In January 2007 The Institute of Cancer Studies at the University of Birmingham received £5,000 to purchase equipment to speed up biopsy results enabling patients to begin appropriate treatment quicker.

Preceding the charity was the Rosie Ross Memorial Fund, which raised £57,000 in 18 months, this was distributed between Birmingham City Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of Birmingham to view these please click here.


2008

Butterflies pre school group newly established in Kingstanding, Birmingham, funding bought a playhouse.

Children’s Liver Disease Foundation based in Birmingham. Funding for a workshop being held in September for young people with Liver Disease to help with the transition from NHS children’s service to NHS adult services.

St Thomas’s, Aldridge funding for secure outside storage for toys and equipment belonging to the popular Playgroup and funding towards holiday scheme for school aged children to provide materials for Beside the Sea summer project.

Gloucester Street Community Centre, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton – funding towards staff to operate a school holiday scheme ensuring children are occupied and supervised through the long summer holiday.

Clayhanger Village Youth club (Walsall) – funding for long term hire of children and youth club premises. Clayhanger is a small village with few facilities for children and young people outside of school.

Walsall Bereavement Support Services. Funding towards the Swing’ project that provides counselling and support to bereaved children and young people – regardless of circumstances of bereavement (suicide, terminal illness, sudden death). This small charity we shall be supporting on an annual basis as the service they provide is unique and much in demand in the Walsall area.

Forward 4 Work is an employment preparation project based in Birmingham for people with disabilities throughout the West Midlands. We are very proud to help support this wonderful project with a bursary which will help the 16 to 25 year olds with the initial costs of purchasing essential items before receiving their first wage, things like a bus pass, suitable clothing and footwear or a mobile phone for personal safety.

Benmore Play Project based in Birmingham caters for children from 4 to 13 years old, providing after school care and activities during the school holidays –an essential facility for working parents. Unfortunately it is about to close much to everyone’s dismay, but staff wanted the children to leave with a positive experience and asked if we could help with the cost of a 3 day trip to Woodlands Educational Outdoor Centre. It will be the first time many of the children have been away from home with or without their parents – needless to say they are all very much looking forward to the trip.


2007

Stonnall Playing Fields Association received a grant towards the cost of resurfacing the children’s play area under the play equipment in the local park.

RAGE – Young Persons Theatre Group received money to enable them to tour schools in the Black Country & Birmingham with their production of ‘Chariots of Flight’.
www.rage.org.uk

True Colours Choir a community children’s choir based in Alumwell, Walsall received a donation to pay for coach costs to local competitions including the one being held at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

Walsall Acorns Children’s Hospice received a grant for their programme of group work and counselling for brothers and sisters of the life-limited children and young people whom Acorns care for in their Walsall Hospice.

Aldridge Youth Theatre received a donation towards the cost of a new piano, something Rosie always wanted herself.

St Thomas’s Children’s Club received a donation towards the cost of art and craft activities for their Pyramid Rock themes summer school.

HomeStart in Winson Green & Handsworth received a grant for their new children’s contact room. One of the services Home Start provides to families with child/ren under the age of 5 years is to act as the mediator between Social Services and the family in Child Protection situations. The room will be used as a safe environment for the child/ren and parent/s to spend quality time together.

Wolverhampton Youth Theatre received a grant to act as a Bursary enabling all children and young people who are members of the Youth Theatre to fully participate in it’s activities. A number of productions the Youth Theatre produce involve taking productions abroad and the Bursary scheme will help to assist the most needy of children and young people to travel with the production.

Walsall Children’s Bereavement Support Service received a donation for trained counsellors to work with children and young people following the loss of a family member or close friend. The Support Service currently works with around 80 children in the Walsall area. Funding was also given for the production of support literature to help the children and young people.

All Stars Pre-School Group in Kingstanding received funding for a part time Play Assistant to enable all the children requesting a place within the project to be accommodated.

Clayhanger Village Community TRA received funding to help with start up costs of a new youth club and children’s club which is desperately required in the village. At present there are no facilities for the young people in this small village. The Youth Club and children’s club are hoping to begin in March 2007 with the help of the local Methodist Church and cater for around 40 young people.

