“When Irene died I had to find something positive to do”
Sarah
Thirteen years after being moved to raise money for St Christopher’s in response to the care, support and love the hospice provided her best friend, Irene, Sarah Campbell has now raised over £50,000 in donations.
Sarah’s reached this astonishing sum through an eclectic mix of activities – gardening, magic and bubbles – and with her partner Mark now receiving care from St Christopher’s she has absolutely no plans to stop.
“I enjoy it and it’s good for me. I find pottering around with plants so therapeutic.”
“Irene was in St Christopher’s for about eight weeks. They were wonderful, they treated her with the utmost love, and I reckon I might now have just about paid for that. We’ve now got wonderful nurses coming to look after my partner Mark and I feel I want to pay for his care now.
“I’ve lived in the same house in Beckenham for 45 years and always loved gardening. So when Irene died I had to find something positive to do.”
Sarah’s growing for St Christopher’s is on a grand scale. Each year she buys 2,000 plants like geraniums and busy lizzies grows them on, and then, along with 2,000 bulbs, she pops them on her garden wall for sale, with an average price tag of £1.
“I’m very fortunate to have been supported with plant donations by individuals over the years – in particular Tony Edwards at Rambling Rose in south Norwood and, more recently, by Branching Out at Elmers End” Sarah adds.
A mixture of passersby, local regulars and some people who drive some distance specially, have bought more than 25,000 plants over the last decade or so.
“I gave up work reluctantly during COVID,” adds Sarah, who had to pass on the running of a pre-school to her daughter. “This keeps me sane. I get to meet people who’ll often tell me their St Christopher’s story.
“I enjoy it and it’s good for me. I find pottering around with plants so therapeutic.”
Sarah confesses that she was seriously in need of some kind of help and more when complications with Mark’s cancer meant neither of them had slept a wink for weeks. That was when St Christopher’s intervened and admitted Mark late one night.
She adds: “To be honest, I had stopped coping. When the ambulance arrived at the hospice it was silent everywhere. We went quietly to the ward. There were no beeps, and they gave Mark a bed on his own.
“I can only compare the feeling to being in the shower and having all the stress washed away.”
“It just felt like a sanctuary. Like we were somewhere safe and that we really were going to be ok. That was wonderful.”
Knowing Mark was being well cared for in St Christopher’s, meant, after long visits, she could go home, have a long bath and sleep all night.
The nursing team now make regular visits and, Sarah says, always manage to identify and sort any outstanding issues.
“The nurse, Rosie, is so friendly. She comes in, gives me a hug and really listens,” Sarah adds.
“It just felt like a sanctuary. Like we were somewhere safe and that we really were going to be ok.”
They’ve also benefited from the support of the occupational therapy team who installed handrails and a hospital bed.
While Mark’s illness has severely reduced his mobility, Sarah admits to a need to keep active. It was this drive that, when faced with an empty house after her three children left home, drew her to magic.
Now a member of The Magic Circle and treasurer of the South London Magic Society,
Sarah recently started doing bucket collections at her shows – adding further funds to the plant pot.
About 10 years ago, Sarah saw a lecture given by a magician who did bubbles.“I’ve always been quite into crafts and so I started researching it.
I crocheted myself some nets. I now have a battery of about 60-70 tools for making different sized bubbles.”
Having helped launch the Association of International Bubble Artistes, Sarah now attends events like a local Easter egg hunt and the recent St Christopher’s Fun Walk and does bucket collections as a third income stream.
Reflecting on the incredible total, Sarah says she might allow herself a small celebration – with a cup of tea.
“I’ll definitely keep going though because I just feel I have a lifelong debt to pay for the care they gave Irene and are now giving Mark.”
“My experience of St Christopher’s is of a place that is calm, kind, safe, caring and loving. I think it’s a place where lucky people get to die.”
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