A decade on from when Lorraine and Lee Lewis started packing
gift packs for cancer patients in their lounge at home, The Lewis Foundation is celebrating its tenth anniversary in new premises that open up a host of exciting opportunities for the charity.
When a company that regularly supports the charity was moving offices, meaning space in Rothersthorpe Crescent on the Rothersthorpe Industrial Estate became available, The Lewis Foundation was able to move into a new home that gives it storage room for more donated items as well as packing areas that make life easier for the volunteers who help make up the gift packs.
The Lewis Foundation was founded in 2016 when Lee’s mum was receiving cancer treatment and the couple realised how difficult it was for seriously ill patients to get the essentials, and the little luxuries, they needed to make their stay in hospital more pleasant.
As they set about sourcing donations of goods or money to help provide gift packs for those being treated on Talbot Butler Ward at Northampton General, news of the charity’s work began to spread. With the support of the community, and generous donations of unwanted, returned, unsold or end-of-line items, The Lewis Foundation was able to help more patients in more hospitals.
Today, the charity delivers around 2,000 gift packs a month to 17 hospitals across the Midlands.
Lorraine Lewis said: “It’s our tenth anniversary this year and I am just amazed by how far we have come. It started off with just me and Lee, and then a few volunteers and now, when I look at where we are now, I can’t believe it.
“I can’t quite get my head around the fact that companies like Carlsberg approach us to say we’re going to be their charity of the year, and that we are supported alongside some of the best-known and longest-established charities in Northamptonshire.
“So many people support us through volunteering – and companies sign up for sessions as part of their employees volunteering time – so much so that our volunteer rota is completely full already for the rest of this year.
“And having this new space will mean we can carry on growing and helping more people. I remember early volunteer sessions at our house where we literally had people in every room. When I found volunteers working in our bathroom, I knew we’d got too big to keep doing it all from home.
“Since then, we’ve been using the Elgar Community Centre in Upton, where we also run the coffee shop, but even that was getting too small.
“This new space means we can accept more offers of goods from businesses – we’ve just been offered unwanted returns and slow- moving stock from an Amazon fulfilment centre in Coventry on a regular basis – without having to worry where we’re going to store and pack everything.”
The gift packs include essentials, such as toiletries and underwear, and non-essentials such as books, headphones and craft sets for individuals diagnosed with any cancer from newly diagnosed to end-of-life care, and which they might find difficult to access themselves, or which they may not be able to afford.
Even those who are being treated as outpatients have a range of gifts to choose from each time they visit the hospital for treatment or an appointment.
Amazon regularly donates items that have been returned or are end-of-line, all new and unused, either to pass on to patientsn or to sell in Outlet, The Lewis Foundation’s charity shop in The Grosvenor Centre in Northampton. Stephensons Online, the online beauty products retailer based in Brixworth, has been one of the charity’s biggest supporters, working closely with The Lewis Foundation for some years to pass on any surplus stock.
Some donations, including the likes of coffee beans and quality teas, find their way into The Lewis Foundation’s cafes at the Northampton Museum and the Elgar Community Centre in Upton.
Lorraine added: “Looking back over ten years it’s been amazing. I think we have grown the way we have because it’s something that, once people understand what we do, resonates with them. Most people know someone who has been in hospital for a long time, with cancer or for any another reason, and the impact that has on their lives.
“People can feel lonely and scared, and if they’re on long-term sick, they might have money worries as well, which is the last thing they need.
“Getting a gift pack with essential toiletries or underwear, or a magazine or puzzle book that helps fill the time, makes all the difference, and people who support us can see how any donation – each gift packs costs just £3.60 – can make an immediate difference to someone’s life.
“We feel quite humble about where we’ve come. I think one of the nicest things is that we’ve had a few people who’ve received gift packs who have then asked for donations for The Lewis Foundation at their funeral. It’s lovely to think that they feel they want to say thank you in that way.”
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