Under The Fountain Project - Please help a child fill long hours in hospital

An example of an Under The Fountain Book Bag

Help us to donate:- Under The Fountain Books at £5.99 (the whole cost of which goes to CLIC-Sargent)

or an Under The Fountain Book Bag. (approx £50.00) You can do it by organising an event or do it through your local school, club or organisation.

 

It is our aim to give books and a book bag to every Children’s Oncology Treatment Centre in the South West and the Midlands and at the very least a book to every child receiving treatment.

Please contact us at underthefountain@gmail.com or on
f page Under the Fountain for CLIC -Sargent

The Book Bag Project - Please help a child fill long hours in hospital

An example of the contents of an Under the Fountain Book Bag

Under The Fountain" is an adventure story that takes place on the West Country coast, about a boy with leukaemia. The story provides children who are spending a lot of time in hospital, the opportunity of using their imaginations in difficult situations and also gives them the chance of seeing a positive self image in a story. The book has the approval of CLIC-Sargent, and has had some medical input from a Paediatrician and CLIC-Sargent nurses, and sea life information from the Seal Sanctuary in Gweek.

"Book bags" are useful to go along with the books to give children comfort and to explain through the story what is happening to them. ( book bags consist of related information books on sea life, sticker books, DVD, note pad and markers, and plastic sea-life animals) All of these things help children to continue their education and stimulate their imagination in a positive way during their stay in hospital.

Each book bag costs about £50.00, and a book is £5.99.  We would really appreciate any help that you might be able to give us towards this project.
We would like to give at least one book bag to each hospital, that carries out oncology treatment in the South West and Midlands.


If you would like to get involved, contribute or know an organisation or a school that would like to help us with this project, please contact us at underthefountain@gmail.com    

Have a look at our Under the Fountain Book bags

A book bag for children over 6 years of age.

Book bag for children under six years of age

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Under The Fountain Book Bag Project Started 21st of February, 2013

Jeannette, who has worked on the Under the Fountain Project, by  sending out requests for Sponsorship etc. and I continued the project by putting together Book Bags. The bags which compliment and supplement "Under the Fountain" consist of related information books on sea life, sticker books, a sea life DVD, note pad, markers, and plastic sea-life animals) All of these things help children to continue their education and stimulate their imagination in a positive way during their stay in hospital.

Businesses in Tavistock Donate Under the Fountain books to Children Receiving Support from CLIC- Sargent at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth

 

Presenting Jo Annand, CLIC-Sargent Social Worker with Under the Fountain books

at Derriford Hospital, 17th December , 2012

Kathy Lovell, from Callington, author of the book ‘Under the Fountain’ has gained the support of several businesses in Tavistock, so she can donate her book to children receiving support from CLIC Sargent at Derriford Hospital and the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. In total, 22 books are being donated to CLIC Sargent, who support children and young people with cancer, for children and their families to read and enjoy. Along with the books, Kathy is also donating an activity style book bag to help occupy children whilst they are undergoing treatment.

Under the Fountain, whose main character is a boy with leukaemia, gives children receiving long term medical treatment the opportunity to see themselves as a heroine or hero in a story. When Kathy shared her vision of giving the book to children in hospital, businesses of all kinds in the area joined in the project, including; Calweton VetinaryGroup, Taylor’s Restaurant, Dartmoor Country Clothing, Quinns, The Original Pasty House, Cornwall Farmers and many more. 
Jo Annand, Social Worker at CLIC Sargent, says: “I look forward to giving this book to children who are currently receiving treatment and I feel it will be a real inspiration to them.”

The Under The Fountain Book Project

  Since the summer I have been visiting one or two business a week in Tavistock and the surrounding area to try and interest them in the project of giving copies of Under the Fountain to children in Hospital.  I explained how I had come to write the book and that the book had the backing of CLIC-Sargent. 

So far the businesses that have donated have been:- Calweton Veterinary Group, Cafe Liason, Taylor’s Restaurant, J.S. Downing Butchers, Dartmoor Country Clothing, Quinns, Bryant’s Interiors, The Original Pasty House, Cornwall Farmers, Encore, Lucy Watson –Ostepath, the Fireplace and Stove Centre, and Rockin Beads.

A Big Thank You to Carol Williams, a member of the local south Somerset and West Dorset CLIC-Sargent Group

 

Carol was a great help on the day and it was good to share my experiences  with another Mum who had gone through a similiar situation, with a daughter of a similar age to Bryony.

Bryony, well and healthy at the book signing

I was so pleased to have Bryony's support on the day

Under The Fountain book signing, Waterstones Yeovil

Bryony meeting up with Tessa, a friend from Tintinhull School

Thanks to Lydia for her help

Many thanks to everyone who came along to the book signing, both to help and promote CLIC-Sargent and those that bought books and made donations. Thanks too to the staff at Watestones, who couldn't have been more welcoming!

