Liverpool father and daughter to appear on BBC Lifeline Appeal for Marie Curie

John Atkins (43) and his daughter Maggie Atkins (6) from Liverpool are set to feature in the latest BBC Lifeline Appeal, raising funds for Marie Curie, the UKs leading end of life charity. 

The BBC Lifeline Appeal is a ten minute programme broadcast on BBC One this Sunday, highlighting the work of a selected charity each month, appealing for donations to support its activities.

Due to broadcast on 26 March, the latest Lifeline programme highlights the vital care and support provided across the UK by Marie Curie.

In the programme, John and Maggie talk about the care that popular Merseyside Headteacher Ros (43), John’s wife of fifteen years and Maggie’s beloved mum, received at the Marie Curie Hospice in Liverpool where she sadly died of bowel cancer in October last year.

John from Gatecare, Liverpool said:

 “When Ros was admitted to the hospice, we were swamped with attention and people offering us cups of tea and checking Ros’s pain and medication. They couldn’t have done more. We were just amazed by the staff, how hard they work and what they do.

“Marie Curie is part of our life story now and we want to keep a link to it. Maggie wears a Marie Curie daffodil every day on her school cardigan and I’ve got one on my coat as well.

“In the future, I want to give something back to Marie Curie, whether that’s doing some counselling or pouring cups of tea for people.

“So of course, we were honoured to be asked to be part of the Lifeline Appeal.”

“When the hospice doctor called us in and said, ‘It’s likely that she might not have much longer,’ our friends dropped everything. They came from Bristol, Newcastle, London, all over the place. My brother came from Australia.

“The last weekend before she passed away on the Monday, there was this weird atmosphere in there, but it was full of love. If anything gives me solace, it was her knowing how many people cared about her.

“Marie Curie facilitated all that. It was the weekend of the Queen lying in State but there was a queue outside Ros’s room. I said to the receptionist, ‘The next thing Phillip Schofield and Holly will be turning up’.”

“I thought when Ros passed at the hospice, it would be this place where I’d never want to go back to, a black cloud. But it’s the opposite. The people in there make it. They give Maggie so much attention and they’re just lovely with her. They’re obviously skilled in what they do.

“Ros finished her days there but it was a place full of love, obviously from friends and family, but also from the staff in there. Every single person in there, from the person coming around with the cups of tea through to the receptionist Rita, the ambulance people that were coming in, everyone was just so nice. That’s why, I can’t praise them enough. It was just amazing.”

Watch the BBC Lifeline Appeal transmission on BBC1 on 26 March 12:05pm or on iPlayer afterwards. Money raised will be used to continue the work done by Marie Curie to provide care and support for people with a terminal illness across the UK.