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Sophie’s Appeal has been honouring commitments and funding various initiatives since it became a registered charity in 2005. Sophie’s Appeal was set up as the fundraising arm of The Sophie Barringer Trust and is proud of it’s achievements to date and continues to make a difference to families living in the Wessex region.

Northbrook Childrens Ward - RHCH Winchester

Sophie received some of her treatment on Northbrook Children’s Ward at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. It was known as her ‘shared care’ hospital. It was during a stay on Northbrook Ward that Sophie’s Dad struck up a conversation about helping to provide modern facilities for outpatient children. The idea for Sophie’s Place was born.
The reception area on Northbrook Ward now provides a warm, friendly and secure entrance where patients are greeted. The area also provides a quiet room for breastfeeding and a toilet for patient use. This was made possible due to a donation of £80,000 from Sophie’s Appeal. The work was carried out and officially opened in 2017

Sophie's Place

Sophie’s Place is a purpose designed area of Northbrook Children’s Ward for treating children for routine treatment, tests, referrals from GP’s and more. Sophie’s Appeal helped fund the decor, flooring and wall murals which enabled the hospital to concentrate on providing modern, efficient medical equipment, whilst the environment helped children to feel more at ease. Sophie’s Place opened on 24th October 2007.

Piam Brown Ward, Southampton General Hospital

Sophie received most of her treatment on Piam Brown at Southampton General Hospital. It was here, while spending weeks at her side, Sophie’s parents decided they wanted to raise money to help improve the environment for both the children and parents on the ward. From Sophie’s Appeal first fundraising events, the money was donated to enable the ward to replace all the curtains and bedspreads to bring instant freshness to the ward. Some of this money was also used to buy a new cooker for the family room to enable all those staying on the ward to prepare their own meals.
Sophie’s Appeal liaise with Piam Brown on a regular basis and are delighted they are one of the main referrers, on behalf of families, for Rainbow Retreat.

Beads of Courage

In 2004 Sophie’s Appeal began to fund a project called ‘Beads of Courage’ on Piam Brown Ward. Children are given a bead each time they receive treatment; be that a blood transfusion or a round of chemotherapy. Every bead tells a story and marks certain milestones in both their life and their treatment. This project is really important as it helps children explain their treatment to others and to show how far they have come on their cancer journey. Sophie’s Appeal is proud to still be funding this initiative and donates £5000 a year which is shared between Piam Brown and Northbrook Ward.
Sophie’s Appeal also funded the newly painted corridor, two cubicles used to treat cancer patients and Sophie’s Den, which will be used as an isolation suite for children undergoing Chemotherapy.

Sophie's Surprises

Sophie’s Appeal is pleased to be able to offer Sophie’s Surprises. These are one-off respite opportunities and may range from days out for children and their families to help ease the stress and escape the strains of hospital life if only for a short while, trips to the theatre and visits to theme parks. Requests can be made by emailing [email protected].

Research

Sophie’s Appeal was proud to have funded a two-year research project at University Southampton Hospital between 2006 and 2007. The research was led by Sophie’s consultant, at the time, Dr Jan Kohler. This project made ground-breaking research that was published worldwide. £5,000 a year was pledged towards this research.

Sophie’s Appeal also pledged £15,000 to help fund a research project at University College London, in 2010 which was headed up by Professor Kathy Pritchard Jones. This project provided research into molecular biology of childhood Wilm’s Tumour (the same cancer as Sophie) to give children the best chance of a long-term cure without undue risk and potentially damaging side effects.

Sophie's Rainbow Retreat

Every year, around 100 new families with children from a day old to 16 years of age in the Wessex region receive the devastating news that their child has cancer. With some children receiving cancer treatment for several years, there are hundreds of families who require support – not only in hospital but also in the community. The Wessex region covers Dorset, South Wiltshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.
It is not only the children receiving treatment, but their parents and siblings who find themselves needing to get away from the hospital or home environment. Forgetting about the worries of everyday life, even for only a few days, enables the families to spend quality time together and generate fun memories to last a lifetime – even if that life may be cut tragically short.
All to often families, who find themselves in need of a break, just cannot afford to get away. The financial strain put on a family, particularly when one or both parents have to give up work to look after their poorly child, is often too much to allow for this little bit of respite.
Sophie’s Appeal have now purchased a facility at Rockley Park, Poole to enable children and their families to get away from it all, safe in the knowledge they are a short journey away from a hospital if the need arises.

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