Martin Lawrence

I am the youngest of Eve Merton’s 4 children, and in 2010/11 went through the gruelling experience of watching my mother lose her brave fight against Cancer. Sadly, my family’s story was an all too familiar one, there was nothing special about us or what we went through, but the memories and experiences we shared have since shaped my future and the future of The Eve Merton Dreams Trust.

Prior to mum’s illness I’d already been fundraising and organising events for other charities, leading to a “Community Champion” and “Pride of Doncaster” Award in recognition for the £40,000+ I’d managed to raise. But during our family’s experience with Cancer it became very clear to me how the littlest things can make a real difference, and how people in the community can really come together for the aid of another.

So, in 2011, just months after my mother’s passing, myself and a close friend decided to start our own charity, focussing our efforts on local families going through the same negative impacts as we did.

Firstly, after 3 months of gruelling treatment and round the clock care in the Doncaster Royal Infirmary, the one time I remember my mum smiling was when a local charity provided a wig that looked exactly the same as my mum’s natural hair colour and style. For that moment, in that wig, she felt normal again.

Secondly, my mum had been told she was now in end of life care and all she wanted to do was spend a final Christmas at home surrounded by her family. To do this we needed various amounts of medical equipment and care, not all of which could be covered by the NHS, leaving us with well over £1,000 to find to make Eve’s final Dream a reality. We reached out to a national multi million pound charity, who had pages and pages of forms and red tape, only to tell us my mum’s story did not qualify as a high priority case.

But, when news of this was shared, unbeknown to me, my work colleagues had raised all the money needed in a single day. So it wasn’t the multi million pound charity who made my mum’s final Dream come true. It was my colleagues, the community, the people of Doncaster who gave what they could afford.

Now, in my mother’s name of “The Eve Merton Dreams Trust”, I strive to make those dreams come true for other local families.