July 21, 2024
Support grows as Cwtsh Clos gets help with gardens
Five thousand pounds has been generously donated to spruce up the gardens of five homes away from home for families with sick and tiny babies in Singleton Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The gesture has come from Clydach mum Julie Montanari through the Leon Heart Fund, which she set up in memory of her son.
Leon was born at Singleton Hospital in 1996 with a rare heart defect which resulted in a transplant before his first birthday.
As Leon received treatment throughout his life at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, Bristol Children’s Hospital and the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, Julie became used to sleeping on hospital floors.
Both she and Leon noticed that some parents could not visit their children while they were having treatment because they were single parents, had other children to look after or couldn’t afford to travel. Julie has also known parents who have been forced to sleep in their cars.
“It always bothered Leon and he wanted to make a difference to those people,” said Julie, who lost Leon in 2009 when he was 13.
She vowed to back our Cwtsh Clos appeal to give a facelift to the gardens of this all important on-site accommodation.
Julie, who is planning further donations, said: “At the moment the gardens are in desperate need of attention.
“We’re going to put some nice benches out, some colourful ones. We’re going to put in some planters with sensory plants – some nice smells. And a little bit of fencing for privacy. Maybe a small little communal area for the families. If they want to sit together they can, or they can sit alone in their own little bit of garden.”
Julie Montanari in the Cwtsh Clos gardens