Category: General

As we enter into December we start to think back on the year that we have had. We remember both the highs and lows that each of us have had personally, but especially those which have been shared due to COVID. We all sat in front of our televisions as the first lockdown was announced, all of us joining together to protect one another. We clapped for the NHS on Thursday evenings, played pub quizzes in our living rooms and binged watched The Tiger King on Netflix.

Each of us took our responsibility for others seriously. We put the needs of the many before the needs of the few and when faced with long periods of isolation, or time away from our usual work or school routines, we again rose up. It would have been easy to sit and wallow, but instead we started to think about things bigger than ourselves. We watched documentaries on climate change and started to take steps to do our part, riding the spirit of togetherness that COVID thrust us into to do good for the world. We also took to fundraising at a scale that the country has never before seen. Random people were thrust into the limelight for acts of kindness and determination, the news suddenly shifted away from doom and gloom and shone a light on stories of triumph and generosity.

This change bred more positive action. People saw the good in the world and they followed. Suddenly companies became consciously aware of the damage that they were doing and instead of hiding from the problem, a plan was put in place to fix the issue. 2020 has been the year that COVID stole from us, but it has also been the year that we took the time to wake up to the bigger issues of the world. We have seen first hand what the world is capable of when we all work as one because we were forced to do so.

This year has seen a huge rise in anxiety and mental health issues. It has also seen a huge rise in grief for the friends and families of loved ones that we have lost. Whilst we have all shared in the experience of COVID, we do not share our experiences of grief. The grief that we feel is ours alone, and whilst you may be fortunate enough to have others surrounding you with love and well wishes, the pain and hurt that you may be feeling in the run up to Christmas this year is justified.

It is true that your lost loved one would not want you to feel broken in losing them, they would not want you to isolate from the world or cancel celebrations, but these facts do not take away the broken feeling that you may have inside. People say that time heals grief, but I have found that experience is a far better healer. I could have sat forever in my despair after Ivy past away and I would never have felt any relief from the pain that stabbed at me constantly. Instead I took small steps forward. I tried going outside, seeing friends, attending a birthday party or small gathering. Some of these things lifted me slightly, others distracted me from my grief and some made my grief more acute and more painful.

In each experience I learned something. I started to understand what helped me personally and what did not. You have to take your time, experiment and move forward with your lost loved one.

This year our fundraising efforts have not been quite as successful as in 2019 but the circumstance of the year changed our goals significantly. With your help we have raised a further £7000 in 2020 which is an amazing achievement and one that we are truly grateful to each of you for. Of course, the year is not yet over and we still have a few fundraisers ongoing which we will update you on in our newsletters.

More importantly than the money raised, we have signed off on our 2020 projects with Oxford Hospital’s Charity. This year we chose to support some wonderful initiatives including a years supply of prizes for children and teenagers who take part in competitions on Hospital Radio programmes during their inpatient stays, two buddy day beds for Wallingford Maternity Unit so that partners can be by the side throughout the birth and hospital stay at the Wallingford Hospital and 4 more parent bed/chairs for Paediatric CDU (Clinical Decision Unit) which allow capacity to be increased from 6 to 10, making it possible for a parent or carer, to stay with their child if an overnight admission is required.

Our aim with Ivy’s Gifts is to do as much good as we can in Ivy’s memory, ensuring that we take her lessons of love, health, bravery, strength, pride, selflessness and fun with us. We endeavour as always to remember Ivy, have fun when fundraising, build relationships with our local community, make talking about grief easier and use the money raised for purposeful causes. 

I am so proud of what we have achieved together this year. All that is left for us to say is a huge thank you for the support that you have shown us and that we wish that next year brings us all even closer together in our fight to make the world a slightly more brighter place.