Key Forensic Services are delighted to announce our support for the ‘Made a Mark’ charity.

The charity was founded in 2018 by Keri Knapp, whose husband Mark died suddenly and unexpectedly in hospital, leaving behind Keri and their two children, aged just two and four.

Keri realised that, while the care Mark had received was excellent, there was no support in that setting for bereaved children, so she decided to do something about it and set up Make a Mark.

The charity aims to provide memory boxes to acute hospitals and hospices for children who are left facing the death of a loved one. Memory boxes are a helpful way for children to keep and treasure things that remind them of the person who has died.

Made a Mark is a small and relatively unknown charity, so every pound donated to them goes towards the purchase of the boxes and contents. At present, hard-earned funds are also used to ship the boxes to various parts of the country.

Our aim at KFS is to help Make a Mark by providing a network to deliver some of the boxes at no cost. This simple gesture would help make a huge difference to the charity’s funds, enabling them to have more funds at their disposal to support a child and their family to make new memories following a loss.

KFS were approached by a member of our staff who is a friend of Keri. After hearing the story, we knew it was a cause we wanted to help.

Helping to raise funds for Made a Mark

“It is always sad when we lose someone close, when we lose a parent,” says Janet Hulme, Head of HR at KFS. “However, how do you explain that to a child?

“That is what Made a Mark is trying to achieve. A number of us in the company have children and I think, for that reason, it struck a chord.

“And as Made a Mark isn’t one of the well-known charities, it felt right to support them in order to help raise much-needed funds, and hopefully to help raise their profile.”

KFS’s first step in support of Made a Mark will be contacting all members of staff to begin setting up delivery of memory boxes.

Boxes will be delivered to all our sites – at Coventry, Norwich and Warrington – and we hope enough members of staff will be able to pick up the boxes and deliver them to nearby hospitals and hospices.

KFS will also be supporting the charity by holding fund-raising events throughout the year, and the business has committed to match funds that are raised.

For more information on Made a Mark, visit their website madeamarkcharity.com or have a look at their Facebook page here.