Two community nurses from Bluebell Wood are supporting families in their own homes, thanks to three-year funding from the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation. 

A year ago, the Foundation, which represents the charitable work of Matchroom Sport and its subsidiaries, the Professional Darts Corporation, World Snooker and the PGA EuroPro Tour, pledged £250,000 over three years to cover the costs of two nurses. 

The Foundation has recently made the second of three £83,000 donations. This funding is helping to sponsor Mandy Binney, a community nurse, to carry out all Bluebell Wood’s new referral assessments this year. Meeting eight to ten new families a month, Mandy spends at least two hours with each of these families, getting to know them and helping them make sure they get the help they need. 

The sponsorship also helps to fund support worker Sherry Hant, who visits families to offer them short breaks in their homes or at the hospice. These sessions give Bluebell Wood children the chance to have fun, from ice-skating to icing buns, while their parents have a much-needed break. 

Sherry also helps to meet and greet families coming to Bluebell Wood for the first time, helping to show them that the hospice is a fun place full of love and laughter, where families can spend treasured moments together. 

Jason Ferguson from the Matchroom Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to help deserving causes like Bluebell Wood make a difference to people's lives. Bluebell Wood is one of ten charities the Matchroom Foundation supports through ticket sales and other activities at snooker, darts, golf, boxing and all our other sporting events. We’ve been really pleased to sponsor these nursing roles and help our supporters see exactly how their funding is making a difference.” 

Julie Hampson, Corporate Fundraiser, Bluebell Wood, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at the Matchroom Foundation. This generous sponsorship has helped make thousands of amazing memories for families over the last year, and is helping families get vital help at home as well as at our hospice. We’d like to grow our community team to support more families in their own homes, and thanks to funding like this, we are well on our way to our vision of reaching twice as many children in the next three years.”