Over the Christmas period, the New Wear high-level Footbridge project team supported the charity Love, Amelia by getting involved in the ‘Giving Tree’. The team set up an office Christmas tree which was decorated with gift tags, each tag specified an item which would be donated to the charity and given to families who were struggling around the festive period. The gifts included toys and games which were given to children as well as their parents/carers.
Love, Amelia is a charity which was established in 2018 by Steph Capewell. Steph and her husband, Phill, were tragically faced with the trauma of losing Amelia, their first born, who sadly passed away 12 minutes after her birth at Sunderland Maternity Unit in January 2018. Steph would visit Amelia in the hospital, in the days following her birth, where she would read her daughter stories and sing her songs, this is where she met a young mother who had a cryptic pregnancy and had no supplies for her newborn baby. Steph enquired of the support that would be available in this situation, however the midwife advised they have no provision – at best they had a cupboard with a few spare baby-grows and nappies in. But no such service existed to offer practical support of clothing and equipment to families who were without. Steph therefore donated some of Amelia’s belongings to the young family, to assist them in their first days as a family. This was her first step in supporting families and now it has turned into such a huge charity which supports families all over Sunderland with help from donators.
Love, Amelia has held their Christmas gift appeal for the past four years, to help families who are in need of additional support to help deliver Christmas magic. The charity distributed the gifts through out December, to ensure that they arrived before the big day and each child woke up to a gift on Christmas morning. With their Christmas project, Love, Amelia helped over 1,000 children and their families.