Medical Donations

Throughout 2006 we were raising money for the Institute for Cancer Studies at the University of Birmingham. In February 2007 we were delighted to hand over a cheque for £5,000 to the Institute to help purchase a new piece of equipment to help speed up the results of biopsies.

2006

Every Child Matters
We are very proud and privileged to be involved in a community project run by local Police Officer Alan Thompson and three
primary schools; Hatherton, Edgar Stammers and Harden all based in one of the most deprived areas of Walsall.
A competition was run for all the children from the 3 schools
based on ‘Every Child Matters’. The competition involved 700 children aged between 7 and 11 years old in designing a booklet
to show how to be safe in the community and each child’s wish
for a safer community. Five winners from each school were
chosen by independent judges to receive a trip of a lifetime to Lapland in December. Our donation of £1,000 has helped
towards the cost of the trip along with PC Thompson’s
marvellous fundraising efforts and donations and sponsors
from other local charities and businesses. We look forward to
being part of this on-going project in the Bloxwich area. It is
hoped a book containing all the children’s wishes for a safer community will be published and available to buy sometime in
the future.

Photo opposite courtesy of the Express and Star


Seedlings Baby & Toddler Group. We were pleased to once again fund Seedlings Baby & Toddler
group so they could buy ball barrel and new dressing up out-fits and stand complete with mirror which has proved to be a big hit with the children. Other young children’s groups who use the venue will also have access to the outfits and ball barrel.

St Thomas’s Church ran a summer holiday play scheme we were pleased to be able to fund a Drum workshop for one morning with Drum Love which the children enjoyed immensely.

Aldridge Youth Fellowship is a 85+ strong group. Some of the activities they get involved with require large marquees and camping equipment a donation of £1,000 presented to them at Rosie’s Walk 2006 has helped them to replace the worn out equipment.

Brownhills Community Colts. We were asked by a loyal supporter if we could help fund the set up of a new under 9’s Football team within the Brownhills Community Colts. The donation enables the team to have a new strip and equipment. We wish them all the best in the 2006/7 season.

St Johns Baby & Toddler Group received funds to help them buy new equipment for a quiet corner. This will be to encourage children to take time out to work with puzzle activities and story time. A new ‘Dads R Us’ Saturday morning group will also benefit from the equipment.

Allstars Playgroup & Kings Club/Youth Club - Kingstanding. All Stars project encourages pre-school children to look after themselves inside and out. They learn to eat healthy by sampling different foods, local police officers visit to give advice on road safety and personal safety. The children will also learn about the environment by visiting local nature centres and a zoo. The donation will pay for food, reflectors and entrance fees to support the work of the project.

The Kings Club/Youth Club is a thriving youth group catering for a variety of ages we are happy to purchase appropriate sized tables and chairs so that the children have somewhere to study and for leisure and art activities.

Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) based in Birmingham provides support for families through bereavement. Part of the support includes a biennial memorial service for around 400 parents and families, held at the chaplaincy at University of Birmingham. It is an all faith service and offers a crucial element of the on-going bereavement support that CLDF provide to parents and families. Rosie's Charity has given a donation towards the cost of the service.

Louise’s Storytelling service continues to provide monthly sessions for 3 pre-school groups in the Walsall area. The children and parents/carers thoroughly enjoy Louise’s visits, the children benefit through learning to listen and taking part in story time. You can visit Louise’s website here www.everist.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

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2005

A small skate park was built in 2004 on the playing fields in Stonnall, near Lichfield, after young people requested the facility. They did some fundraising themselves and the Playing Field Association also gave a grant. With our donation they were able to buy the first piece of equipment. A local experienced skater helped with the design. This is an on-going project for the youngsters of Stonnall.

Good Start Nursery in Brownhills is a charitable Children's Day Nursery, providing local working families with excellent daycare facilities. We are very pleased to be able to help them towards the cost of a new part time Nursery Nurse to cover the busy lunchtime period.

Aldridge 425 Air Cadets. We are delighted to give a donation towards the cost of a new minibus. Transport is a vital to the work the Cadets undertake each year from helping out at numerous community events like Rosie's Walk, as well as working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Awards and training events/courses at RAF bases.

