How trustee Julie is proud of the legacy she’s leaving behind at Sheffield's Children’s Hospital Charity

In the past decade, she has personally helped to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charity, which supports the vital work of Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

And now, after seven years as a trustee, Julie is stepping down from the role, having built a legacy she is proud of.

“It’s been interesting, challenging and incredibly rewarding,” says Julie, who was already well-acquainted with the charity’s fundraising team, after raising more than £148,000 in the 2013 Mistress Cutler’s challenge.

“When I became Mistress Cutler, my husband and I didn’t even discuss it, we knew we were going to fundraise for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

“Both my children have relied upon the outpatients department and I’ve been involved in the Girlguiding movement for more than 40 years, so I know countless rainbows, brownies and guides who have needed their care.”

For Julie, two family tragedies are also at the heart of her determination to do all she can to support Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

In 1986, her daughter Kirsty died at just five weeks old, while her grandson Sam was born sleeping in 2015.

“Kirsty was born with serious heart problems and had pioneering surgery, but sadly the damage was too severe, and she didn’t make it,” says Julie, aged 64.

“Had she survived, a lot of her ongoing care would have been at Sheffield Children’s and I’ve always been passionate about making the hospital the best it possibly can be for other families too.”

Julie reveals she first came to Sheffield to study history at university back in 1974, and fell in love with the city. She met her husband while they were both still students, and has called Sheffield home ever since.

Despite confessing to being very ‘hands-on’ in her previous fundraising, Julie - a retired archivist from Fulwood - freely admits the responsibilities of a charity trustee were entirely new to her when she first took them on, although she soon came to relish them.

“I came in knowing very little about the structure of charity governance, but fundamentally your role is to show support by challenging ideas, proposals and strategies,” she says.

Julie’s time as a trustee coincided with the Make it Better appeal, which saw charity raise £10m towards the opening of a new outpatient department and three world-class new inpatient wards, which opened in 2018.

Crucial to the fundraising was the Herd of Sheffield, the 2016 public arts sculpture trail which Julie backed enthusiastically, and which raised more than £600,000, and attracted over 175,000 visitors to the city.

“The Herd of Sheffield was a leap into the dark; we had no idea how people would react,” recalls Julie.

“I remember within a few days of the elephants being installed on the streets, before we had made any kind of public announcement, a running club said they’d fundraise by completing the trail route.

“That’s when I knew it would be a success and it created a huge buzz around the city.

“I’m sure, like many grandparents, we were trailing round Sheffield, visiting places we’d not been to in years, all to tick off those elephants with our grandchildren.

“I was also very fortunate to be High Sheriff at the time and, in that role, I was able to visit many schools and I saw the excitement that it generated.

“I can’t wait to see the Bears of Sheffield next year!”

As well as her role as a trustee, Julie was also a founding member of The Children’s Hospital Charity’s ‘Children’s Champions’ - a group of individuals, companies and private family trusts which raised more than £427,000 in its first five years.

The fundraising has helped fund lifesaving equipment, including an intraoperative 3T MRI scanner, which gives surgeons clearer images when scanning and operating on children; a multipurpose fluoroscopy system, which produces moving X-rays to quickly identify blockages

to blood flow and minimise scarring; and a SPECT CT scanner, which provides precise information about how different parts of the body are working, thereby locating disease more accurately.

Julie adds: “We raised an incredible amount of awareness and money, and it’s very special for me to reflect on those we’ve helped with the new equipment.

“Sheffield Children’s is just one of three dedicated children’s hospitals in the UK and it’s important we don’t take it for granted how good the care is here and help wherever we can.

“It’s not just young patients you’re helping, it’s their siblings, their parents, their wider family and the community.

"The repercussions of supporting this cause are huge.”

Julie’s final months as a trustee have seen the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused huge change to the charity’s plans.

She says: “You could never have planned for something like the coronavirus pandemic.

“Even as late as January, we could never have possibly imagined such a fundamental and prolonged change in how our society operates.

“All you can do as a trustee in that situation is make sure the charity is resilient, on a firm footing, and then support the staff as much as you can.”

Despite the unparalleled challenges of the last few months, Julie insists she loved every second of her time with The Children’s Hospital Charity.

“It’s been a tremendous privilege to meet some wonderful people - in the charity team, the fundraisers, and, of course staff and patients from the hospital.

“I’d describe my time as an incredible journey, exhilarating, humbling and inspiring, and one that I wouldn’t have missed for the world.”