Chester family donate £10,000 to Countess Charity as they mark 10 years of fundraising

A Chester family who set up a fundraising charity, after losing their beloved daughter, have donated a staggering £10,000 worth of medical equipment to the Countess Charity as they mark 10 years of fundraising for good causes.

Following the sudden tragic death of their 21-month-old daughter Emily from acute viral bronchiolitis in 2013, Sara and John Sowden, along with family members Nia and Dave Brammer, have spent the past decade raising money to fund vital medical equipment in her memory - donating over £48k worth of equipment to benefit youngsters using children's services at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Over the years, the Emily Ffion Trust Fund has paid for specialist life-saving equipment including numerous high tech oxygen machines and video laryngoscopes  - giving help to countless children at the hospital.

Their latest donation, which has funded four brand new saturation machines for the children's ward coincides with the 10 year anniversary Emily's passing of when Sara and John first set up the Emily Ffion Trust.

John said:

"Since setting up the Emily Ffion Trust, we are proud to have been able to contribute substantial sums of money, kindly donated by our supporters, to help many areas in the North West.

"Mainly this has covered equipment that has had a direct impact on saving the lives of people who've required it and some of the stories we've heard about those who've benefitted from the equipment cements why we set the trust up in the first place."

"Having been born in the hospital, along with my three children, and visiting several times over the years, it is clear that the care and support provided by the team there is of the highest level and always has been.  It is crucial that the hospital is supported to maintain and ultimately improve standards of care,"

Angie Lopez, The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's Interim Head of Fundraising, said:

"The devotion of the Emily Ffion Trust to our children's services is overwhelming. They have made invaluable contributions to the children’s unit by funding equipment that monitor children’s oxygen saturation levels, and they have supported the Trust in ways that make a real difference to the children that we treat, as well as to our staff on the ward and in A&E.

“All the equipment provided by the Emily Ffion Trust fund are most gratefully received and appreciated,”

Pictured - Student Nurse Catherine Owens, Student Nurse Mackenzie Smith, Staff Nurse Sofia Prytz- Lord, Emily Ffion’s dad Trustee John Sowden, Emily Ffion’s mum Trustee Sara Sowden, Deputy Ward Manager Sarah Griffiths, Staff Nurse Carley Braide  and Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioner Cheryl Clarke.