AJW presented the Phoenix Ward at Bloomfield Hospital with a cheque for £11,126.45!

Just before Christmas we visited our charity of the year ‘Phoenix Ward’ to present them with a cheque for the amount raised during 2019, which was a huge £11,126.45!

The support for this charity was inspired by eight-year-old Harrison Hart whose dad Shaun works at AJW’s Witham depot. Harrison has a rare form of life-threatening epilepsy and regularly attends Phoenix ward for treatment.

Alan Woods, Charlotte Woods and Donald Goldsworthy-Ellson from AJW, and Harrison’s mum Debbie Hart, had a tour of the ward and saw the fish tank, wall art and garden toys that some of our donation had bought. The monies raised will also go towards purchasing new monitors for the ward’s assessment bay.

In July, ‘Team Harrison’ completed an epic 24-hour cycle challenge that saw seven cyclists hit the road for a 73.5 ride between the firm’s Cambridgeshire and Witham depots. Members of the AJW team then jumped on a static bike and cycled through the night until 7.30am the following morning.

The AJW golf day was also a huge success with 19 teams of suppliers and customers battling it out at the Cambridgeshire Golf Club. The team secured sponsorship for every hole on the course and over £4,500 was made from the raffle and auction.

For a final push for monies at the end of the year we put together a Christmas tombola which saw another £250 raised from the generosity of local customers.

Mel Hodge, senior sister on Phoenix ward, was delighted with the donation: “It’s a fantastic amount of money and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at AJW for their wonderful support. The monitors we are going to buy will really benefit patients and staff, and they have already made a big difference to Phoenix as the fish tank and wall stickers have really brightened up the ward.

“Harrison has spent quite a lot of time with us here and we’re very grateful to his parents Sean and Debbie and all the team at AJW.”

Charlotte Woods, AJW’s marketing director, said: “Phoenix ward is a cause close to our hearts as we’ve all met Harrison a number of times so we wanted to raise as much as we could.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our customers and suppliers and it’s really nice to see where the money has been used. It’s really pulled on our heartstrings to see children who are unwell but it’s great that the money we’ve raised has been used to make their stay in hospital a little bit brighter.”

Harrison’s mum Debbie added: “I cannot put into words how I feel about the amount they’ve

raised. I’m a bit emotional because seeing the ward and everything that they’ve done has been unbelievable.

“Harrison was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was two and a half and he’s now nine so we’ve been in and out of Phoenix ward quite a few times, it’s like a second home. But this fundraising is not just about Harrison, it’s about every parent and every child who is on the ward.”

The group were joined by specialist nurse Donna Dodd who has looked after Harrison and is the family’s contact at the hospital.

“I don’t know what I’d do without Donna, she’s amazing,” said Debbie. “She has always been there to support us and does everything for Harrison. She’s brilliant.”

We are so proud of everyone who helped us raise this huge amount and would like to thank everyone involved. You have all be so generous with your donations, every single penny will help the ward provide a happier stay for those children who have to spend time at the hospital.

A special thank you to all those below

Sponsorship: Sandtfot | Etex | BMI-Redland | Kingspan | Millhouse Leasing | Flex-R | Filon | Rutters | CUPA PIZARRAS | Brett Martin | Ash & Lacy | Sahtas | Cambridge Garage Doors | ADS Construction | Seven Asset | Carlisle Construction Materials | JorisIde | Klober | Resitrix

Auction Donations:  Grantchester Tea Rooms | Saffron Walden Golf Course |Gog Magog’s Golf Course | Cambridge United Football | Malcolm Webster who donated all of the football shirts. Malcolm is an Ex professional footballer who played with Arsenal and Cambridge United |

Customers: Eagle Roofing | D.M.D Installations Ltd | White Roofing | C&J Builders | Tobin Roofing | R.T Roofing | A Grant Roofing | Vinal Brothers | Melly Warnes | D.A Clements | Aspect Roofing Group | Wellington Construction | Monk Builders | Prestige Energy | H.Austwick (Lead and Copper Roofing) Ltd | Ambrose Roofing

A special thank you goes to the team at Seven Asset who took part in the 24-hour bike ride and raised over £500 for taking part, plus their support in the golf day and auction prizes.

Also thank you to everyone at AJW for taking part in the events through-out the year and donating to this amazing charity.