Fundraising

FAMILY DEVASTATED AS FIRM PULLS
PLUG ON GREEN APPEAL

10:30 - 01 April 2008

Recycling bosses have pulled the plug on a "green" appeal set up to raise funds for a seriously ill girl.

Well-wishers have been collecting thousands of bottle tops for Charlotte Mariethoz and exchanging them with environment charity Groundwork for cash.

The cash goes into an appeal fund for the three-year-old, whose parents are trying to have a "saviour sibling".

Charlotte, of Blaby, was born with a rare blood disorder, diamond blackfan anaemia, and needs a transplant using stem cells from a brother or sister who is a genetic match.

However, Groundwork this week told her parents it cannot accept bottle tops any more because the company it contracts to do recycling will no longer take them.

Charlotte's mother, Catherine, said she and her husband Charlie were "devastated" by the news.

In recent months, well-wishers have been donating up to 100kg of bottle tops a week, which all ended up at Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire's headquarters off Hinckley Road, Leicester, before being recycled.

Each kilogramme is worth 40p to the appeal, which has so far raised hundreds of pounds towards the £40,000 cost of the five IVF procedures the couple have had.


Catherine said: "I was so upset - devastated really - when I was told that this was it.

"It's been going for a year but it really gathered momentum in the past few months.

"It's been amazing, the level of support, and we don't want to stop it.

"I'm hoping someone out there knows another place we can bring the bottle tops and exchange them for money."

Ric Ellis, from Groundwork, said its waste contractors no longer took these items.

The charity, which would not give the name of the waste company, said that if it carried on accepting the bottle tops it would have to dispose of them in landfill.

Catherine and Charlie hope to continue with a sixth IVF treatment in May.

If a matched baby is born, stem cells could be taken from the umbilical cord and used in the same procedure as a bone marrow transplant, without affecting the health of the sibling.

Without the transplant, Charlotte could be reliant on steroids and blood transfusions.

Anyone who can help the appeal fund can call 0116 286 5729.