Birchwood company to bring Christmas to children in hospital

Valli Opticians, based at Birchwood Shopping Centre, has launched an appeal in honour of a boy from Callands who died at the age of six.

William Fenton passed away in the arms of his parents in December 2019, in Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

The Christmas appeal has been successful over the past two years, and the organisers are hoping it will be just as successful this year (Image: Valli Opticians)

Valli met William and his family when he went for an eye test at the opticians in August 2019, just four short months before his tragic death.

In March 2020, a charity was established called William's Gift, which aimed to improve the lives of children in hospital.

Following that, in October 2020, Valli created the William's Gift Christmas Smile Appeal, which asks for donations of toys, comfort blankets, teddy bears, and other such items to help bring a smile to the faces of children who will spend Christmas in hospital.

The appeal was established in 2020, then was brought back for 2021, and is now in its third year.

James Houlihan met William at Valli before his death, and he said: "The generosity of our local community is unbelievable!

"We have received so many amazing donations from colouring books, pens, teddies, and board games to remote-controlled cars and drones. 

"Luckily for a lot of us, we will never know the hard times that families experience when they have a child in hospital. When you see the pictures and read the feedback for William's Gift, what this charity achieves is incredible."

When asked about the impact of the appeal, James said: "Due to the success of the first Smile Appeal, we did it again in 2021. However, knowing that people may not be visiting shops due to Covid and buying online, we created an Amazon Wishlist so people could still donate a gift and have it delivered directly to our practice without having to visit the shopping centre. 

"So after the first two successful Smile Appeals, we thought 'let's do it again' and try to make it bigger."

Businesses within Birchwood Shopping Centre are pulling together for the appeal driven by Valli, with James adding: "Home Bargains Birchwood have become a drop-off point, Extreme Cutting House in Birchwood have created a raffle with all monies raised purchasing toys for the appeal and again we have used our practice window, social media accounts along with our Amazon Wishlist and we have also created a raffle."

Valli Opticians William's Gift Christmas Smile Appeal runs until Saturday, December 17, and more information can be found on the opticians' social media pages.