Parents to set up charity in memory of their daughter

A melksham couple are fundraising to set up a charity in memory of their 13-year old daughter who died in January after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Parents of Evie Clover, Patsy and Bryan Clover, want to create a charity that will offer financial support to families whose children have been admitted to hospital with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions. They also intend for the charity to fund research into glioma, the rare form of brain tumour that Evie had.

13-year old Evie was diagnosed with the brain tumour whilst on a family holiday in Spain in October last year after experiencing severe headaches. “From her first headache to her death was just 13 weeks,” explained Evie’s father Bryan. “She had two operations in San Sebastian in Spain and was evacuated back to the UK by air ambulance.

“Both my wife and I took three months off work to look after her, and she spent the last six weeks of her life at home with us.”

Whilst Evie was cared for at Bristol Children’s Hospital, Bryan and Patsy stayed in charity accommodation for over a month. It was here they realised the need for more support for families in situations similar to theirs. “We were lucky enough to be accommodated in Ronald McDonald House, but other families were not so fortunate, with many funding their stays a long way from home out of their own pockets. For some it was an expense that they couldn’t afford.

“Many parents ended up sleeping on the floor in Bristol Children’s Hospital or in their cars because they couldn’t afford hotel or B&B costs for weeks on end.

“We are in the process of setting up a charity in Evie’s name to provide desperately-needed support to these parents. We also want to raise funds to support research into this dreadful disease which is so rare – only 30 cases a year in the UK and almost invariably fatal.”

A Just Giving page was created on Sunday 4th February and in just a few days, nearly £5,000 had been donated. At the time of going to press £7,135 had been raised.

Paying tribute to his daughter, Bryan said, “Evie was an incredibly kind and caring young woman.

“At her funeral everyone who spoke remembered someone who was always ready to help others, support her friends or just provide a shoulder to lean on.

“She was incredibly bright and loved learning; she particularly enjoyed Tudor history and the novels by Philippa Gregory on the Tudors.

“She had won a scholarship to the Royal High School in Bath and loved every second of her time there. She read constantly, and usually had 6 or 7 books on the go at any one time.

“Her biggest passion was food and she loved helping out in the kitchen. Her favourite meal was steak and chips, and she always had her steak medium rare – the pinker the better as far as she was concerned.

“Evie was tall for age – 5ft 7 1/2in at 13 years old. She loved playing table tennis and had represented the county at U15 level. She swam regularly and loved playing her saxophone.”

To donate to the Clovers’ cause, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/evieclovercharity