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, helping to support seriously ill and disabled children around the UK.
Tim Minchin, award-winning composer of smash hit West End production Matilda the Musical, said: “This marvellous charity believes that every child has the right to have the best life possible, however difficult and short that life might be.”
He said, “The charity has a brilliant holistic approach, helping children with rare and severe disorders of the brain and blood, to have better health, a fuller life and a happier family.”
Ongoing support and donations are crucial for the charity in its work, which was set up in 1991. The charity provides practical help by supporting families to assist with equipment purchases such as wheelchairs, supports grassroots projects, funds specialist paediatric neurological and haematological nurses, and provides grants for training and research.
Special guests included the families helped by the charity such as Kharis and Edward. Kharis (13) and Edward (9) Botchway both have sickle cell and are patients of Phil Daly, a Roald Dahl haematology specialist children’s nurse at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.
Chief Executive, Richard Piper, said: “I’m delighted that we were able to host an event at Downing Street. Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity exists to fill gaps and those gaps are still enormous. For example we have received 16 enquiries in the last 12 months for our unique specialist nurses programme. But at the moment we only have the funds for one.”
Visit roalddahlcharity.org to find out more.
Source: RoaldDahlCharity.org
