Samuel’s Charity started when Samuel aged 9, was in hospital with a rare cancer. He saw just how hard it was for the other kids to get through each day and he wanted to help them, so Samuel’s Charity was born.

Samuel’s Charity help seriously and terminally ill children; supporting them when they are in hospital with ward re-decoration, providing essential medical and entertainment equipment the NHS can’t provide as well as games, toys and whatever the individual ward needs.

The At Home project enable seriously ill children to return home to continue their treatment. There is a huge lack of community nursing, 85% below required levels based on Royal College of Nursing reports, and this stops so many children from returning home. It is an accepted fact that the level of care and the outcome of treatment is much higher when a child is at home instead of on a ward. The At Home project enables up to 200 children per local area per year to return home, saving around 900 bed days per year and about £700,000-£900,000 per year in wasted costs. This reduces the waiting lists for the paediatric critical wards dramatically as well as the other wards where some children are waiting to get a bed in the critical ward. Finally, this also impacts waiting times in the A&E departments and the amount of wasted time ambulance crews have to wait with a child when there are no beds.”

As Milton Keynes Chamber Charity of the Year, they will receive complimentary Silver Chamber Partner member to enable them to network with some of the county’s most influential companies as well as receiving complimentary tickets to some of our networking events.

The Silver Chamber partner membership also means the charity’s logo will be featured on the Chamber’s website, company stationery and in various other Chamber publications.

Milton Keynes Chamber Chief executive Louise Wall said: “We feel it is important to support county charities and to highlight the contribution they make to our community.

“We look forward to working with Samuel’s Charity and helping them to raise their profile and forge new connections with the business community.”

Martin Leib, Founder of Samuel’s Charity said: ““I am very excited and grateful to be the Charity of the Year for Milton Keynes Chamber of Commerce. The support they have given before we were lucky enough to get this was great, the team are always so helpful and the events really well organised.

“Having more opportunities to talk to people and get our message heard is a big part of how charities fulfil their goals to help their communities, and this is why I am so grateful for this opportunity.”