West Cumbrian charity Team Evie has raised £500,000 since it was launched.
The charity was set up by Greg and Jill Johnston following the death of their first daughter, Evie, who died aged six months old in September 2015.
Evie suffered from multiple, serious cardiac, respiratory, and digestive problems and spent the majority of her life in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.
Greg, Team Evie chief executive said: “The support we have received from so many people to help us create such an amazing legacy for Evie is unbelievable.
“We work really hard with Team Evie to help as many sick children and their families as we can, but the reality is that without the wonderful support we get from so many generous people we wouldn’t be able to achieve very much!”
The charity’s work is split up into three main areas – supporting sick children and their families in hospital, in the community and with bereavement support with the money raised spent to make time in hospital for sick children easier, relieve anxiety for families, provide medical equipment that is saving children’s lives and to support bereaved parents in their time of need.
Greg added: “Through Evie’s inspiration, and by maximizing the relationships we have with the medical professionals we work with, we have been able to establish projects and services that have helped thousands of families and saved children’s lives.
“When we started fundraising our initial aims were to make sure that Evie’s impact on the world was a positive one and to help as many families as we could. To look at what we have achieved in Evie’s name so far makes us incredibly proud.
“The pandemic has hit us hard, as with all charities, but our motto inspired by how Evie lived her life is ‘Always moving forwards’, something which we will continue to do as we now aim for the £1million mark and to develop more exciting projects and ideas to help and support thousands more children and their families across our region.”
This year, Team Evie are developing their services to include supporting children’s sensory development, providing support for parents following the time spent in hospital with their children and much more.
To raise funds they will be running their annual fundraisers such as the Three Lakes Walk in May and new events like a coast-to-coast cycle in April.
In the six years since Evie’s death, Team Evie with the help of many amazing supporters have raised over £500,000 which has been used to; fund medical equipment and provide training that has saved children’s lives, make time in hospital easier for sick children and reduce anxiety for families and to support bereaved parents in their time of need. Every penny donated to the registered charity goes towards helping sick children and their families who face similar challenges to those Evie faced in her short life.
The charity holds a number of fundraising events every year, including their very successful Million Steps Challenge, and their Three Lakes Walk challenge which will see participants walking 29 miles around Ennerdale, Crummock Water and Buttermere.
Throughout Evie’s life her dad would share Facebook updates of her progress and struggles with friends, family members and the local community.
It rapidly became apparent that Evie had quite a following of well-wishers and based on the daily greeting one consultant would give the family, the name Team Evie was here to stay.
So many people sent love, support and hope Evie’s way during her life and she inspired so many people. Evie’s influence and inspiration spread far and wide, reaching people all over the world.
When Evie died it became clear that as a community Team Evie needed to continue her positive impact on the world and the charity was created.
Team Evie is a registered charity set up in memory of Evie Johnston. For more information visit www.teamevie.org
