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Our patrons and supporters

Kaye Adams

Kaye Adams, Kindred Patron

We are delighted that Kaye Adams is our patron.

Kaye had a memorable success in 2002 when she won £115,000 for Kindred (then known as SNIP) on the television programme Who Wants to be A Millionaire. This enabled Kindred, amongst other things, to start up a counselling service for parents which is still running very successfully and supports many parents each year.

Rankin

Sir Ian Rankin, Kindred Supporter

Sir Ian Rankin has been a supporter of Kindred ever since his family experienced what the organisation could offer first hand over 20 years ago.

When our son was diagnosed with special needs, Kindred was the first organisation to offer practical help and a sympathetic ear. Without Kindred we would have felt lost and bewildered…

Sir Ian has consistently supported Kindred through fundraising events such as Meet the Author events, book signings and most recently through his own trust, the Cordis Trust.

Supporters – Jim McGuire and Adam Bojelian

A few years ago a newspaper article about a young boy who wrote poetry led to Jim McGuire finding out more about Adam Bojelian. Kindred had previously been privileged to work with Adam and his family over many years, first meeting him at one of his stays at the Sick Kids in Edinburgh. Through learning about Adam, Jim also became aware of Kindred’s work.  As Jim felt he got to know Adam by reading his poems, he found he was unexpectedly gifted something in return: the inspiration to write some poetry of his own. When Jim wanted to give something back he offered to make a donation to the young poet. Adam and his family asked that the donations came to Kindred instead and Jim is now one of Kindred’s most loyal supporters.

Sadly Adam died aged 15 from Sepsis in March 2015, in Leeds near where his family were then living. Jim since told us he feels that the opportunity to know Adam and the continuing involvement with Kindred has enriched his own life. We know that Adam continues to be a source of inspiration to many people, as do the efforts of his family who are still involved in campaigning for changes to health care for seriously ill children: his mother Zoe not only campaigns to draw attention to the ongoing risk of Sepsis, but is a lay member of the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) Guideline Committee.  She has recently helped prepare their draft guidelines urging improvement in care for children with life limiting conditions, a publication dedicated to Adam and another boy.

With Jim having donated towards the redevelopment of this website,  Kindred knows that both Adam and he are in effect helping more families of children with long term conditions and disabilities every day.

Jim and also his wife Carole have contributed not only financially over the last few years to Kindred but have supported us in other ways, from telling others about the work we do, to fundraising by shaking buckets. We thank them for their generosity and join them in dedicating this website to Adam, whilst sending our ongoing love and thoughts to his mum and dad, and to all those who miss the gentle, generous poet who had so much to share.

You can find out more about Adam’s life and poetry here.

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