A group of senior citizens in the east end of London were so moved by a Call the Midwife storyline that they decided to get together and raise money for Meningitis Now
The plot involved popular character Nurse Barbara, played by Charlotte Richie, who died at the end of the last series after contracting meningitis.
Call the Midwife features stories about life in the East End during the late fifties and early sixties – a time that many of the senior citizens involved in the fundraising may remember well from their own youths.
The pensioners at the Regents Estate Senior Citizens Club in Hackney got together after the episode aired and managed to raise a fantastic £2,000 for us which, according to Meningitis Now Community Ambassador Mary Garley, is the most the group has ever raised for a charity.
The fundraising effort was especially poignant for one of the group because her daughter had contracted bacterial meningitis as a child and ended up with hearing problems.
“She is 57 years old now, though – and completely fine otherwise,” Mary told us. “They were a lovely group of people”.
