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In the autumn of 1981, a neighbour knocked on the door and asked Bernadette if she could help a 12-year-old girl who had come home to die.
Rachel had been diagnosed with cancer when she was six, had been successfully treated and then, when she was 12 years old, the cancer returned.
When Bernadette first visited Rachel and her mum Maureen, they were in a terrible state. Rachel had checked out of the hospital, against her doctors’ wishes, to die at home surrounded by her family. Her local GP refused to treat her, she had no pain relief drugs and she was in excruciating pain.
Bernadette recalled: “Rachel was adamant that she wanted to go home and so her mother discharged her. That same afternoon I visited Rachel for the first time. It was to be the beginning of a most beautiful friendship.”
Bernadette was there to help and support Rachel and Maureen, comforting both during the final weeks and consoling Maureen when Rachel died.
Word spread of Bernadette’s kindness and within months she had more requests for help than she could cover on her own.
Bernadette set up Rainbow Trust in 1986, working firstly around her kitchen table and then from a shed at the bottom of her garden. She and her husband Dennis personally funded all of her travel and visits to families with a seriously ill child while friends pitched in and supported her, trying to help as many families as she could. To help with the requests they trained Family Support Workers to provide the same care and compassion she had given to Rachel.
Dennis remembers: “Every night after dinner we would sit around the kitchen table and discuss how to move on. What structure did we need, what documentation, what procedures to put in place, how to support staff and, of course, how did we intend to fund the whole project.”
...... Bernadette would never give up where children are concerned. There are no words to convey what she has done to help children and families face the trauma in their lives.
Dennis
Bernadette’s vision was to make the movement bigger, to be able to reach more seriously ill children and their families.
In 40 years, our name and our vision have stayed the same. We believe that every family who has a child with a life threatening illness should receive the support they need.
In the autumn of 1981, a neighbour knocked on the door and asked Bernadette if she could help a
12-year-old girl who had come home to die.
Rachel had been diagnosed with cancer when she was six, had been successfully treated and then, when she was 12 years old, the cancer returned.
When Bernadette first visited Rachel and her mum Maureen, they were in a terrible state. Rachel had checked out of the hospital, against her doctors’ wishes, to die at home surrounded by her family. Her local GP refused to treat her, she had no pain relief drugs and she was in excruciating pain.
Bernadette recalled: “Rachel was adamant that she wanted to go home and so her mother discharged her. That same afternoon I visited Rachel for the first time. It was to be the beginning of a most beautiful friendship.”
Bernadette was there to help and support Rachel and Maureen, comforting both during the final weeks and consoling Maureen when Rachel died.
Word spread of Bernadette’s kindness and within months she had more requests for help than she could cover on her own.
Bernadette set up Rainbow Trust in 1986, working firstly around her kitchen table and then from a shed at the bottom of her garden. She and her husband Dennis personally funded all of her travel and visits to families with a seriously ill child while friends pitched in and supported her, trying to help as many families as she could. To help with the requests they trained Family Support Workers to provide the same care and compassion she had given to Rachel.
Dennis remembers: “Every night after dinner we would sit around the kitchen table and discuss how to move on. What structure did we need, what documentation, what procedures to put in place, how to support staff and, of course, how did we intend to fund the whole project.”
Bernadette’s vision was to make the movement bigger, to be able to reach more seriously ill children and their families.
In 40 years, our name and our vision have stayed the same. We believe that every family who has a child with a life threatening illness should receive the support they need.
Donate today
Dennis
...... Bernadette would never give up where children are concerned. There are no words to convey what she has done to help children and families face the trauma in their lives.
Dennis
Where it began:
Rachel’s story
Bernadette fundraising at an event in the 90s
Bernadette and her husband Dennis
Bernadette receiving her OBE in 2006
In the autumn of 1981, a neighbour knocked on the door and asked Bernadette if she could help a
12-year-old girl who had come home to die.
Rachel had been diagnosed with cancer when she was six,
had been successfully treated and then, when she was
12 years old, the cancer returned.
When Bernadette first visited Rachel and her mum Maureen, they were in a terrible state. Rachel had checked out of the hospital, against her doctors’ wishes, to die at home surrounded by her family. Her local GP refused to treat her, she had no pain relief drugs and she was in excruciating pain.
Bernadette recalled: “Rachel was adamant that she wanted to go home and so her mother discharged her. That same afternoon I visited Rachel for the first time. It was to be the beginning of a most beautiful friendship.”
Bernadette was there to help and support Rachel and Maureen, comforting both during the final weeks and consoling Maureen when Rachel died.
Word spread of Bernadette’s kindness and within months she had more requests for help than she could cover on her own.
Bernadette set up Rainbow Trust in 1986, working firstly around her kitchen table and then from a shed at the bottom of her garden. She and her husband Dennis personally funded all of her travel and visits to families with a seriously ill child while friends pitched in and supported her, trying to help as many families as she could. To help with the requests they trained Family Support Workers to provide the same care and compassion she had given to Rachel.
Dennis remembers: “Every night after dinner we would sit around the kitchen table and discuss how to move on. What structure did we need, what documentation, what procedures to put in place,
how to support staff and, of course, how did we intend to fund the whole project.”
...... Bernadette would never give up where children are concerned. There are no words to convey what she has done to help children and families face the trauma in their lives.
Where it began:
Rachel’s story
Bernadette’s vision was to make the movement bigger, to be able to reach more seriously ill children and their families.
In 40 years, our name and our vision have stayed the same. We believe that every family who has a child with a life threatening illness should receive the support they need.
Donate today
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