Cards for Bravery: Bishop's Stortford charity appeals for help to bring Christmas joy to poorly children in hospital
Katie Callaghan is determined to bring cheer to more than 1,000 children and teenagers in hospital this Christmas and is reaching out to the Bishop's Stortford community to help.
The Birchwood High School alumna, who turns 19 later this month, founded Cards for Bravery in May 2015 at the age of 13. The cause aims to lift the spirits of hospitalised youngsters by sending them home-made cards – a situation that wheelchair-bound Katie can associate with through her own experience of hospitals.
"We have a very high amount of hospitals interested in Cards for Bravery at the moment, which is great," said Katie. "However, it can be difficult as we need a good amount of cards to take on more hospitals and regularly distribute.
Katie, who was joint winner of the Young Person of Courage accolade at the 2019 Indies community awards, hopes crafty people in the town will be able to make cards for her to donate to more than 12 hospitals across the country. These will then be handed out to youngsters on Christmas morning.
She needs "as many as possible" to reach as many children and teenagers as she can.
Katie has first-hand experience of lengthy hospital stays. She lives with a connective tissue disorder which causes her chronic pain, frequent joint dislocations and immense fatigue called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).
This collection of inherited conditions also causes her to have other illnesses, including chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction, which affects her digestive tract. This means that her stomach and intestines do not work properly, so she is unable to eat or drink and is reliant on a central line into her heart to receive nutrition from her bloodstream.
When Katie founded Cards for Bravery, she was in the midst of a four-month hospital stay. She had been having a difficult time, so when a friend sent her a hand-made card the gesture brightened up her day.
Katie wanted to share this cheer with others experiencing hardship and her scheme – which she runs from her home in Heath Row – was born. Over its five-and-a-half-year lifespan, Cards for Bravery has distributed over 10,000 cards.
Through it, Katie is also supporting the Bishop's Stortford Independent's Operation Christmas Cheer – a project running in partnership with Jo Gill's Welbeloved Club – to give the gift of friendship in a shoebox to isolated elderly people. Katie has donated 100 of her hand-made cards.
Anyone who can make some cards for Katie's cause can drop them off at the Indie office at 12 North Street.
Makers are asked not to write 'Get well soon' in them and to sign them from 'Cards for Bravery'. For further guidance, visit www.cardsforbravery.com.