Hothouse at Redhouse in Aldridge holds activities for local children and young people during evenings, weekends and holidays. The small outdoor patio has undergone a refurbishment enabling the space to be used as a rest and play area. This is a suntrap during the summer so Rosie's Helping Hands gave a donation towards the cost of a large canopy to protect the users of the garden from the sun.

Birmingham Hippodrome Panto Appeal. Each year the hippodrome arrange for children from Birmingham’s children hospital to visit the pantomime and meet members of the cast. This provides a real treat for the young patients and their families through often difficult times. We are happy to support the appeal.

Olivia's story and bravery touched our hearts. Olivia is 6 years old; having survived the disease meningitis Olivia then faced having a quadruple amputation due to blood poisoning. Olivia will need lots of specialized equipment for herself and her home. We, along with hundreds of other well-wishers have given a donation to the Olivia Trust Fund to help with the expenses involved.

Three pre-school groups continued to benefit from the storytelling sessions with Louise.

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2004

Home-Start Walsall received money from Rosie's Helping Hands to equip a sensory room for children and their parents. Home-start offers a be-friending service for families with at least one child under 5 years old. This service is often a lifeline for many families. Rosie's Charity also funds a storytelling session once a month with Louise, this is proving very popular with the children and adults alike.

Aldridge Manor Youth Club provides facilities for around 70 young people each week. The worn out pool tables which, were very old needing replacing with two re-furbished ones and the youngsters also requested some sports equipment and a games computer. Rosie's Helping Hands were delighted to give a donation to cover the cost of equipment.

Jack Fowler was 4 years old and autistic with a donation from Rosie's Helping Hands he has been able to receive a home therapy session from the Son-Rise outreach programme, which will help to improve Jack's life.

Walsall Acorns Children's Hospice received £1,000 to purchase items from the children's wish list, which included toys and games and things for their new garden.

Walsall Sea Scouts received a donation towards their minibus fund for helping out on Rosie's Walk 2004.

Aldridge 452 Air Training Cadets received new display boards to promote the squadron at various events for doing such a wonderful job of marshalling at Rosie's Walk each year.

Cresswell Kestrels Under 10's football team based in Bloxwich received help with funding for first aid and football equipment. Since receiving the funding the team has done really well in their local league table.

St. Aiden's Tot Care in Bloxwich received a £500 donation when fire destroyed all the toys and equipment belonging to the toddler group and youth club. The youth club annual camping trip was able to go ahead as planned and the toddler group has replacement toys.

All Stars in Kingstanding: Received a donation for a project to enable the pre-school children to learn more about the world about them by visiting local transport museums. The project also teaches the children about healthy eating and personal hygiene. A Saturday morning literacy club was also held for local children.

St John's Playgroup - Walsall Wood. Received donations for the purchase of start up toys and equipment for the playgroup, which meets every Wednesday afternoon. The playgroup is very successful and in 2005 moved into larger purpose built premises next to the church. Rosie's Charity also funds the storytelling service once a month to the playgroup, which has proved very popular with the children.

Sarah - We were delighted to help with the cost of Bass guitar lessons for Sarah, a 14 year old, talented musician, who is partially sighted. . Sarah loves her music and is also a very accomplished keyboard player, she hopes to make a career in music by teaching others. Sarah became a member of a young band who played at Rosie’s Walk 2005 and were later one of only four bands chosen to play at Walsall’s Youth Concert held in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in September 2005.

Oakwood School - Walsall Wood. This is a special school catering for 60 children between the ages of 4 to 16 years old with special needs. The Parents Association worked hard to raise money to fund a new sensory room for the children. Rosie's Helping Hands £3,500 shortfall so that work can begin on the room in early 2005. The room will be of enormous benefit to the children

St Matthews Carers and Toddlers Group - Walsall.
The playgroup reformed in 2004 after a short absence
and has proved very popular with local families with pre-school age children. The group was operating one day a week but has increased this to 2 days a week due to the increase in numbers. Rosie's Helping Hands has funded some safety equipment in way of play mats for the slide and a soft secure play area for the babies whilst the toddlers release their boundless energy!

