The Brain Charity

Last month, a team of colleagues from The Walton Centre’s Cairns Ward took on a sponsored walk to raise funds for a special project close to their hearts.

Led by Healthcare Assistant Lynn, the group set off from The Walton Centre and walked six miles to The Brain Charity through a chilly October afternoon.

Their goal? To raise money to create personalised Memory Boxes for the loved ones of patients who have sadly passed away.

The Walton Centre: ‘an incredible, incredible hospital’

The Cairns Ward at The Walton Centre specialises in oncology and hydrocephalus, treating patients living with brain cancer or a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.

The idea for the Memory Boxes is the latest thoughtful initiative to celebrate and give something back to their patients and their families.

Ward Sister Olivia shared:

“We’ve done birthday parties, we’ve done a wedding, we’ve done so much on our ward to really just celebrate our patients.”

The team’s efforts to boost morale for patients and their families are warmly received – as Lynn puts it;

“All [the patients’] families, they all feel like they’re part of one big family, which is lovely to hear.”

It is no surprise that so many caring colleagues, including agency staff, signed up to the 6-mile sponsored walk to help raise funds to do something special for their patients and families.

“Working in oncology just really puts it all into perspective, how hard people work, how rewarding the job is.” Olivia told us. “It’s just incredible, an incredible hospital which really does give its all to all the patients.”

Giving something back to patients and families

Lynn drew on the experience of losing her father to develop the idea of creating Memory Boxes, recognising the little touches she and her family would have appreciated when he passed away.

The Memory Boxes will provide emotional support to families, offering a compassionate and practical way to remember their loved one and process their loss.

The boxes will be personalised for each family, containing tools to help channel grief like wildflower seeds, a poem, a teddy, handmade felt hearts and scented lavender bags.

Lynn explained;

“It just gives something back. I never had that when my dad passed and I just think when [our patients] pass away these should be given out with a little note to say we are thinking of you.”

Lynn also remembered how her father’s belongings were given back to the family in a plastic bag that had ‘property of the hospital’ printed on it. As part of the Memory Boxes, she will be designing a canvas bag to put patients’ belongings in for a more personal touch.

Olivia added,

“A lot of our patients tend to be quite long-term… a lot of people who have passed, we were quite close to, so it’s nice to be able to give something back to them as well.”

A special relationship: The Walton Centre and The Brain Charity

When deciding where to end their sponsored walk, choosing The Brain Charity was a ‘no-brainer’.

“Our patients come to The Brain Charity from us,” Lynn explained. “We still have that interaction and those links.”

The Brain Charity, then The Glaxo Neurological Centre, opened in 1993 after The Walton Centre’s medical director Professor Ian Williams recognised that more support was needed in the community for people with neurological conditions.

The relationship between the two organisations continues to this day: The Brain Charity’s Information and Advice team are based in The Walton Centre, providing practical advice and emotional support to patients and their families.

The team on Cairns Ward know just how special the relationship between The Walton Centre and The Brain Charity is. Olivia said;

“The Brain Charity supports all our patients. They get so much out of it. The advice they get, it gives our patients the support they really need.”

Lynn agreed, adding:

“When we work together, we provide our patients with something more. The Walton Centre can be a clinical setting but [The Brain Charity] is like a little home, it’s lovely.”