'This is his legacy': Leeds 'Charlie's Angel' child bereavement charity launches poignant fundraiser for 2022

Charlie’s Angel Centre Foundation has launched the ‘Charlie's Challenge 10’ fundraiser this year - to mark what would have been the 10th birthday of little Charlie Curtis, who died from a rare condition called Potter’s Syndrome just 19 minutes after being born at Leeds General Infirmary in 2012.

Charlie’s mum Carrie-Ann founded the charity in his name the following year, along with her close family members, to provide vital support to others after the loss of a baby or child of any age.

The ‘Charlie’s Challenge 10’ fundraiser asks people to do any challenge - at any point this year - along the theme of the number 10.

Ruth Curtis, one of the charity’s founder and Carrie-Ann’s stepmum, said: “It can be 10 laps of a field, read ten books - anything they want, to raise money for the charity.

“That’s the big thing we’ve missed, throughout the last couple of years. Not being able to fundraise. It’s sort of eaten into what we have got saved in the bank. It’s been a worrying time.

“We know we are OK at the minute and we just have to carry out where we can, fundraising.

“Hopefully now we have got out of all restrictions, we can start having events again.”

The charity and its bereavement centre, in Beeston, are run entirely by volunteers, including volunteer counsellors, who now also provide help virtually - to people across the country.

The centre, which closed only in the first lockdown, is open every day, some days until 9pm, to help as many as it can.

Ruth said this year they have seen the numbers of those they help double compared to a year ago - as more people seek help now the pandemic is easing.

“We’re getting a lot of families who had their loss during Covid and were really struggling because they had no support.”

She spoke of families struggling with feelings of guilt if they hadn’t seen a baby who passed away shortly after birth, due to hospitals’ strict Covid restrictions.

“We have mums, dads, aunties, grandparents - a real variety of family members in counselling. We also have children - siblings who have been affected by the loss.”

She said, for some families, the Covid restrictions helped them hide away after their loss.

“It’s given them a reason not to go out. It’s allowed them to isolate themselves.

“We have families who have had a loss a year or so ago who really weren’t processing it because of lockdown and haven’t really faced it until recently.”

“Also the fact that with funerals and everything like that,” Ruth added. “You were limited with how many people could come to the funeral - everything was affected by it.

“A lot of those families are now coming to get support and we’re hle;ping them to get through it again. They have gone through it at home alone.”

The charity was recently given a welcome boost by the Leeds-based charity donation service, Givto, who chose it as one of their monthly trio of good causes.

Run by a group of volunteers, the service is the first of its kind in the world and offers people the chance to give to a different charity each month with one direct debit.

Alex Ellis-White, Givto Founder and Chief Executive said: “The beauty of Givto is that it introduces people to small, local charities each month that they may never have heard of before but who desperately need support, like the Charlies-Angel-Centre Foundation.

“Givto is run entirely by volunteers and our mission is to bring local people and causes together, making giving easier, more fun, and more flexible.”

Ruth said Givto has been invaluable in helping to promote the charity and the money raised has helped the charity keep “ticking on” and keep the centre - and its £2,000 a month running costs - open.

“It’s just been so helpful. With us not being able to fundraiser, having that money coming in enables us to carry on giving the support we do.”

Of Charlie’s ten-year anniversary, Ruth said the family has “mixed feelings”.

She said: “We are really proud of Charlie for the centre. There are times when we are feeling low as well and you think you can’t keep going on, but then you come to the centre and just think if we can’t have him with us, this is his legacy.

“And what better legacy than these families, who wouldn’t have had support before, and they have now.

“It makes us feel very proud. It’s quite surreal to sit back and think about what we have achieved - and to think none of us had any experience. We have been on a huge learning curve. I think what we have achieved is amazing.”

She added: “We want people to come here and feel like they can talk to us and feel like they’re supported, not judged, just treated as normal people that are going through a really awful time.

“They know we understand and that we know how they are feeling. A lot of them have become friends. They have now joined Charlie’s family. That’s how we want our centre to be - a home where people can feel safe and listened to.”

For more information on ‘Charlie’s Challenge 10’ visit https://www.charlies-angel-centre.org.uk/charlies-challenge10For more information on Givto visit https://givto.org/​It's choice of three charities for March are: sports charity Kick4Life, Age UK Bradford and Single Parents Support and Advice Services.

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