Demelza

Demelza’s Adopt a Nurse programme benefits from our devotion and donations!

We Axis people put in a lot of effort to raise funds for our charity partner Demelza. In 2014 alone we have raised a grand total of £50,000 for the hospice.

“I’m proud to work with such generous and committed people, who share Axis’ giving culture and feel personally motivated to organise, take part in and give generously to fund raising activities,” said John Hayes Axis CEO.

All the money we donate to Demelza goes into their Adopt a Nurse programme. Adopt a Nurse brings one full-time nurse for one year to take care of the children in Demelza’s care and visit families at home to help with medication and physiotherapy and provide some respite in dark times.

Natalie Tegg, Head of Partnerships at Demelza said: “Axis has been outstanding in their support for Demelza over the years. All the staff have really got behind the charity and done all sorts of amazing things to raise money from running, to cutting their hair off, baking cakes, playing golf even dressing as a clown! They have raised an incredible £400K and we just want to say a huge thank you from everyone at Demelza.”

Capital FM DJ and Demelza Ambassador Dave Berry accepts a cheque for £48,000 for Demelza from the Axis Foundation.

“This is a phenomenal amount to have raised and will provide invaluable support to the children and families Demelza looks after. Axis clearly has some extremely committed and generous people working within it, and it is to them I would like to express my deepest thanks,” he said.

We presented the cheque to Dave at a ceremony at Demelza’s offices in Sittingbourne in 2013. As he is local to where our charity partner Demelza lives and works, including the Eltham hospice, Dave has seen first hand much of Demelza’s precious work with sick children and their familes. He and fellow patrons – including Daniel Radcliffe, Jayne Torville and Gary Lineker – are as committed as we are to supporting Demelza.
Berry is also involved in other local charities also supported by the Axis Foundation including the Charlton Athletic Trust where he supports the new youth services programme.

This donation, like all our donations from the Axis Foundation, will go towards Demelza’s fantastic ‘Adopt a Nurse’ project. The nurses work with both the children and families to provide the care and support at a time they need it the most.

We gifted a grand total of £52,000 to Demelza’s Adopt a Nurse programme in 2011. The money will pay for a Demelza Nurse and Care Assistant for a year.

The Adopt a Nurse initiative is vital to Demelza’s work providing hospice care for over 700 children with life-limiting illnesses and their families across Kent, East Sussex and South East London. The scheme funds the salary for a specialist pediatric nurse who delivers much-needed care to the children and respite for parents. Parent company Axis and the Axis Foundation have supported Demelza’s adopt a Nurse campaign for seven years.

Axis Foundation Trustee Sandie Ryan presented a cheque for £40,000 to staff at Demelza’s Kent hospice in April (2011). A further £12,000 was added via Just Giving donations to the Foundation. Axis people raised much of this great total through dressing up, running in the London 10K, a sponsored walk along the Great Wall of China, a golf day and a Summer Ball.

At the presentation, Sandie Ryan said: “The care these nurses provide is second to none and it’s clear to see how much the families need this extra pair of hands.”

Demelza’s Natalie Tegg said: “Demelza are hugely grateful to the Axis Foundation for all their amazing support. To raise this amount of money is fantastic. Thank you to all the Axis staff for their outstanding efforts. Their help will allow us to pay for a nurse to help children and families in the South East.”

Axis Foundation’s first donation of £6,000 strengthens our partnership with children’s Hospice Demelza.

Our donation of  £6,000 to Demelza Children’s Hospice (FY2010) , not only strengthened the links with our existing charity partner. but also marked one of our Foundation’s very first donations!

Bricks and Water

Prior to this, the Foundation’s parent company Axis also supported Demelza’s Bricks and Water appeal to improve the facilities at their Sittingbourne hospice. With our help, the £1.3m hospice created a Hydrotherapy Centre and two new bedrooms for teenage patients meanwhile refurbishing two existing bedrooms. Axis CEO John Hayes volunteered and was appointed  to be a member of the Appeal Board.

New Hospice in Eltham

Axis also contributed to building a new hospice for Demelza in Eltham in south east London. Olympic champions and Demelza vice presidents Jayne Torvill and Robin Cousins opened the new premises in 2009 after a £5m fundraising campaign. Celebrating the first anniversary of the Eltham hospice in 2010, our people joined Demelza supporters, nurses, children and their families at the ‘polka dot tea party’. In a short year, the new  hospice increased Demelza’s provision of care and support so that for approximately 570 children ‘life can be added to days, where days can not be added to life’.
The Axis Foundation is proud to be in charity partnership with Demelza.