On 7 November 2014, eleven days after Margot died, my friend Franca Knowles also passed away. Franca was a remarkable person who had a real zest for life, coining the phrase “Live Your Life” which became a creed for the company she helped grow, Beds and Bars. 

In her memory, her husband, Keith declared Franca’s birthday “Live Your Life Day”, a day when company employees could take the day off to celebrate life with their families or in support of a charity.

Live Your Life Day celebrates Franca’s life & what she stood for and this year her birthday falls on a weekend, so Beds and Bars is marking the occasion with ‘Live Your Life Weekend’, from 29 to 31 July, which is to be a fundraiser.

Margot was at Great Ormond Street Hospital for several months and we know how hard life can be when caring for a sick child.

During this time, Vicki and I saw many families struggling to make ends meet, all the while juggling commitments outside the hospital with caring for their sick child.

Patient families often find themselves hugely challenged for some of the most basic needs. This is for a variety of reasons, not least because of the parents inability to work. Consequently, families can accumulate significant debts and some are bankrupted by the illness.

Each year, approximately 3,700 children and their families are diagnosed with a form of cancer.

We set up a grant giving scheme to help families caring for child cancer patients in 2015 and since that time Team Margot has made over 250 grants of £1,000, via our network of hospitals.

With your help we can do more

These “one-off” grants per family are made on a “no strings attached” basis and are for the family to use in any way they wish.

Over the last few years, these grants have come to be referred to as “Emergency Grants” by the teams in the hospitals we work with, because the application process is extremely simple and once the patient and family verification is complete & the recipient’s bank details have been received, the £1,000 grant is typically received within 24 hours.

Please help us continue this work by supporting ‘Live Your Life Weekend’ by making a financial donation

Any donation, no matter how great or small, will help.

Please click on the ‘DONATE NOW’ button to help us continue to give this support to families caring for child cancer patients 👉

Thank you. 🙏

Team Margot
Together, saving lives

#TeamMargot #belushis #togethersavinglives

______

Below are snippets of feedback we have received from parents about the difference the Team Margot grants they received made to their families:

“I have no words, I am crying, your support has meant so much to us, I cant thank you enough.”

Good afternoon, I just want to start by saying how grateful I am for this huge donation, words cannot express my gratitude and how much this is going to help my family and I during our time of need. I am eternally grateful for all the hard work and support given by all the people who dedicate all their hard work/time and money to helping families like mine in our time of need.

“Thank you so much for your kind gesture and show of love towards our family at this difficult time of our lives, this means a lot us, we are eternally grateful.”

 

 

______

Team Margot’s mission is to increase donations of blood, organs, stem cells and bone marrow by educating, inspiring and motivating people to register as donors and to provide a range of support to families caring for child cancer patients.

______

You can also help by becoming a donor of blood, organs, stem cells and bone marrow. To find out more about donation, please click the options below: