The Lewis Foundation
Easing the strain and showing that someone cares
For something that began in such a personal way, T e Lewis Foundation has grown into a charity that benefi ts thousands of cancer patients across most of the Midlands every day. Founded by Lorraine and Lee Lewis, T e Lewis Foundation
delivers around 2,000 gift packs each month to 17 hospitals. T e 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 fi nd diffi cult to access themselves, or which they may not be able to aff ord. Even those who are being treated as out-patients have a range of
gifts to choose from each time they visit the hospital for treatment or an appointment. T e idea started when Lee’s mum was receiving cancer treatment.
Seeing the strain that put on the family, particularly after Lee’s father died during his wife’s course of treatment, Lee and Lorraine began to check in on other patients on the wards to make sure they had everything they needed. Lorraine said: “When someone is being treated for cancer, they
spend a lot of time alone, probably a bit scared and upset. If you’ve been rushed into hospital you might not have had time to pack and bag and you’re worrying about having the basic toiletries and a change of underwear.
“From just checking in on people on the ward and asking if they
needed anything, we saw how much it meant to them, and the idea was born.” Lee and Lorraine set about sourcing donations of goods or money
to help fi ll the gift bags, packing them and delivering themselves at fi rst. Lorraine competed in a Tough Mudder event and raised enough to buy 16 televisions for individual rooms in the inpatient cancer unit, Talbot Butler Ward, at Northampton General. Before long, they were delivering to hospitals across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Leicestershire. Today, there is a core team working alongside volunteers and
hundreds of regular supporters, and the charity operates out of a logistics centre in Grange Park. Patients are given a tick list of gifts that are available and no donations are taken in return for gifts. Instead, the local community, from individuals to multinational
businesses, have rallied to do what they can to help. Amazon regularly donates items that have been returned or are
end-of-line, all new and unused, either to pass on to patients, use in the cafes, or to sell in Outlet, T e Lewis Foundation’s charity shop in T e Grosvenor Centre in Northampton, as does Stephensons Online, the online beauty products retailer based in Swan Valley, which has worked closely with T e Lewis Foundation for some years to pass on any surplus stock. “Businesses support us with fundraising and donations, and also
provide volunteers to come in and help us make up the gift packs – our packing rota is booked well into next year thanks to the amount of people who want to help us,” said Lorraine. “We have people in
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