Following yesterday’s announcement by Leicester City Football Club for the generous £1 million gift to our Neonatal Incubators Appeal, Leicester Hospitals Charity Director, Lisa Davies said:
“We’ve been taken by surprise by the generous gift from the Chairman Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha. Its incredible news for our neonatal team, the money will help to support and save thousands babies lives. Thank you to Leicester City Football Club and the fans for their support with this appeal.”
Four years ago, Asiya Parekh, her husband Imran and their little son Yahya started a tradition of taking Eid gifts to Ward 30 (Children’s Cardiac) at the Leicester Glenfield Hospital. Fast forward to today, Asiya is now working for Leicester Hospitals Charity and during the month of Ramadan hosted a live radio show on Ramadan Radio to fundraise over £5,000. With the fantastic amount of donations from the community, Asiya and Imran were able to gift toy hampers to all the children wards at Leicester Children’s Hospital in time for Eid at the beginning of May.
Asiya’s son Yahya was born with complex congenital heart conditions and received treatment at the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC). While he was staying there, the ward received and distributed Easter Eggs to all the children. Even though Asiya and her family don’t celebrate Easter they were thrilled to receive the small gift. In that same spirit Asiya and Imran decided to donate gifts to bring some joy and happiness during Eid celebration to the children staying at EMCHC each year.
Sadly, Yahya is no longer with Asiya and Imran; however they both continue to bring gifts in to the wards each Eid. This year, Asiya went even further and working for the charity, she reached out to the local community of Leicester to help raise a total of £5,416 to buy toy hampers for the children’s wards to play with during Eid celebrations.
Asiya said: “Yahya passed when he was two years old, and although our hearts ache for him, we are tied to him by this amazing tradition we’ve started.
“This year, was my first Eid as an employee of Leicester Hospitals Charity and they have been wonderful in the support they’ve given to me to fundraise widely for Eid gifts for all the children’s wards across the hospitals.”
Lisa Davies, Director of Leicester Hospitals Charity said: “It’s wonderful having Asiya as part of our fundraising team, she’s known throughout the Leicester community, and her personal journey and passion to give back is amazing.
“Our hospitals are always in need of support and by fundraising you can help us purchase items like toys for children staying in the wards, which will bring some happiness and distraction while recovering from treatment.”
Asiya was on Ramadan Radio 87.7FM every Thursday at 1pm sharing her story, as well as the stories of other parents whose children have received care from our Leicester Children’s Hospital. You can listen back to all the shows via the Ramadan Radio Facebook page.
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