Olivia Francis, granddaughter of Keltruck Nottingham’s customer, Adrian Francis, owner of ALF Transport; concludes 2011 with the fantastic news that she can now proceed with her stem cell treatment.
Olivia was born on Christmas Day 2009 with a combination of two conditions – optic nerve Hypoplasia/Atrophy causing Olivia to be completely blind and an underdeveloped pituitary gland.
Earlier this year, Olivia was granted stem cell treatment in China in hope that it will give her sight that she has never had.
However, Stem cell treatment comes with a hefty price tag and is only possible with the kind generosity and much needed help from other people; thus oliviasappeal.co.uk was founded by Olivia’s family.
On 29th October, Keltruck Nottingham held a “Halloween Family Open Day” at the branch all in aid of raising money for Olivia’s treatment as the procedure that she will need costs in excess of £28,000.
The family open day which was open to Keltruck’s customers, staff and the general public, saw a day full of exciting activities for both children and adults including a clown, circus acts, bouncy castles, face painting, gruesome competitions and a live band, “3 less than 5”, featuring Keltruck Burton on Trent’s Branch Manager, Chris Murphy.
Complete with various raffles, lucky dips and tombola competitions; the day concluded with a live auction that was hosted by Keltruck’s very own New Sales Account Manager, Ivor Morris, which raised an astonishing £1,300 alone!
With the help of the guests who attended and the staff at Keltruck, the event managed to raise a phenomenal £4,896.
Graham Page, Keltruck Nottingham Branch Manager commented: “I am overwhelmed by people’s generosity and willing to do everything they can to help. This is a proud day. I am so pleased that we have been given the chance to help this remarkable little girl”.
Soon after the event, Keltruck’s Chairman, Chris Kelly, made an exceptional contribution of £10,000 in addition to the funds already raised by Keltruck bringing the total to £14,896.00. Along with money that had already been raised by Olivia’s family, her total fund in October stood at a colossal £27,000!
Since October’s total, Gemma Lacey, Olivia’s mother, has confirmed that the fund now stands in excess of £32,000 giving Gemma the green light to begin to register Olivia for her treatment.
Gemma confirmed that she is hoping that Olivia’s treatment can commence in China in August 2012.
The treatment may take up to 12 months to show any signs of success, but the achievements that have been made so far to even make this possible for Olivia are outstanding.
Donations can still be made via oliviasappeal.co.uk.
For more on Keltruck’s charitable & community activities please see keltruck.com/charity.