Book Signing at Waterstones, Yeovil

On the 15th of August, Waterstones in Yeovil has invited us to do a book signing of Under the Fountain.

We will be in their children's section from 12-2.00 pm.

This will not only be a great opportunity to sell more books to raise money for CLIC-Sargent, but also a chance to catch up with friends, neighbours and people who have worked at Yeovil Hopital, and people who are supporters of CLIC-Sargent.

There will be children's activities as well as the book signing.

I'm really looking forward to this event and I'm hoping that  Bryony might be able to make it too. 





Book Review by Paul Tobin

Many thanks to Paul Tobin, poet and author, who has written a review of Under The Foutain in his Blog "Magpie Bridge."



Monday, 31 October 2011

UNDER THE FOUNTAIN

I wanted to share with you an interesting book I happened to come across recently. It’s called Under the Fountain and it is written by Kathy Lovell and charmingly illustrated by Jane Meech. Essentially it is the story of two boys, Jake and George, who discover under the fountain in their local swimming pool a secret passage to the a sea cave where they meet two seals. Later in the story they are able to rescue the seals and save their lives. There is also a second plot that describes Jake’s treatment for leukaemia.
Why did it capture my imagination? Well for two reasons, basically it is a page turner; once I started I wanted to know what happens to the characters. Secondly, in a past life I was a social worker, and books like this are immeasurably useful for helping children make sense of their illness and the treatment process. When I was working for Social Services it was almost impossible to find books that related to the situations people found themselves in, and a book like this is very welcome.
I must just say a word about the illustrations, I think that Jane Meech has captured both the children and the seals. The artwork is excellent, as I hope you can see from the examples on this post.









Posted by Paul Tobin at Monday, October 31, 2011 elated to the situations people found themselves in, and a book like this is very welcome.

Offer of a lino cut print for a silent auction at the Tea party

Many thanks to Alison Wilson, artist, who has donated a beautiful lino cut print of two seahorses as a fundraiser for the tea party. For this we are going to do a silent auction as an additional attraction at the event.

Meeting for Tea Party at Orley House, 26th of July. 11

Our committee has now grown to Valerie, Jennie, Anthony, Jean and I. We have made final decisions on who will put up posters and where; where to ask for donations for the raffle, where to get additional crockery and tables and chairs; our menu and press releases. We have had an offer of a classical guitarist, Barrie to play for half an hour and also hope to get a couple of pianists to entertain our guests.

19th of July, 2011 Posters designed for Tea Party at Orley House In aid of Under The Fountain, in support of CLIC-Sargent

30th of April, News Report on Under the Fountain Book Signing in the Plymouth Evening Herald

21st of June, 2011 Valerie Daekin offers to host a charity event at Orley House for a garden Tea Party

After meeting with Valerie, who has offered to host a charity event to raise mony for CLIC-Sargent, we have decided to hold a Tea Party on 20th of August, 2-4.30, 2011. We are going to hold a further meeting in 2 weeks time to confirm the details of the event.

23rd of April, Book Signing at Waterstones, Drake Centre, Plymouth

I have to say that I was quite nervous about this, but it turned out to be a really enjoyable day. We gave out the flyer on the book which hopefully raised the profile of Under the Fountain and of CLIC-Sargent and of course helped to sell some books. The staff of Waterstones couldn't have been more welcoming and were on hand to help us set up the display and to see if there was anything else we needed. They like to support local authors.

A number of children in the shop filled in book reviews of Under the Fountain along with drawing their own pictures of seals etc.

It was a great opportunity to meet many interesting people, other authors- one just learning the trade, teachers and a number of people who have had a connection with CLIC-Sargent or other cancer charities.

Many thanks to Michele, Will, Sarah, Pete, Helen, Jennie, Dave and Nick for helping and giving support.

Preparing for book signing at Waterstones, the Drake Centre, Plymouth

Have been working on advertising and sending out editorial on the book signing at Waterstones, the Drake Centre, Plymouth, on Saturday, 23rd of April. Really hoping that there will be a good turn out. Please come along and support CLIC -Sargent. From 11.00 am-3.00 pm.

9th of April, Easter Campaign of Under the Fountain at The Fish Deli, Ashburton

The books and seals went on sale at The Fish Deli in Ashburton at the beginning of their Easter Promotions, 9th April 2011.

8th of April, New Posters for Easter Campaign of Under the Fountain

Nick and Michele have invited us to put together a package of Under the Fountain and a seal for an Easter Promotion for their shop , The Fish Deli, Ashburton, Devon.

The book and seal will be selling at £10.00