For those who know us well, you’ll know that we care passionately about our local community and like to support local charities where we can. In 2017, The Exchequer team and customers raised and donated over £1,800 to various charities through a number of initiatives, and we intend to raise even more in 2018!
This year, however, brings a new charity our way…
As a company comprised of parents, grandparents, sons and daughters, this one really does tug at our heartstrings.
We are proud to announce that we will be supporting Hampshire charity, Piggles Trust, throughout 2018; a relatively new charity who are committed to providing pre-school education to poorly children and their siblings, within a hospital environment.
Piggles Trust was founded in 2017 by Caroline and Edward Martin; mum and dad to a lovely little girl called Harriet, nicknamed ‘Piggle’ after Igglepiggle from her favourite television show, In The Night Garden.
Harriet was born with a serious congenital heart defect which, despite causing her a number of battles, she managed to fight through and lived her life as a normal, happy, cherished 4-year-old girl. However, in 2016 Harriet suddenly fell ill and sadly passed away due to an infection that her body was unable to fight.
Through the overwhelming grief and shock, Caroline and Edward vowed that Harriet’s name and character would live on, and so founded the amazing charity, Piggles Trust, in her memory.
“The first five years have so much to do with how the next 80 turn out…” – Bill Gates
While Harriet was in hospital receiving treatment for her heart condition, it became clear to Caroline and Edward that despite the medical care from the NHS being excellent for young children, the educational needs of children under the age of five years was not being met, and so those unwell children were missing out on essential learning and development.
It is Mr & Mrs Martin’s strong belief that “no child should be left behind“.
Piggles Trust is an organisation that aims to provide early years education to young patients across the country, in order to try and create a ‘normal’ environment within the most ‘abnormal’ of situations for unwell children. They recognise that whilst addressing the medical needs of unwell children, it is no less important to consider the overall emotional, developmental and mental well-being of that young child.
The change of environment away from ‘normal’ family life, coupled with the fear of uncertainty all play a huge role in this hugely distressing time for both the child and, just as importantly, their family.
Piggles Trust aims to bridge some of these gaps by creating more of a ‘home from home’ experience, specifically through education and so plans to create a national team of nursery nurses for NHS hospitals across the UK.
£10 will provide an hours education for a patient or sibling, and allow a parent to take a short break.
£30 will provide 3 hours of education, allowing the child to really start to focus and build an educational plan with their teacher.
£50 will provide 5 hours of education for a sibling – which could, for example, be the length of time the patient is in theatre having surgery.
How we will be supporting Piggles Trust
As a family-friendly company and pub, we 100% support the aims and work Piggles Trust is working towards implementing into UK hospitals, and we want to encourage our customers and the local community to join us in supporting this fantastic cause.
When speaking to founder, Caroline Martin, about our partnership with Piggles, she commented:
“We are delighted that The Exchequer, as part of Red Mist Leisure, have partnered with Piggles Trust as one of their chosen charities. Having the endorsement of this group of pubs will allow us to get on the radar of so many more people, which will in turn help with the vital work that we do.” – Caroline Martin, Founder and Trustee
How we will be raising money for Piggles Trust:
Our team at The Exchequer and Red Mist Leisure will be raising money through a number of initiatives, including:
- Collection boxes on the bar, for when customers are willing to kindly donate their loose change.
- We will be donating 50p of every kid’s meal sold to Piggles Trust; so not only will your little ones be enjoying a tasty bite to eat, but they’ll also be doing their bit for this wonderful charity as well!
- In July 2018, a team of Red Mist Leisure staff will be taking on their biggest challenge yet to raise money for three charities; one being Piggles Trust. Our own staff members and colleagues will be walking the length of Hadrian’s Wall which is a total of 86 miles, over 3 days. We will be encouraging customers and local residents to support us by donating to our Just Giving page. Please keep an eye out for more details of this challenge.
“We’re thrilled to be able to support this incredible charity, which aims to better the current system. I only have to mention this charity once to people and they are immediately on board. To be able to contribute to the amazing work Piggles Trust provides and know that we have been part of offering poorly pre-school children the vital education and an element of normality that every child deserves, while they are in hospital, is something that makes all of our team incredibly proud.” said Mark Williams, Director at Red Mist Leisure.
Take a look at our Local page, to find out how else we support and work with the local community or keep an eye on our Facebook page to see updates on our work with Piggles Trust.