Five years after a Ponteland girl, then 8, suffered a life-threatening brain bleed, she and her mum were delighted to present a cheque worth $10,000 to a charity which supported her during her stay in hospital.
Kara-Amber Wheatley woke up in the early hours one morning screaming. Her parents rushed her to hospital and, thankfully, she was quickly diagnosed by experts in A&E at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. She then underwent lifesaving brain surgery.
While Kara-Amber was recovering on ward 1B of the Great North Children's Hospital, a visit from the Clown Doctors - funded by Newcastle charity the Children's Foundation through Tin Arts - was a much-needed moment of levity during a tough time. Afterwards, Kara-Amber and mum Katherine thanked the charity, and became regular volunteers.
So when Katherine began work at education software firm Turnitin two years ago, she used her allocated "volunteer days" to support the Children's Foundation. And she then - successfully - put the charity forward for the company's charitable funding scheme, resulting in the remarkable $10,000 donation.
The money is to support the Roots to Health programme, and has helped the Children's Foundation acquire and fit out a new allotment in Kenton. The scheme uses outdoor education to help teenagers who've struggled in classroom settings to get a level one horticulture qualification.
Katherine told ChronicleLive: "The Children's Foundation has a special place in my heart because they helped us when Kara-Amber was in hospital. It was just fantastic news that the company was able to give $10,000. The office is really just around the corner. The tagline is 'making serious stuff fun' and when Kara-Amber went through something so critical, that's what they did."
With her daughter, Katherine explained why the charity meant so much to them. She said: "When Kara-Amber was just 8 she just woke up one day through the night and she was screaming in pain. Her eyes were crossed and we didn't know what was wrong with her. We rushed her into hospital and fortunately one of the guys in A&E was a neurosurgeon and he sent her for a scan. The scan revealed she had had a bleed on her brain.
"But the amazing surgeon Chris Cowie saved her life. We are forever grateful to him and to the nursing staff and the physical therapists. Over the years we have donated arts and crafts packs to ward 1b at the Great North Children's Hospital. Even just peeling the back off a sticker is a big thing! We just want to keep giving back."
Though Kara-Amber "doesn't remember the scary parts" much, both mother and daughter said the time spent with the Clown Doctors brightened a difficult stint recovering in hospital.
Sean Soulsby, chief executive at the charity, explained more about what the money will go towards. He said: "The allotment project is part of the mental health strand of the charity. It's called Roots to Health and we support young people aged 12 to 14 to achieve a level one qualification in practical horticulture.
"It's aimed at young people who are maybe struggling with classroom based learning. It offers them alternative education outdoors with the support of youth workers. This tied in really well with the idea of education and the donation from Turnitin. The money has been used to acquire a second allotment in Kenton and will be used to support a cohort of young people through their qualification.
"But its not just about the money, they have been coming in and helping the project get ready. It's about those who've come in and staff on both sides meeting one another and helping to set the project up.
"This story is a great example of the real impact of the work we support, a project like the Clown Doctors makes a big difference to children."
Zemina Hasham, Turnitin's chief customer officer, said the team there had "relished the opportunity to make a difference". She added: "Our mission statement is ‘to ensure the integrity of global education and meaningfully improve learning outcomes’; working and supporting The Children’s Foundation is a rich case study within Turnitin of how a cohort of like minded individuals can really make a positive and powerful impact that can change lives."
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