Sunderland mum's astonishing £12,000 'pay it forward' gift

It’s a year this week since Cheryl Archbold, from Roker, set up Bea's 500 Crew.

Its members pay £1 a week into a pot and the money is used to help other people in need.

£1 a week - but it has made £12,000 of difference

So far, 295 people have joined the group and they have donated more than £12,000 to people needing support.

The causes they have helped included;

* Mums and dads whose children were born premature.

* People in the North East who are fighting cancer.

* Dozens of people who faced hospital stays.

* Carpets for a single dad who fled domestic abuse.

* And help for a family which was hit by a house fire.

Repaying the kindness of an amazing public

Cheryl set up the group because she wanted to repay the kindness which was showed to her when her little girl Beatrix was seriously ill in hospital, awaiting a heart transplant.

People made meals for her family.

One group gave her funds while she stayed at Beatrix's bedside and could not go to work.

Now Beatrix is home and doing well after spending 14 months on a hospital ward, and after receiving a new heart.

‘It’s a little boost for someone from people who care’

Cheryl is saying thank you in the best way possible - by running a 'pay it forward' group which helps people in need.

She said: “The money won’t change someone’s life but it shows that other people are thinking of them.

“It’s a little boost from people who show that they care.”

The ultimate aim is to get 500 members in the group and you can find out more on how to join at Beatrix’s Heart Journey page on Facebook.

A boost for people at their lowest ebb

Cheryl added: “When you are feeling at your lowest and someone gives you a gift, it can really give you a boost.”

Beatrix spent 14 months at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

Tests showed one side of her heart was enlarged and not functioning properly.

It was last summer when she finally got the heart transplant that dad Terry and mum Chery had hoped for. Cheryl was already a member of a similar group called Friends 500 based in Merseyside.

How you can help

"When we were discharged from hospital, I immediately knew that I wanted to replicate the group in the North East."

To find out more about Bea’s 500 Crew, visit here.

And to learn more about organ donation, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk, call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app.