It started in Kingston and quickly gathered pace. As Momentum Children’s Charity turns 15, Rosanna Greenstreet talks to founder Bianca Effemey...
They say that from little acorns grow mighty oaks – and Momentum Children’s Charity in Kingston is all the proof you could want. What began as a hospital receptionist’s attempt to alleviate the suffering of a single child going through cancer treatment has evolved into a fully-fledged charity, supporting families with children who have life-challenging conditions throughout Surrey, South West London and Sussex.
Back in 2004, Momentum founder and Chief Executive Bianca Effemey was working part-time at Kingston Hospital, when she saw a way to make a small, but significant difference to a family that she had encountered on the paediatric ward.
“I loved the environment of the hospital, but I wasn’t a very good receptionist,” she explains. “I was no good on the computer and I wasn’t very disciplined at staying at my desk. At every opportunity, I would be off speaking to families.
“A young girl in one of the isolation rooms had a very sore mouth from ulcers and she was desperately miserable. She wanted something cold to eat or drink. In those days there wasn’t a fridge or a Costa Coffee in the hospital and, of course, parents don’t want to leave their child’s side. So I went into John Lewis and asked if there was anybody who could help us to get a fridge for this little girl. A wonderful man told me: ‘If you start up a charity, we will give you a fridge freezer for every isolation room that you have!’”
Establishing a charity would mean going online, filling in forms and the like. Bianca, with her non-existent computer skills, was daunted. Fortunately, she was also very determined and enlisted the help of two mums, Alison Trigg and Jacqui Coppellotti, whose children were being treated at Kingston. Momentum was born.
Initially, the idea was that the charity would run for just three months to secure the fridge freezers, but it soon took on a life of its own.
“It quickly moved on to getting air-conditioning and a wonderful garden for the paediatric ward,” explained Bianca. “From there it just grew.”
Today Momentum supports over 150 families going through active treatment and has expanded into five other hospitals: St George’s in Tooting, Epsom General, St Peter’s in Chertsey, East Surrey and Croydon.
“There are two sides to the charity. We make over the rooms so that they don’t look like rooms in a hospital, and we also have family support workers who look into the sort of services we can offer, both at the hospital and at home.”
These include music therapy and counselling for patients and their siblings – and there is no time limit on when they can be accessed.
“I never wanted to be a ‘tick box’ charity, where you had to fit a category to get certain things. Each family is so different. Who can tell when the need for help will come?
“When you go through treatment you are in turmoil; you run on adrenalin. A family could collapse two years later because they look back and realise what’s happened to them, and it’s then that they can’t cope. We don’t have a cut-off point. We don’t say: ‘That’s it, we can’t help you any more.’ I don’t ever want to do that.”
One way that Momentum helps families is by giving them time in one of the charity’s holiday homes in the New Forest or on its boat on the Thames.
“The boat has been amazing. It’s moored at Shepperton Marina and last year we started respite breaks. Lots of children like to go out on the river and, if you’ve lost a child, it’s quiet and calming. We have skippers and deckhands who can crew and a wonderful man who trains anybody who wants to take the boat out independently. Families can have it overnight or for the day, or just be moored, have lunch and relax.”
This year is the fifteenth anniversary of Momentum and big plans are afoot.
“We hope to raise £900,000,” enthuses Bianca. “Kingston was our flagship hospital at the beginning and we need to go back and redecorate the rooms. Funds would also enable us to purchase a new, larger holiday home and to expand our counselling programme.”
Donations can be made online and tickets are still available for the black-tie Crystal Ball on Saturday, May 11 at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham.
“And if anybody wants to do their own fundraising with a cake sale, or by jumping out of a plane or running a marathon, that would be amazing. It doesn’t matter how much you raise. We have a freezer for ice cream at Kingston Hospital that always needs to be filled – and £10 buys quite a few lollies!”
NEREA’S STORY
Since six-year-old Nerea was diagnosed with leukaemia in January 2015, Momentum Children’s Charity has been by her family’s side. Mum Izzy and dad Seamus both say that it has been a lifeline, providing not only emotional support but also practical help in the form of a weekend break at one of its peaceful log cabins in the New Forest.
“From the outset, Momentum has been amazing,” says Izzy. “The warmth, just knowing that they are behind you and that they understand what you are going through, it all means so much to us.
“That’s the lovely thing about Momentum: the knowledge that they are there for you, whether for a hug and a chat or for some practical help. And you know that the backing is there for as long as you need it.”
Nerea relapsed in 2018 and has since undergone a bone marrow transplant. Momentum Children’s Charity continues to support the entire family.
For further info and ball tickets go to moment-um.org