Chester toddler Erin Cross was the proud recipient of a huge cash boost for Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
The four-year-old from Upton , who received much of her leukaemia treatment at the Merseyside hospital, was officially presented with a cheque for £651,626 by shopping outlet Matalan, the proceeds of its national Alphabet Scarf fundraising campaign which was supported by scores of celebrities from all over the world.
The money will be put towards a brand new £24m world class research and education building that is being constructed alongside Alder Hey’s new hospital ‘Alder Hey in the Park’.
Matalan’s managing director Jason Hargreaves who handed Erin the cheque, said: “As a family Alder Hey has always been close to our hearts, myself and my brothers and sisters were treated here as kids. I think its very important for individuals and businesses, if they can, to support Alder Hey for the welfare of children and to help save their lives.”
Matalan sold 200,000 of the Alphabet Scarves, thanks in part to celebrities including Tom Jones, Helen Mirren, Rod Stewart and Sarah Jessica Parker, who posted their ‘scarfie’ pictures on social media.
Erin, the official ambassador of Alder Hey, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia weeks before her second birthday in 2012, is finally free of her cancer treatment after two and a half years of intensive chemotherapy and numerous life-saving blood and platelet transfusions at the hospital.
She has been heavily involved in the Matalan campaign and was one of the faces of it on the company’s website last year.
Her mum Sarah said: “Erin was so proud to accept the cheque for Alder Hey from Matalan. They raised a fantastic amount of money from the alphabet scarves which is amazing.
“When we found out Erin was ill we were devastated and in a complete state but we were put at ease on the oncology ward by how amazing the staff were.
“We’ve had a look round the new hospital and it’s out of this world. It’s going to be such a better place for the parents and their children,” she added.
To donate to Alder Hey Children’s Charity visit http://www.alderheycharity.org/donate/
