Matilda, 10 and Lola, 8, with the help of their mum Sara Crichton, have been making excellent use of their time in lockdown by making these lovely ‘Happiness Kits’ to raise money for Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

The contents of the bags includes an eraser, a candle, a penny, a marble, an elastic band and a little wooden heart, along with this lovely label that explained what each item referred to.

Sara said, “When we decided to make the Happiness Kits, it was something to help keep us occupied and also a way of spreading a bit of happiness in our own way. I asked the girls which charity they would like to support and we decided to choose Hospice at Home West Cumbria because they are a local charity and we knew they would struggle with big fundraising events being cancelled. A school friend of Matilda and Lola’s and her family were doing the 2.6 challenge, walking 2.6 miles every day for a month and donated all their sponsorship to Hospice at Home West Cumbria and that inspired us to do something to raise money”

Sara’s grandparents were supported by Hospice at Home 7 and 9 years ago.

Sara said “The nurses were a real comfort to us as a family by being there. They were there through the night, meaning my mam would be able to have a sleep and they attended to anything my gran needed, including managing her pain and making her comfortable. They were a really good emotional support making us feel we weren’t alone and provided so much reassurance. Every nurse that supported us were kind and calm and able to take the edge off the fear. They made an extremely difficult time as easy as possible”

The girls have had lots of messages from people who have bought the kits saying how much they have made people smile, and some customers have gone back and re-ordered to spread more happiness!

Sara said “I know the feedback the girls have received has really meant a lot to them. Although we are ‘giving’ the girls are getting a lot of satisfaction out of it too. We had lots of fun making the kits together! It gave us quality time together and got us talking about the support Hospice at Home provides people and how they helped our family. It was nice for me to talk to them about my own grandparents too”.

Due to their popularity, Sara has set up a Facebook page called ‘Matilda & Lola’s Happiness Kits – Supporting Hospice at Home’ to continue selling the kits. Click HERE to visit their page and order your Happiness kit. To date they have raised over £400.

Sara also told us that people from other parts of the country have also made donations and asked that kits are given as a random act of kindness.

We think this is lovely and the kits are such a kind and thoughtful idea.

We want to say a massive thank you to Matilda, Lola and Sara for being superstar fundraisers!