Sophie's Legacy has achieved great things since establishment a year ago following the death of Sophie Fairall

Those are the words of the mum of Sophie Fairall – a little girl from Stubbington who died last September after battling with a rare type of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, for almost a year.

Since her funeral in October last year, which saw people line the streets to honour her, her devoted mum Charlotte has ensured that her memory has lived on.

Despite going through gruelling treatment, the inspirational 10-year-old was determined to make other children in hospital happier, and when she knew she was dying, she decided to make a bucket list of wishes to make hospitals a better place for children.

Amongst her bucket list, Sophie wanted hospitals to have play specialists every day of the week, to provide better food on the children’s ward and for parents to be fed whilst with their unwell child. She also wanted more funding to go towards childhood cancer and for health professionals to receive more training to help detect cancer in children earlier.

Since Sophie’s funeral, Charlotte has been on a mission to fulfil her daughter’s wishes to help others, and in January 2022, she set up Sophie’s Legacy, through which she has dedicated herself to transforming hospital care for children.

The 42-year-old has accomplished many things in the space of a year, raising over £100,000 as well as gaining the support from thousands of people across Hampshire, as she helps pave the way for the future.

Charlotte said: ‘I know she was really worried about me and how I would cope when she died, because she knew she was dying, and I think she secretly did this to help me carry on and she made me promise to continue her bucket list and I think she did that knowing that I would have to carry on.

‘We have to live with it and put this front up to live in society, but actually there is a part of you that is broken and will never recover, and part of you is gone because you have lost your child. It is the wrong order, a parent should never have to bury their child first.

‘We can’t change our situation but we can make it better for others and that is exactly what Sophie wanted and doing what she wanted helps us, and hearing and seeing how it helps families in hospitals makes us think and know we are doing the right thing.’

The growth of the charity has been unstoppable, and the team now offers a range of services to families in need.

The charity, with the help of a network of volunteers, offers emergency packs for parents when their child has gone into hospital with short notice. The packs contain essential items including phone chargers, toiletries, a note pad, a pen, a snack and drink.

They also offer snack and toiletry boxes which are distributed to a number of hospitals across Portsmouth, Winchester, Southampton and Basingstoke.

If families are struggling with finances while their child is in hospital, the charity works alongside them to offer fuel vouchers or transport to and from hospital to take some of the pressure off of them during a difficult time.

Saturday nights in hospital at the Queen Alexandra Hospital has seen a huge change on the children’s ward as Sophie’s Legacy order and deliver take away pizzas for every child, parent and staff member on the ward to give them all something to look forward to. The popularity of these weekend dinners have grown considerably, with Charlotte taking in up to 45 pizzas in one night. They are now sponsored by business to continue their Saturday night pizza delivery until next year, and they have also made changes to the quality of food that children and parents receive during their time at QA.

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Charlotte added: ‘I can’t believe how different it is in hospital from when we were here and I think people forget now, the way it once was.’

The support that the charity has received has been remarkable and Charlotte has seen incredible human kindness, from strangers taking part in the Great South Run to raise funds to keep the charity going, and they have become one of the most supported charities in Portsmouth.

Not only has Charlotte set up a charity in honour of her daughter, but she is also on a national mission to change the way that childhood cancer is dealt with, and she has taken her case to Parliament.

Due to the political instability, there has not been much movement on her mission in Parliament, but she is determined to make them listen to her to make the right changes.

She added: ‘We have achieved so much in such a short time, from starting up a charity to making a difference and so many people knowing about it. It is quite unbelievable and it really makes me believe that we will get the changes nationally and I really do think the more noise we keep making the more pressure we can put on people to make the changes we need.

‘It was a 10-year-old’s dying wish for families in hospital and it was something she would never see. I am trying to make this difference in her legacy.’

They have gone beyond their duty and are working with businesses to partner them up with families who need support that cannot be covered under the charity’s funding, which has made a huge difference to families with severely ill children.

She added: ‘I think she would be so proud to know that it has carried on and how many families we are helping and every day I find it quite unbelievable that we are able to do it.’