Big-hearted Paul brings another early Christmas to Bluebell Wood

Paul and Michelle Tomkins with the treasure trove of toys for Bluebell Wood

Matching the amount raised by donations from his business contacts, Paul Tomkins, managing director of PMT Engineering, and his wife Michelle, have brought a treasure trove of new toys to the hospice.

Paul has done this for the last seven years in honour of his friends Steve and Jane Knight, whose daughter Emma was cared for by Bluebell Wood before she passed away at the age of 13.

Paul asks for donations from the businesses PMT Engineering deals with and then doubles the total raised at the end of each year.

Every year Paul speaks to the care team at Bluebell Wood to find out what toys would be most useful and then takes those to the hospice.

So far he has raised more than £8,000 for Christmas presents for Bluebell Wood.

After Emma Knight was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2004, Bluebell Wood’s care team members cared for her at home, eventually providing 40 hours of support a week.

After Emma passed away, she was the first child to stay in Bluebell Wood’s Forget Me Not end of life suite.

Her parents Jane and Steve have since raised thousands in Emma’s memory and Jane is a care team support worker at the hospice.

Paul said: “I played football with Steve many moons ago, struck up a good friendship with him and we have been friends ever since.

“I’m aware of what Steve and Jane went through and just want to give something back to an amazing cause.

“Running a business can be all-consuming so this gives us a bit of a break and takes our minds off work for a while.

“More importantly, Christmas can be a difficult time of year for Bluebell Wood families so we just want to do our bit to support them.”

Emma Doughty, head of family support and wellbeing services at Bluebell Wood, said: “We’d like to say a really big thank you to Paul, Michelle and everyone who has donated to PMT Engineering’s Christmas toys appeal.”

If anyone would like to gift a toy to Bluebell Wood this Christmas they can visit the charity’s Amazon wishlist at http://bit.ly/2zyzXGH