Lindsey Graham

Ivy Climbs the Walls!

The article below follows the paths of Ivy and Dexter and the story was initially sent to all Rainham email addresses 2 weeks ago.

Ivy Dagnall is the 2 year old daughter of Simon, Rainham’s Estimating Manager based at Runcorn and his wife Ruth. Ivy is doing a sponsored toddle in fancy dress of her choice (baby shark) on Tuesday 6th April around the Roman walls of Chester to raise money in support of her little best friend Dexter who needs major open heart surgery at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

In brief this is Dexter’s story:

His main issues are
-Left Pulmonary Artery Sling
-Left Bronchomalacia 
-Left Thoracic Hypoplasia

The condition Dexter has means his pulmonary artery is wrapped around his windpipe making it difficult for him to breath when exerting himself, sleeping or doing normal things babies do. Any illness such as a cold places him back in hospital due to his airways restricting.

The major operation is one that is only performed several times a year and only takes place in London. Due to COVID restrictions Mum will be in the hospital on her own whilst the operation, induced coma and recovery happens over 4-5 weeks. He will also need follow up appointments, operations and overnight stays for the next several months. 

Desperately wanting to be there for his son and wife, Rob (dad) will have to find accommodation near to the hospital. He will only be able to have a five minute catch up with Danielle (mum) each day if she is able to leave the hospital and no hugs to comfort her. 

Without everyone’s help, Danielle would have to take the brunt of this battle on her own and Rob would not be able to see his son or wife in any normal manner for up to a month. Danielle has had to give up her career to care for Dexter, she has never been out of work since she was 15. Hopefully, this fundraiser will help remove a fraction of the worry surrounding them, in particular the financial strain that they are currently under. 

If anyone wishes to make a donation it would mean the world to the Blake family and you will be helping them get through a very tough time. We are not fundraising through a page as the likes of GoFundMe take commission and we want every penny Ivy raises to go straight to the family.  What we do raise will be a drop in the ocean compared to the figure they need, but we’re going to give it our best.

Update

On Tuesday April 6^th Ivy Dagnall completed her sponsored toddle around the entire length of the Chester Walls, circa 1.8 miles, remember – she is 2 years old and completed the toddle unaided and in what proved to be a pretty weighty choice of fancy dress. So far, Ivy has manged to raise a fantastic £2,200.00 to help the Blake family get through this difficult time. Simon Ruth, Ivy and the Blakes would like to thank everyone at Rainham who has kindly donated, hats off to you all.

Dexter

You will all be glad to know that yesterday as Ivy was toddling away Dexter had the heart surgery he so needed. According to his surgeon it was a great success, although apparently he has a small infection and high temperature this morning (Wednesday), which they quickly need to get control of.

#TimetoTalk2021

With the suicide rate within the Construction & related industries being 3.7 times greater than the national average, Rainham have been proud members of the ‘Mates in Mind’ campaign since 2019.   As such we are proud to participate in and support the Time to Talk Day 2021

This Thursday, February 4^th marks Time to Talk Day, a day in which we celebrate small conversations about Mental Health, which have the power to make a big difference.

This year’s focus is on the power of small, because however you have a conversation about Mental Health – whether it’s a quick text to a friend, a virtual coffee morning with colleagues, or a socially distanced walk and talk with your family – it has the power to make a huge difference.

Thursday is a day to encourage small conversations, and for everyone to start talking.  The more conversations we can have the more barriers we can break down and myths we can bust.  It is safe to say that Covid-19 has had a significant effect on everybody’s Mental health – which is why this year, we are giving the campaign a push across all of our sites and office locations.

Top tips for starting a conversation are:

1. Ask Questions and listen – Try to ask questions that are open and not leading or judgmental – such as “how does that affect you” or “what does that feel like?”.
2. Consider the time & place – sometimes it is easier to talk side to side rather than face to face.  So, if you do talk in person, you might want to chat while you are doing something else, like making tea / coffee in the break room.
3. Don’t try and fix everything – It can be hard to see someone you care about having a difficult time but try to resist the urge to offer quick fixes to what they’re going through, learning to manage or recover from a Mental Health problem can be a long journey, and they’ve likely considered lots of different tools and strategies.  Just talking can be really powerful, so unless they’ve asked for advice directly, it might be best just to listen.
4. Be Patient – No matter how hard you try, some people might not be ready to talk about what they’re going through.  That’s OK – the fact that you’ve tried to talk to them about it might make it easier for them to open up another time.

For more information on Mates and Minds, and what they do – please visit their website www.matesinmind.org or call them directly on 020 3510 5018.