Joanne Thompson & Nicola Graham
2013 Community Award Winners

Joanne Thompson
On October 23rd 2012 Millie’s daddy, Dan took her to nursery school for her third day, just before lunchtime Joanne received a telephone call from Dan to say “you have got to go to Millie something has happened to her at nursery”. As Millie was being fed her lunch she choked to death at nursery.

Amidst the grief, Joanne and Dan have set up MILLIESTRUST.COM to raise awareness that everybody especially anyone who looks after children should have First Aid Knowledge. They have also raised £17,000 so they can pay for people to attend first aid courses, who cannot afford to pay for it themselves. They aim to raise £25,000 by the six month anniversary of Millie’s death. The couple is also campaigning to change a ruling that each nursery only needs one first aider on site.

Nicola Graham
In August 2012, Nicola Graham tragically lost her 23 month old son Reuben to a rare brain tumour. He showed no serious symptoms prior to his diagnosis and was a massive shock to Nicola and her husband. Despite tremendous grief, Nicola vowed that Reuben’s passing would not be in vain and so Reuben’s Retreat was born.

Nicola and her family want to create a place in the North West where families with sick children can relax, recharge and build memories together. Nicola’s goal is to raise £1 million in 23 months (the number of months Reuben was alive) and she is well on the way to reaching that target having raised around £280,000 in the short 6 months since he died.