Birmingham Hippodrome operates a charity enabling young patients from Birmingham's Children Hospital to enjoy a trip to the Pantomime. The Hippodrome have sponsored prizes for Rosie's Helping Hands in the past, so we were delighted to help their appeal and fund a
minibus of youngsters and their families to enjoy a special treat together in what is otherwise a stressful time for the children and their families.

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2003/2002

Bethany Sutton is a little girl who is autistic. Bethany's parents began fundraising so that Bethany may attend a two week Son-Rise programme in America. The programme treats children with autism helping them to make sense of the world around them. Rosie's Helping Hands gave a donation towards the cost of treatment. In August 2004, when Beth was 4 years old, she was able to attend the programme. Bethany's parents report that Beth responded well to the treatment with the highlight being when she said 'Mom' clearly for the first time. Her parents say 'there is no quick fix for Beth, but she is slowly entering into our world.' We are pleased to hear that Bethany continues to make good progress.

Whizz Kidz. This is a Saturday morning pre-school children's club in Aldridge aimed at involving the dad's so giving mum a break. This is a new club but is run in conjunction with other children's groups held at the same premises, Tynings Lane Church. Rosie's Helping Hands bought Whizz Kidz some large pieces of play equipment, such as a play parachute, a parachute ball and a large play box, which can be made into lots of interesting shapes to play in. A wide range of children from other groups such as brownies also use these toys throughout the week.

Friends of Aldridge Cradle Club meet at Aldridge Library every Tuesday afternoon in term time, as the name suggests this is a club for babies from birth to 18 months. The emphasis is on parents and carers to gain confidence in reading stories and singing nursery rhymes to their babies. Rosie's Helping Hands has funded the post of Play Worker until July 2004 to enable the group to establish itself in its first year of being self-funded.

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Donations to Medicine


City Hospital, Dudley Road, Birmingham.

We gave a donation of £42,000 to City hospital Accident & Emergency Department and Theatres Department as this was the hospital Rosie was taken to following the stabbing. We are very grateful to the staff who worked so hard so try to save Rosie and we believed Rosie would have wanted to thank them in some way.

The donation initially brought the following items:-

A thoracotomy pack to keep the chest area open in cases of trauma

An ultra sound portable scanner to detect internal bleeding and main
arteries in cases of trauma. This was the first portable scanner to be used outside the London teaching hospitals.

Training for 3 Accident & Emergency nurses to complete Paediatric Advanced Life Support course.

The donation continues to help the hospital with specialised training of medical staff.

City Hosptial very kindly named a new theatre suite in memory of Rosie in 2003.

Institute of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, West Midlands

We chose the University of Birmingham, Institute of Cancer Studies to benefit from a donation as we wanted to make a difference locally in research into cancer. By visiting the University and meeting with Professor Young we have also
been able to see what the donation has bought and how it is being used. Our visits to the Institute with Professor Young
are very interesting and we have always left feeling hopeful,
very positive and enthusiastic about the research they are involved in. We are very proud and delighted to be able to
help in some small but significant way.

In 2002 the Institute received a donation for £15,000 to enable them to purchase a microscope with a digital camera. Professor Lawrence Young has kindly supplied us with an update on how the microscope has helped in the research work undertaken at the University and also included some photos taken with the equipment.

As Rosie supported Cancer Research we thought it appropriate, being the 5th anniversary and what would have been her 21st birthday year, to make another donation to the University of Birmingham. The donation would help towards the cost of a Microarray analysis machine. Professor Lawrence Young explains how the machine works and the benefits to patients. The photos show the present machine.

To view Professor Lawrences' information please click here.

For more information about the Institute of Cancer Studies please visit their website at: www.cancerstudies.bham.ac.uk


New Scanner for Walsall Manor Hospital - During 2005 some of the money raised was for Walsall Manor Hospital to purchase a portable ultra sound scanner for the Accident & Emergency Department at a cost of £20,000. We are very pleased to announce that the scanner was delivered in February 2006 and is now in use in the department. Pictured below is the scanner, it is used to
detect arteries so that drugs can be administered quickly and accurately in cases of trauma. It can also detect internal bleeding and foreign objects in wounds. The scanner has already helped one patient by detecting a significant problem, which enabled the
patient to be transferred to a specialist hospital and begin treatment.


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